'Game changing' new video shows white workers' immediate reactions to Michael Brown's killing
What
is being called "game changing" new footage showing the reactions of
two white construction workers who actually witnessed Ferguson,
Missouri, teenager Michael Brown's killing has been released.
The video has been published by CNN. It shows a number of black people gathering at and near the site immediately following Brown’s slaying. The two white construction workers are clearly visible in the foreground and can be heard talking as they face the killing zone.
“He had his f**king hands in the air,” the worker shouted. He later told CNN that he was not from Ferguson and did not want to be identified. The boy's “hands were up” when he was killed, he repeated.
"The cop didn't say get on the ground. He just kept shooting." He then said that he actually saw Brown's "brains come out of his head." And, once more with even more emphasis: "His hands were up!," he shouted.
And, for the first time, we hear from the man’s fellow construction worker, also seen in the video. He told CNN that Brown was indeed running away from the policeman; that Brown "put his hands up;" and that "the officer was chasing him."
Both men again reiterated that they did not see how the incident began.
The video was recorded on the cellphone of an unidentified witness, CNN reported.
A number of legal eagles have weighed in on the obvious importance of this new evidence and have made the following interesting, cogent, and damning points as to Wilson's culpability.
These witnesses are white
Like it or not, believe it or not, these two construction workers' whiteness will play a pivotal role in this case. They also do not live in Ferguson and have presumably had no untoward encounters with Ferguson police in the past.
The reason their whiteness is important, indeed crucial, is because this killing of a black manchild by a white policeman occurred in America. It is just that simple. It is just that basic. This is a fundamentally white supremacist nation-state still mired in white racism. The skin color of every "criminal justice" defendant is therefore the first consideration in determining his or her guilt or innocence.
Mark Geragos, a CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney broke down this racial dynamic for us in terms of the composition of the grand jury hearing this case even as we speak. There are nine whites and three blacks on the 12-member grand jury panel, he says.
"You now have some witnesses who the majority of this grand jury are going to better relate to. I hate to say it, but that's the reality of it, and that's why it's a game changer to me," Geragos said.
Of course, Geragos is only stating a truth and the hard reality that black people have lived with for their not quite five-century sojourn in this nation-state. For the vast bulk of this country's history, black people were not allowed to testify against white people in court. After slavery ended, of course, and straight through to the civil rights movement, black testimony was always considered less “credible” – especially against white defendants.
This video is almost in real-time
Of all of the testimony of eye- and earwitnesses, these construction workers' videotaped reactions are apparently almost contemporaneous with the shooting. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin explains, "You have practically in real time someone discussing what they saw, and that's just good evidence," Toobin said.
The white guys corroborate all of the black witnesses
Every single black person who claims to have seen this killing insists that Brown was trying to surrender using the universal “hands up” signal.
Sunni Hostein, also of CNN, weighed in with this:
The video has been published by CNN. It shows a number of black people gathering at and near the site immediately following Brown’s slaying. The two white construction workers are clearly visible in the foreground and can be heard talking as they face the killing zone.
“He had his f**king hands in the air,” the worker shouted. He later told CNN that he was not from Ferguson and did not want to be identified. The boy's “hands were up” when he was killed, he repeated.
"The cop didn't say get on the ground. He just kept shooting." He then said that he actually saw Brown's "brains come out of his head." And, once more with even more emphasis: "His hands were up!," he shouted.
And, for the first time, we hear from the man’s fellow construction worker, also seen in the video. He told CNN that Brown was indeed running away from the policeman; that Brown "put his hands up;" and that "the officer was chasing him."
Both men again reiterated that they did not see how the incident began.
The video was recorded on the cellphone of an unidentified witness, CNN reported.
A number of legal eagles have weighed in on the obvious importance of this new evidence and have made the following interesting, cogent, and damning points as to Wilson's culpability.
These witnesses are white
Like it or not, believe it or not, these two construction workers' whiteness will play a pivotal role in this case. They also do not live in Ferguson and have presumably had no untoward encounters with Ferguson police in the past.
The reason their whiteness is important, indeed crucial, is because this killing of a black manchild by a white policeman occurred in America. It is just that simple. It is just that basic. This is a fundamentally white supremacist nation-state still mired in white racism. The skin color of every "criminal justice" defendant is therefore the first consideration in determining his or her guilt or innocence.
Mark Geragos, a CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney broke down this racial dynamic for us in terms of the composition of the grand jury hearing this case even as we speak. There are nine whites and three blacks on the 12-member grand jury panel, he says.
"You now have some witnesses who the majority of this grand jury are going to better relate to. I hate to say it, but that's the reality of it, and that's why it's a game changer to me," Geragos said.
Of course, Geragos is only stating a truth and the hard reality that black people have lived with for their not quite five-century sojourn in this nation-state. For the vast bulk of this country's history, black people were not allowed to testify against white people in court. After slavery ended, of course, and straight through to the civil rights movement, black testimony was always considered less “credible” – especially against white defendants.
This video is almost in real-time
Of all of the testimony of eye- and earwitnesses, these construction workers' videotaped reactions are apparently almost contemporaneous with the shooting. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin explains, "You have practically in real time someone discussing what they saw, and that's just good evidence," Toobin said.
The white guys corroborate all of the black witnesses
Every single black person who claims to have seen this killing insists that Brown was trying to surrender using the universal “hands up” signal.
Sunni Hostein, also of CNN, weighed in with this:
"They're saying that he was running from the police officer and that
his hands were up," she said. "I don't know what other witness testimony
at this point or account we have to hear. The bottom line is having
your hands up is the universal sign for surrender."
Hostin, however, seemed confused as to why or how the two white guys' statements are given more credibility than a whole handful of black witnesses.
