Tag Archives: civil rights

Facts coming in on the Brown shooting

We’re getting more facts about the Ferguson, Mo., shooting of Michael Brown.

They aren’t looking good for the police officer who gunned down the unarmed teenager.

An independent autopsy reveals that Brown was shot six times, including twice in the head.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=a-lede-package-region&region=lede-package&WT.nav=lede-package&_r=0

Brown’s death has sparked ferocious rioting in the St. Louis suburb — and protests around the country.

Brown was African-American; the officer who shot him is white. Ferguson is a majority-black community, yet the police force has just three African-American officers. The case has become the latest metaphor for alleged police intolerance of young African-American males.

The U.S. Justice Department vows to perform its own autopsy on Brown’s remains to determine what, if anything, the federal government should do about this case.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has slapped a curfew on the community. State police have taken over the investigation from local cops, who’ve mishandled badly the immediate follow-up to the tragic incident.

So many questions remain about this case. I hesitate yet to make any hasty judgments.

The latest autopsy results, though, suggest that the officer who shot the young man to death, has some serious explaining to do.

We’re all ears.