Ferguson Grand Jury Decision
Ferguson grand jury decision expected today (CNN)
A decision is expected Monday from the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, that is weighing evidence in the Michael Brown shooting, U.S. and local law enforcement officials told CNN. The announcement will come from the St Louis County Prosecutor, the sources said. Will Ferguson officer be indicted? Fighting to tell the story in Ferguson Ferguson: Preparing for protests The sources did not know what decision will be announced. The city has been on edge in anticipation of a decision. Some businesses have been boarded up, and activists are prepared to protest. For the grand jury, the key question is whether Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, will face charges in the August 9 shooting death of Brown, 18, who was black.
Uncertainty Upends Lives as Ferguson Awaits Grand Jury Decision (New York Times)
The logistics of waiting — whether to proceed with business as usual or to cancel or alter usual routines — are complex, and schools were grappling with some of the biggest problems. Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story Students at Normandy High School, where Mr. Brown graduated in May, were expected to be in class for a regular school day Monday. But students at Jennings Senior High, five miles north, have the day off, after the Jennings School District extended its Thanksgiving break and shut its eight schools for the entire week. Now that the weekend has passed without a grand jury decision, schools that planned to be open on Monday and Tuesday face a quandary. Students may be sent home early if a decision is announced during either school day
Judge hasn’t agreed to release Ferguson grand jury evidence if no indictment (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
For months, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch has promised to seek a court order immediately releasing nearly all evidence before the grand jury in the Michael Brown shooting case if Officer Darren Wilson is not indicted. And he has said that the judge overseeing the grand jury, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Carolyn Whittington, already has agreed to order such release if requested. But, with the grand jury’s decision expected this week, the county court’s top administrator on Sunday said no such agreement exists. He said Whittington has not agreed that she will release evidence in the grand jury review of the Aug. 9 shooting death of the unarmed teenager by the Ferguson police officer.
75 Planned Actions for Darren Wilson Grand Jury Decision (ColorLines)
There are going to be at least 75 planned actions in response to the grand jury’s decision, and the Ferguson National Response Network Tumblr is aggregating them. Most actions are taking place in public parks, outside of courthouses and on college campuses; users can click on individual actions for more information.
Ferguson church turns to faith as uncertainty looms (CNN)
“I don’t know what the verdict will be,” she said about the grand jury investigating Brown’s death. “I don’t know when it will come.” That’s a question that hangs heavily over Ferguson, a city that remains on edge as word spreads that a grand jury looking into whether to indict police Officer Darren Wilson has yet to make a decision. Jurors are set to reconvene Monday. Amina Stevenson, 26, said everyone is doing their best to deal with this period of extreme anxiety. “I know God is protecting me and my family,” she said. Stevenson says she believes the grand jury decision on whether to indict Wilson may be postponed because no one wants trouble during Thanksgiving. “But they’ve already ruined it,” she said.
In Ferguson, a Militarized Police Force Isn’t Necessary for Suppression (The Nation)
Nearly every night in Ferguson, a group of protesters gathers in front of the police department demanding justice for Michael Brown. The size of the demonstration has varied, depending on people’s availability and on the weather conditions, but the dedication to protesting has remained consistent since Brown’s death. In these days leading up to the announcement of whether a grand jury has indicted Darren Wilson for killing Brown, everyone is on edge. The uncertainty of when the decision will be released to the public, coupled with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s declaration of a state of emergency, has left plans for action up in the air and the quest for justice without answers. But the people still show up to police department.
Police commander tries softer approach ahead of Ferguson grand jury decision (The Guardian)
A police commander attempted to lead a gentler response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, into the early hours of Sunday, even as officers took a reporter into custody while making arrests for a fourth successive night. Lieutenant Gerald Lohr of St Louis county emerged from Ferguson police headquarters and struck up conversations with demonstrators calling for a grand jury to indict Darren Wilson, a white officer who shot dead Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in August. After questions about why officers had so quickly reached for helmets, riot shields and batons when confronted by small crowds at the police department last week, Lohr wore a regular patrol uniform and nothing on his head. “I’m just trying to balance,” he told the Guardian.
On A Night Of Peaceful Protests In Ferguson, One Reporter’s Arrest Breaks The Calm (Huffington Post)
Police officers arrested a journalist during peaceful protests in Ferguson on Saturday night, amid widespread speculation that tensions could boil over in advance of a grand jury’s ruling about the police officer who shot Michael Brown in August. That arrest marred what was otherwise a professional and noncontroversial police response to demonstrations under the temporary leadership of Lt. Jerry Lohr of the St. Louis County Police Department. The department is sending officers to manage the police response to the protests on a rotational basis, and Lohr was on duty Saturday night. Lohr has been commended for regularly engaging in conversations with protesters gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department and for de-escalating situations that would likely have resulted in an aggressive police response on other nights.
How Ferguson became Ferguson — the real story (Washington Post)
Media accounts of how Ferguson became Ferguson have typically explained that when African Americans moved to this suburb (and others like it), “white flight” followed, abandoning the town to African Americans who were trying to escape poor schools in the city. The conventional explanation adds that African Americans moved to a few places like Ferguson, not the suburbs generally, because prejudiced realtors steered black homebuyers away from other white suburbs. And in any event, those other suburbs were able to preserve their middle- class environments by enacting zoning rules that required only expensive single family homes.
Far from Missouri, Baltimore readies for Ferguson ruling (Baltimore Sun)
As the nation waited to see whether a white Ferguson, Mo., police officer would be charged in the killing of an unarmed black teen, criticism arose Sunday in Baltimore and around the nation about how the investigation is being handled. Speaking at McKeldin Square near the Inner Harbor, the Rev. Cortly “C.D.” Witherspoon of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference condemned Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon for declaring a state of emergency in advance of a grand jury decision, saying it has created an “atmosphere of fear” and will infringe on the rights of Ferguson protesters who “have the right to be angry.” Meanwhile, a lawyer for Brown’s family criticized the way prosecutors have handled the grand jury process, which has dragged on longer than many expected.