"Five other witnesses from the community said the exact same thing, and it is befuddling to me how with these two witnesses, suddenly this is a game changer," she said.
Commentary
We are getting closer to a video of the actual killing. I contend that such a video is out there and will be released whether Wilson is indicted or not.
Officer Wilson's defenders will continue to support him despite this new “game changing” evidence – or perhaps because of it. Indeed, look for them to double-down in their defense of this latest state-sanctioned killer of a black manchild.
They will first note and take comfort in the fact that the two white witnesses admit to not seeing the initial contact between Brown and Wilson. That leaves just enough room for their hope and prayer and fervent belief – for their fevered imaginings to concoct and take solace in even the faintest possibility that this big black thug called Brown somehow and for some mysterious reason attacked their honest, upstanding, hardworking, and above all, innocent white cop who was just doing his duty.
"You have to look at where they're standing," said Neil Bruntrager, general counsel for the St. Louis Police Officers' Association. Where the men were positioned is important, he said, because rather than the 50 feet away that they claim, it seems more like 100 feet from the shooting. Thus, "They couldn't have seen everything," he said, dismissing their entire testimony as unworthy of even the slightest consideration.
Wilson's defenders will also claim (hope) that there is more (preferably exculpatory) evidence out there that has simply not been publicized. They are also banking on a long grand jury process so that things might cool down with the coming cold weather. Folks don't riot during winter, you know. Although a mid-October date had been earlier mentioned as a likely time when the grand jury would indict or not indict, officials have now backed off that, saying it could take several months for the grand jury to review all the evidence.
And, Wilson's defenders will hang their hats on the fact that this video simply does not show the shooting itself – close, but no cigar. That would be an important point in any defense Wilson might make in court. An attorney for the unidentified man who filmed the video told CNN that he began filming about 40 seconds after the shooting.
Bruntrager also says of the video that, "What you have is a conversation that's occurring after the fact," – well after the fact. Well, not quite ... as a matter of fact, the videographer, as noted above, began filming just 40 seconds after the shooting stopped.
Finally, what Bruntrager doesn't mention is what that "after the fact" conversation between the two white construction workers was about: the obvious fact that his saintly police officer is likely a cold-blooded child killer. And, from the video, it appears that these two white guys began protesting against this killing even before any black people did.
References
http://rt.com/usa/187400-ferguson-witnesses-shooting-reaction/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/us/ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-witnesses/
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cnn-new-video-shows-eyewitnesses-michael-brown-shooting
http://q13fox.com/2014/09/10/new-witnesses-describe-michael-brown-shooting-scene/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/new-witnesses-video-offer-details-on-michael-browns-shooting#3s2cjtr
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2751762/He-f-g-hands-air-New-video-Michael-Brown-incident-reveals-witnesses-horror-police-shooting.html
Hostin, however, seemed confused as to why or how the two white guys' statements are given more credibility than a whole handful of black witnesses.
"Five other witnesses from the community said the exact same thing, and it is befuddling to me how with these two witnesses, suddenly this is a game changer," she said.
Commentary
We are getting closer to a video of the actual killing. I contend that such a video is out there and will be released whether Wilson is indicted or not.
Officer Wilson's defenders will continue to support him despite this new “game changing” evidence – or perhaps because of it. Indeed, look for them to double-down in their defense of this latest state-sanctioned killer of a black manchild.
They will first note and take comfort in the fact that the two white witnesses admit to not seeing the initial contact between Brown and Wilson. That leaves just enough room for their hope and prayer and fervent belief – for their fevered imaginings to concoct and take solace in even the faintest possibility that this big black thug called Brown somehow and for some mysterious reason attacked their honest, upstanding, hardworking, and above all, innocent white cop who was just doing his duty.
"You have to look at where they're standing," said Neil Bruntrager, general counsel for the St. Louis Police Officers' Association. Where the men were positioned is important, he said, because rather than the 50 feet away that they claim, it seems more like 100 feet from the shooting. Thus, "They couldn't have seen everything," he said, dismissing their entire testimony as unworthy of even the slightest consideration.
Wilson's defenders will also claim (hope) that there is more (preferably exculpatory) evidence out there that has simply not been publicized. They are also banking on a long grand jury process so that things might cool down with the coming cold weather. Folks don't riot during winter, you know. Although a mid-October date had been earlier mentioned as a likely time when the grand jury would indict or not indict, officials have now backed off that, saying it could take several months for the grand jury to review all the evidence.
And, Wilson's defenders will hang their hats on the fact that this video simply does not show the shooting itself – close, but no cigar. That would be an important point in any defense Wilson might make in court. An attorney for the unidentified man who filmed the video told CNN that he began filming about 40 seconds after the shooting.
Bruntrager also says of the video that, "What you have is a conversation that's occurring after the fact," – well after the fact. Well, not quite ... as a matter of fact, the videographer, as noted above, began filming just 40 seconds after the shooting stopped.
Finally, what Bruntrager doesn't mention is what that "after the fact" conversation between the two white construction workers was about: the obvious fact that his saintly police officer is likely a cold-blooded child killer. And, from the video, it appears that these two white guys began protesting against this killing even before any black people did.
References
http://rt.com/usa/187400-ferguson-witnesses-shooting-reaction/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/us/ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-witnesses/
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cnn-new-video-shows-eyewitnesses-michael-brown-shooting
http://q13fox.com/2014/09/10/new-witnesses-describe-michael-brown-shooting-scene/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/new-witnesses-video-offer-details-on-michael-browns-shooting#3s2cjtr
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2751762/He-f-g-hands-air-New-video-Michael-Brown-incident-reveals-witnesses-horror-police-shooting.html
