“Anonymous” says there will be no #Ferguson indictment
Based on alleged inside sources, claims police, National Guard preparing for unrest, imposition of martial law
A group purporting to be part of “Anonymous” claims that it has insider information from two independent sources with knowledge of relevant secret internal police communications that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted in the killing of Michael Brown.
It further reports that this non-indictment is to be made public on or before November 10, 2014, and both regional law enforcement and the Missouri National Guard are being prepared for widespread civil unrest. (A PDF of the post is embedded below, or it you prefer, the Pastebin file is here.)(h/t Gateway Pundit).
I confess to no great familiarity with Anonymous, and I certainly share the expectation that there will be no indictment of Officer Wilson (on what evidence?), but I also feel obliged to note that I find the overall tone of the post to be lacking in credibility.
For one thing, more than half of the post is spent not discussing the evidence on which the Grand Jury might be basing it’s decision–indeed, evidence is not mentioned at all–but rather is devoted to discussion of Wilson personally in the period following the shooting of Mike Brown. Claiming, for example, that he still lives in the area, that he has just closed on a home, that his girlfriend is newly pregnant with their first child, that he has changed his appearance. None of that could have the slightest relevance in the grand jury’s considerations.
They also engage in a personal discussion about the woman known as “Josie” who made a notable call into a talk radio show in defense of Wilson early on the Ferguson kerfuffle, and purport to be continuing to “gather information on this person.” Again, wholly irrelevant to the Grand Jury’s considerations.
Second, they repeatedly refer to the shooting death of Mike Brown as a “murder.” This is simply inflammatory nonsense. Not even the Grand Jury would make that determination, which can be made only following either Wilson pleading guilty to that charge or the jury returning a verdict of guilty on that charge.
With that cautionary and skeptical note, I suppose it’s nevertheless “news,” so here it is:
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Andrew F. Branca is an MA lawyer and the author of the seminal book “The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition,” available at the Law of Self Defense blog (autographed copies available) and Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle). He also holds Law of Self Defense Seminars around the country, and provides free online self-defense law video lectures at the Law of Self Defense Institute and podcasts through iTunes, Stitcher, and elsewhere.
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Comments
“Anonymous” claims that it [gets] insider information
and
I confess to [no] great familiarity with Anonymous
Just as suggestions…
“Anonymous” claims that it has insider information…
Considering how that bunch operates, I think Andrew could have written “has stolen insider information”.
It’s pretty disgusting stuff from a bunch of self-appointed Stalinists and neo-Mansonists who seem to be trying to incite murder, or spark some sort of “race” war.
“Anonymous” isn’t just reporting preparation by civil authorities, it is doing a call-up of all anarcho-thugs from all over the U.S.
The “reporting” on Wilson and “josie” has the purpose of painting what targeting information on them that they can.
I’m going to differ with you on this analysis of Anon in one small detail. If they were really painting a target on the officer, they would be hitting the Paranoid Conspiracy Theory button pretty hard, with false alligations of covered up bullet holes and vanished ‘witnesses’ who claimed to have seen the whole thing. The real whipping up of hate and rioting seems to be fairly muted compared to what it could be if the police had not been releasing the inconvenient facts as they found them. (i.e. if the video of the store robbery, the autopsy, traces of blood on the gun indicating point-blank firing, etc… had not been released.)
You may be right. I see them as tight-rope walking so as not to really rile up the authorities…especially the Feds.
They make hiding an essential part of who they are and how they operate, and they know that some of their number have been picked off when they raised their profile too high.
I thought it sounded like targeting, too.
do they have info?
probably.
the real issue is they have decided his guilt before any evidence came out and (as they always do) are using it to foment strife.
they WANT to see buildings burning.
the innocence/guilt of anyone involved matters naught, ferguson is just this weeks vehicle they are using to cause riots.
Does anyone really expect an indictment here?
As so many of you have reminded me, Brown was just some Black thug. His life was worthless.
Of course that is a stupid lie.
Nobody here suggested his life was worthless.
He may have MADE his life forfeit by his conduct. He apparently thought his life was of little value.
But people here probably valued his life more highly than did he, from what we see of his conduct and values.
