What is the fuss about? Succinctly: A police officer who was more an occupier than a protector used deadly force to subdue a jaywalker, then prosecutors presented the case for his defense."

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Demagoguery and spreading a criminal accomplice's big lie regarding the justified shooting of a violent, raving common criminal — who tried to kill said cop, btw — isn't surprising, however disappointing.
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Stopping and arresting violent criminals and would-be cop killers are among the things civilized societies hire police officers to do. And well they should, in a nation with almost as many guns as people.
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But such demonizing and racist bigotry, and outright, intentional lies directed at a cop for the color of his 'white' skin is just as wrongful as racism directed at people of color.
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It is also hypocrisy of a high order coming from members of the LGBT minority, often subjected to demonizing bigotry and hate violence as well.
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Had that outrageously belligerent, common criminal not violently assaulted his community's duly authorized police officer, grabbing his gun and trying to kill him — and had that perpetrator followed orderers to stop and get down on the ground, he'd be alive today.
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The overwhelming majority of Americans understand that, and agree with lethal force applied in necessary situations. They reject racism and bigotry masquerading as progressive liberalism, just as they reject racism and bigotry masquerading as legitimate conservative thought.
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A body cam would have more fully exonerated Officer Wilson for doing the right thing under the extreme, criminal circumstances Brown created — hard evidence which the GJ reviewed thoroughly. Rick, of course, did not review that evidence.
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Chris Chocolatebearcub Capers —

Thanks. Racial profiling against people of color — by police, by vigilante predators, employers of all types, etc. — is a completely legitimate and incredibly important issue for every government level to solve.
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This is just a poor, illegitimate case to pursue as an example of racial profiling by police.
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For example, as soon as Brown assaulted Officer Wilson, Wilson's job was to arrest and pursue him for a felony by an obviously dangerous young man — no ifs, ands or buts.
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And that's completely irrespective of the shoplifting/ shopkeeper assault report, which Wilson didn't associate until he got out of his vehicle and saw Brown's khaki shorts and yellow socks. That just added to the fact that he was dealing with a dangerous criminal.
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Lying about a case and making racist assertions against a cop for his skin color only weakens the credibility of civil rights activists making the larger point against racial profiling/ civil rights violations under color of authority. Likewise trying to turn common, violent street criminals into heroes. It's nutty. Few commonsense Americans will ever believe it, and most think it's reflective of racial bias.
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The Ohio, NY and other cases are entirely different and are easily more on point to that larger issue you make as well.
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Quickly getting body cams on every cop in the nation is going to solve a lot of the problems. Fed bucks can help with that.

Efrem Capers
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Hey, thanks for that link– i had heard about that full version video but hadn't seen it.
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Still, it shows a simple assault of the shopkeeper by Brown — whatever the cause, it's highly belligerent behavior, under any circumstances.

The store assault was really a distraction, however, to the *REPEATED* acts of assault Brown perpetrated against Officer Wilson. Brown's criminal actions at the scene of his death, and Wilson's account is reliably corroborated by BOTH the physical evidence and eyewitness accounts.
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Repeatedly physically assaulting a police officer is outrageous, common criminal behavior. It can never be tolerated in any civilized society.
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It's too bad this young man was taught to have such a blind hatred for white police officers. Given the parents comments, actions and behavior, it's not hard to speculate where all that belligerence and hate came from.
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Chris Chocolatebearcub Capers
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"It's too bad this young man was taught to have such a blind hatred for white police officers" How do you know this?
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Chris, for sure it's speculation — but it's rooted in some common sense, too. People don't generally physically assault police officers unless they have a profound dislike or hatred for them.
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What bothers me most about this, is the credibility that all progressives/ Democrats (and civil rights activists of all stripes) are losing as a result of what most Americans recognize as an outrageous lie to further narrow special interests — and maybe celebrity journalists' special interests..
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When riots and protest demonstrations disrupting innocent bystanders result from such a lie, Americans, left, right and center, are likely to react to what they see as an unfair assault on their freedom, their institutions and their public safety.
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We've seen that kind of voter reaction/rebellion in broad, middle class democratic nations all over the world– whether the protests were regarding racial bias, labor/management issues, students's free speech, social safety net cutbacks, etc. Conservative, 'law and order' governments are typically swept into power — and for substantial blocks of time. A freeze on political and social reforms usually results.
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The last time it occurred in the United States was after the King assassination riots and the Democratic Convention/ anti-war protest ('police riot') in 1968. It resulted in Republican 'law and order' presidents being elected for 20 of the next 24 years– a whole generation's block of time. Civil rights advances for all groups were generally downplayed and put on back burners.
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The depth and breadth of the Republican sweep last month is pretty shocking. Progressives and civil rights activists can not afford to be angering independent and crossover voters. Our 'political capital' has clearly been spent — for a nation still waiting for an economic recovery and weary of boots-on-the-ground wars.