THE CASH STUFF FOR 12-4-14

CASH IN THE APPLE 12-4-14

By Cash Michaels

            FERGUSON – So here we are, a week after the controversial Ferguson grand jury decision in the infamous Michael Brown case that sparked subsequent days, and nights, of fiery protests across the nation.

            After careful research and reflection, I must wholeheartedly agree with critics of the decision not to indict now former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. His story of being “attacked” by the 18-year-old black youth just doesn’t hold water. I’ll get to more of that in a moment.

            What is interesting now is what was interesting after the Trayvon Martin court ruling several months ago, where George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot the 15-year-old black youth after following him and attacking him at a Florida housing complex, was exonerated by a jury who believed that Trayvon, though the victim, was dangerous just because he was a young black male.

            No, I’m not singing a line here. That’s what Zimmerman and his defense team sold at the trial, that young Trayvon Martin was a dangerous young black teenager that would have killed Zimmerman if he had the chance, even though Martin was actually trying to get away from the man who was stalking him.

            You see, what angers black people more than anything is that America keeps falling for the same BS – black male is dangerous, black male must be killed first, end of discussion.

            And if you do kill a black male because you feared for your life, you’re allowed to lie about it, because after all, if you were in the same predicament, you would probably do the same thing too, we’re told.

            So as a result, cops are allowed to lie to high heaven when they kill young black males, and because they are cops – paid to serve us – we give them the benefit of a doubt.

            Problem is, more and more of these encounters are being captured on video without police officers knowing about it, and when that video is matched up with the “official” story that the suspect cops tell, we find that they don’t match up as well, if at all.

            Take the tragic shooting last week of that 12 year-old boy in Cleveland, Ohio. The kid is playing with a toy gun in a snowy park. Someone calls 911, reporting the child, but also saying that the gun is probably fake. The cops pull up, and the video shows instantly shoot the 12 year-old kid down dead.

            But when the cops tell the story, they engaged the kid for at least 30 seconds before finally having no choice but to shoot him for not complying.

            Don’t forget, the L.A. police had no idea they were being taped when they beat Rodney King to a pulp in 1991, so they lied and lied and lied.

            New York City cops knew they were being taped when they put a stranglehold on Eric Garner in the Bronx, and really didn’t care. As far as they were concerned, they did nothing wrong.

            There has been a culture of recklessness when it comes to police officers and black people, and it has been historic. Yes, we certainly support good policing, but that doesn’t mean when we see bad policing we’re going to shutup about it, especially when young black lives are being lost.

            Michael Brown didn’t have to die.

            Let’s go back to August 9^th in Ferguson, where Ofc. Darren Wilson is patrolling the public housing community.

            Michael Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson are walking down the middle of a narrow street when Ofc. Wilson drives up and tells them to get to the curb. They allegedly ignore him and keep walking. Wilson stops, backs up his vehicle, and addresses them again and opens his car door to get out. THEN Michael Brown allegedly pushes the car door closed, and a struggle ensues, with Brown allegedly punching Wilson first. Things go downhill from there.

THAT'S the version that the grand jury was led to believe.

Here's my problem with that...it's not enough.

In order for an 18-year-old boy to get into a fight with a uniformed police officer, he had to feel threatened, AND profoundly disrespected. So let's run this again.

Brown and Johnson are walking in the middle of the street. Wilson drives up. Does he say, "Hey fellas, what's going on? Hey look, do me a favor and take the curb. Don't want any accidents or you to get hurt,”

Not according to Johnson. Johnson told the grand jury and MSNBC that Wilson's demeanor was exactly the opposite, telling them to " Get the f--- out the street." Keep in mind Wilson, in his grand jury testimony, already admitted that that neighborhood was not "well-liked" because of drugs, crime, etc. Clearly he was revealing his own view, so it stands to reason he would come off rough to two young black males he had no respect for to begin with.