I’m as white as they get and if I go to grab an officer’s gun, I have a rational expectation of death. It is as simple as that.
His life was worthless, and I’m glad it’s over.
Somehow I believe that Officer Wilson would disagree. Just a gut feeling.
If so, then he’s foolish. But he is not an authority on whose life is worth what. It is a fact that the world is a better place without Brown, and Wilson did the world a favour by removing him. Whether Wilson agrees with this is completely irrelevant.
When you attack strangers and threaten them with great bodily harm, don’t be surprised when those “strangers” decide their life is worth a hell of a lot more than yours. And yeah, Mike Brown WAS a thug as we all saw in the video of him roughing up the convenience store clerk.
There was an unarmed white teenager killed by a cop around the same time Mike Brown was, and another one a few weeks later.
Almost no one heard about them. Apparently the life of a white teenager isn’t worth much to the media or the professional left.
There was also a deaf white man killed in FL by a cop since then.
Yes, he was a thug, and his life was worthless. If the grand jury is just and reasonable, it will no-bill Wilson. But why would anyone assume a just and reasonable grand jury? On the balance of probability I expect that if the state asks for an indictment it will get one, regardless of law, facts, or fairness.
Notice to Ferguson liquor store owners: Empty your shelves now … a big lootin’ a-comin.
That’s bad advice.
Notice to all store owners: lock and load.
I find it fascinating that everyone assumes that their will be riots over this verdict. I understand there may be some out side agitators but let’s be honest, they won’t need much encouragement.
And no one, no one is discussing this basic assumption.
Nor are they comparing this reaction to reactions by other ethnic groups.
It’s become accepted behavior and no one questions why that’s so.
But this isn’t an ethnic group. Anonymous is mostly white hipster-types and anarchists.
They are drawn to this kind of turmoil like vultures, just like OccupyWhatever.
IF they get really involved here, it won’t be a little looting and noise in Ferguson. That’s not how it would work if I were calling the tune. It’ll be all over St. Louis, and it will move.
They leave the actual rioting to their ghetto comrades.
They will use anybody who lets them. But you’ll see them on the street, too.
Find some of the video of people taunting the police any time since, say, the OccupyWhatever heyday. They are trained to do it effectively, and they all have plenty of means to record anything they can provoke.
Just. Like. Hamas.
And have someone ready tho hit some poor slob with a hammer so they can blame it on police.
Like David Horowitz has said about his radical days. Tom Hayden was going on about doing something and a black Panther supposedly said “Yeah, right Tom get a n—-r to pull the trigger”. Seems Anonymous is the same/
I find it fascinating that when people already involved in riots there say there will be more riots some dumba$$es don’t believe there will be more riots.
that wasn’t directed at you really, more a general statement.
I actually don’t expect there to be much in the way or “riots”. Everyone basically said the same thing was going to happen after the Zimmerman verdict, but it didn’t. There may be some small problems but I just don’t see it being as wide scale as it was before.
If the cops and National Guard are on the streets ahead of time. The police were all out in force for the OJ trial and the second Rodney King trial. The Koreans were also locked, loaded and had been training for months.
O/T… speaking of street violence. I’m in the middle of a police lockdown as I type this. Drug defendant shot up a witness on the Nash County Court House steps, Nashville NC, about an hour ago. He’s hiding out in the woods across the street from my office (judging by the helicopters overhead an police all over the place). All the employees from neighbor businesses in my building are in my office – I’m the only one with a weapon, lol.
PUT BRANCA ON ALERT – I MAY BE THE NEXT SELF DEFENSE STORY. (LOL)
This is wild – Nashville NC is just a little town of 5,000 people. “Why you gotta carry a weapon, man?” Yeah, right! Why indeed?
Two shot, perp still at large.
http://abc11.com/news/two-shot-at-nash-county-courthouse/369453/
ok you win, I’ll bring the popcorn.
seriously stay safe.
