When pressed for a reason he released both Wilson’s
identity and this video at the exact same time, Jackson stated that he
had received numerous media requests for the specific information
related to the apparent robbery of the store. However, Matthew Keys, who
writes for The Blot, confirmed on Friday that the Ferguson Police Department had not received any specific FOIA requests
relating to a robbery involving Brown. In fact, the only request they
got related to Brown stemmed from a general request from Joel Currier, a
crime and police reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
After Keys article had come out on Friday, the Huffington Post’s Matt Sledge asked Currier
on Twitter the specific nature of Currier’s request to the police
department regarding Brown. Currier responded to Sledge with the
following tweets.
As Keys pointed out in his article, Currier was the
only one who made a specific request to Ferguson PD, and his request was
actually quite broad and encompassing. Other pieces of information that
could have been included per Currier’s request (911 call, dispatch
reports, incident report) have still not been released. Instead, Jackson
decided to release a tape of an alleged robbery that he admitted later
had nothing to do with the encounter between Wilson and Brown. The
police chief himself has stated that Wilson only confronted Brown over
jaywalking and was not aware of any apparent robbery that had been
committed minutes earlier.
Jackson’s release of the tape reignited tension in
the community and led to a renewed outburst of violence and looting that
evening. After a day and evening filled with peaceful protests that
Thursday, anger and frustration with local police swelled back up on
Friday after Jackson’s press conference and subsequent statements.
Eventually, the police force on the scene, commanded by Capt. Ron
Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, resorted back to the militarized
tactics that brought heavy criticism in the days immediately following
Brown’s death.
In my personal opinion, I think Jackson released the
tape for petty and personal reasons. After he and St. Louis County
police chief Jon Belmar had been roundly criticized for their excessive
use of police force in dealing with protesters, Missouri Governor Jay
Nixon removed them from command in Ferguson and placed Johnson at the
helm. Johnson then bonded with the protesters as he walked with them as
they marched and spoke with them personally. He also took a ‘soft’
approach, asking his officers to not wear tactical gear and basically
allow protesters to gather peacefully and make their voices heard.
This obviously rubbed Jackson the wrong way.
Therefore, he decided to antagonize and incite the community by
releasing the store tape the same time as Wilson’s name. He knew this
would eventually cause anger to spill over and force Johnson to
eventually change tactics. While Johnson allowed looting to take place
on Friday without sending in a heavy police presence, eventually he
pushed for a curfew and allowed the officers on the scene to utilize
SWAT gear and the military-style vehicles and weapons that had been
heavily criticized.
Beyond setting up Johnson to fail, Jackson also
likely released the tape to provide further cover for Wilson. He knew
that releasing Wilson’s name was going to be a huge story. Therefore, he
wanted to do whatever possible to distract and redirect the focus away
from Wilson. Jackson’s big idea was to go ahead and use his national
spotlight to portray Brown as a vicious thug and make that the story.
All of a sudden, the media would write about a supposed robbery and push
Wilson and his identity to the side.
Thankfully for the people of Ferguson, the Department of Justice is investigating the entire police department
for civil rights violations. Considering the actions of its police
chief in just these past few weeks, it seems apparent that they will
find quite a bit to hammer the PD on. As for Jackson, how this guy still
has a job is beyond me. He needs to be fired ASAP!
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