But "get the f--- out the street isn't enough to provoke young Brown. Something physical has to follow. That "something", according to Johnson, is Wilson backing his vehicle up to the young men SO close, that when he then opens his door to get out immediately to confront them, it hits Brown, he pushes it back, Wilson then grabs him, Brown punches him to get him to stop, Wilson pulls his gun, Brown reaches to STOP WILSON FROM SHOOTING HIM, the gun eventually goes off striking Brown at least once, Brown lets go and starts running with Johnson, Wilson gets out, tells Brown and Johnson to stop. Calls for backup, starts firing, Brown - WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN SHOT AND IS BLEEDING, stops, is grimacing from the pain, turns, walks towards the officer, and eventually is shot dead. Several witnesses say he had his hands up.

So why run in the first place if your overriding intent is to beat the crap out of the officer? Why run into a hail of bullets and you have NOTHING to shoot back with? Why stop running if your intent, by doing so, is to stop the officer from shooting further? Why is 18 year-old Michael Brown NOT afforded the natural courtesy of BEING SCARED? After all, we have to assume that the boy had never been shot before, so he couldn't have "enjoyed" it! Why is Ofc. Wilson the ONLY one justifiably fearful here, the only one who was NEVER rude and NEVER upset? Why was Ofc. Wilson the ONLY one trying to save his own life? If Michael Brown was so intent on killing Ofc. Wilson, why didn't Dorian Johnson help him? After all, Johnson was one of two black thugs from that not "well-liked" neighborhood that Ofc. Wilson told to "get the f--- out of the street?"

You see, I can't stop thinking about the many, many why's here, because Wilson's story makes no practical sense. He admits to no flaws, and is just doing his job. Wilson will NEVER SAY THAT HE COULD HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY because he realizes this thing got started the moment he disrespected two black males in THEIR neighborhood - where brothers are NOT about to take disrespect from ANYBODY who doesn't live there already.

This is why this case should have gone to trial, so that the officer could be pressed on his story. I believe Dorian Johnson's version of events, NOT because he's black, but because now that we have Wilson's version, it is VERY clear what puddles of mud the officer conveniently stepped over in his testimony.

This is like the Trayvon Martin case script, folks. The black male isn't afforded the right to be afraid for his life, to have ANY emotion EXCEPT rage.

The black male victim is NOT allowed to be HUMAN.

Michael Brown wasn't perfect, and had he lived, he should have answered for that alleged strong-armed robbery. But that kid wasn't a fool. He gets assaulted by a cop (hit with car door and then grabbed, and shot at the car), RUNS AWAY AFTER BEING SHOT, STOPS WHEN TOLD TO IN ORDER TO STOP THE SHOOTING, turns around wounded, perhaps is falling forward when he is shot fatally again.

I lend credence to those witnesses that he had his hands up, otherwise, why the hell would ANYONE run into a hail of bullets? WHY WOULD AN! 8-YEAR-OLD INCOMING COLLEGE FRESHMAN WANT TO DIE, LET ALONE DIE IN THAT MANNER?

The grand jury scam is one of the greatest I've ever seen, because it allowed Darren Wilson to speak UNCHALLENGED for four hours. Was Dorian Johnson given four hours to speak for Michael Brown? Why wasn't Johnson believed, because he looked like a "black thug"? Why didn't any of the grand jurors, who are allowed to ask questions, ask any of the questions above?

The released grand jury documents show that grand jurors were merciless in questioning the witnesses, but the prosecutors questioning Ofc. Wilson treated him like a favorite customer. Official documents of lab tests listed Wilson as the victim and Brown as the perpetrator. Grand jurors were given a wrong, outdated law initially to make their decision, before they were given the correct law.

In effect, so many games were played to make sure that Darren Wilson would not be indicted, and it was sickening.

And, of course, you had the conservatives on Fox News leading the rah-rah club for Wilson, and doing everything they could to pour dirt on Michael Brown’s memory…the same way they did to Trayvon Martin. They are perfectly fine with there being two totally different tracks of justice, defined by race.

They are happy with it.

Reasonable, thinking people are not.

Make sure you tune in every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.waug-network.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).

           Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.

Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.

                                                                              -30-