Two victims, apparently two bad guys on the loose. I’m inside the perimeter. Everybody’s on duty today – officers with rifles everywhere. Helicopter focusing on swampy woods across street from my office, about 150 yds away, the edge of a 40 acre stand. People caught inside the perimeter are going business to business trying to account for everyone, hoping there’s been no kidnapping or hostage situation. News helicopters all over too. I’ll be waving at y’all whenever they pass over. Look for a gray haired bigfoot wearing khakis and a yellow shirt.
so to sum it up, if I may.
you got sway with it?
🙂
grr sway should read “away”
Reminds me of a joke. A door-to-door salesman stops at a house, knocks, little boy answers. Is your mommy home? No, the little boy whispers. Is your daddy home? No, the little boy whispers. Is there anybody else at home? No, the little boy whispers. Worried that such a little boy should be home alone, the salesman asks, where is everybody? Out looking for me, the little boy whispers.
—————
Couple hours ago the police moved the search perimeter a miles or two NE of my location and lifted the lockdown on us. I can’t seem to find out if they caught anyone or not, but I’m safe.
This might be late but be safe, not a statistic.
We are all statistics to somebody, lol. I’m fine, safe and sound, and thank you!
Henry, did you matriculate from the school with the Dromedary mascot?
Nope, but I’m no stranger to Buies Creek. Got a fellow guitar picker from down that way, Coats, and we’ve fished the Cape Fear.
Stay safe, Henry!
I have no intention of dying. Ever.
Looks like they caught one shooter. Glad you are safe.
Geez, Henry.
Hope they caught the bad guys. Looks like you’re okay. Good enough.
For accurate information, I’ve found this site to be invaluable. Their research is meticulous and factual.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/
I put no faith whatsoever in Anonymous. YMMV.
Anonymous cowards making veiled threats against an innocent man.
The utter lack of evidence to support as conviction didn’t prevent Zimmerman from being charged. (But Fla doesn’t offer the safeguard, such as it is, of a GJ)
It helps if you actually know what you are talking about.
Florida does indeed have GJs. In both states going to a GJ is optional, with about half of the cases going to the GJ. In both cases the more serious the crime the more likely to go to a GJ.
Now, now…play nice. You’re right, of course.
THE difference is in the integrity of the DA. I don’t agree that there was NO evidence against Zimmerman, though it got a lot more thin as you went up the scale of criminality.
I do think that the decision to prosecute…especially on the charge…was too tainted by politics in Florida.
AND I have not heard from any official that Wilson will be no-billed, so we could all be surprised yet.
I think in the Zimmerman case, that it was significant that the DA did not take the case to the grand jury, which is apparently standard there for 2nd Degree Murder (and therefore including manslaughter), but instead indicted through information. And, then, in their Information, ignored significant exonerating evidence, and included stuff in the Information that was likely known at the time to be false (in particular the claimed bias or discrimination by Zimmerman that provided the depraved mind element of 2nd Degree murder).
Actually it was even worse than that. The original DA and the Police Chief both said there was not enough evidence to charge Zimmerman. It was only after the Police Chief was mysteriously fired and replaced and a “special prosecutor” brought in that Zimmerman was charged. Even after all of that they knew that a GJ would no-bill Zimmerman so they had to charge him through “Affidavit of evidence” (not sure if this is right), that was so full of lies that even Alan Dershowitz (sp?) got on national TV and said it was negligent.
didn’t it go to GJ and they refused then DA office stepped?
or was it DA refused to take to GJ?
cannot remember.
I don’t think that it ever went to the grand jury.
An indictment would be a travesty of justice.
But given the current trends within our justice system, I would really really not be surprised.
Outraged? Yes.
But not surprised.
The GJ are private citizens, so I have faith that there will be no bill handed down. I think they saw photos of Officer Wilson’s bloody face. Just like GZ’s head.
Exactly. The GJ are private citizens, who live in or near the community. They’re probably smart enough to know what will happen (riots) if they return a “no true bill”.
In addition, at least some of them may have a rational fear for their personal safety if they refuse to indict; someone would leak their personal information (and of course suffer no consequences of breaking the law by doing so).
Anon is getting sloppy.professional agitator Shaun King had this last week.
Holder needs to do his job and find out who “Anonymous” are and prosecute them for this threat on Wilson’s life. They did everything but pin a target on him.