Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 49

Updates on Police Killing of Kajieme Powell

Saturday  Former police chief of Tallahassee, Fla. hits police actions in this killing--says one could have tased him while the other kept gun on him because he was still good distance away.

Finally, the St. Louis Dispatch with first few details on Powell's life, though just recent months (other reports have his mother passing away not long ago).  Seemed "smart" and "quiet" and "courteous."  

Friday 1:30 p.m.  Antonio French, local alderman, so tough and eloquent on the Brown shooting, on CNN just now and continues--as he has since it happened--to advise accepting that police acted within their rules, man had weapon, and will not be prosecuted. 

I noted what this writer says from the start:  Powell looks back in video to see people behind him who might get hit if police fired on him there-- and so deliberately walked far to left to get them out of line of fire.  This shows 1) he really was ready to die 2) had perhaps more concern for human life at that point than the two cops who plugged him.


8:30 a.m.  Writer at The Economist, of all places,
Jake Tapper of CNN goes to scene of shooting and actually measures how far Powell likely was from nearest cop when shot and comes up with greater distance than we and others estimated--at least 16 feet from closest cop and more from the second one.  Police chief had claimed two to four feet.  Tapper's piece better than nearly anyone else on TV so far although too much focus on accepted police protocol (without mentioning other options such as taser, temporary retreat, etc.)

Thursday 9:40 p.m.  Oddly, given the Maddow segment (see below), a piece just up at the MSNBC site is one of the most critical of the police on a mainstream site today.  And first to quote a new witness, who says, as video shows, that Powell was just walking with hands at side and didn't seem like "a threat."

NYT w/ a useless report, actually claiming that from video you can't tell if Powell has arm raised with knife. (See my full report from yesterday.)

Rachel Maddow opens show with this on MSNBC.   Starts with several parts of video.  Times incident from moment cops drove up to 23 seconds.  Like others, she praises "transparency" of police and for putting out video themselves (even though they had no choice as it was about to come out). But she does not  point out right away that he also gave much false testimony.  

Also she ticks off three questions they asked the department this morning and answers--even though everything they asked about had already come out.  Then hails the "transparency" again as reason there hasn't been much community protest there.  She then interviews a local radio host, Kenneth Murdock.  He says community upset about police acting like "soldiers" and need for dash camera in all cars--and points out, which Rachel did not, that police lied about Powell hold knife up as he moved toward cops. 

7:25  Erin Burnett on CNN rolls part of tape again.  St. Louis defends police fully again.  Powell made "bee line" for officers.  "Point of no return."  Van Jones (whose father was a cop) says "probably legally justifiable" but "probably avoidable."  Guy with mental health issues "can be talked down."  Not enough training for police and too many weapons.  Repeats again that "probably legally justifiable."  End of story, I guess?

2:15 p.m. CNN just now with latest defense of police from ex-cop policing "expert."  Says "they had to use deadly force."  Says what if taser doesn't work.  Couldn't "negotiate." Shooting in limb might not stop him.  Must shoot "until threat negated."  Then host runs tape of police chief, hails police expert.  The usual.  No questions about false police accounts. (CNN last night showed clearer tape that they were given perhaps by guy who shot it.)

It's revealing (though host doesn't pursue, naturally) that ex-cop says Tasers can be effective up to 15 feet.  Powell closer than that to one cop so theoretically accuracy might be pretty good.

Note:  Police Chief Sam Dotson continues to fully defend shooting with such as "They used lethal force in a lethal force situation." Seems a bit prejudicial for any in-house investigation....

Earlier Thursday:  I first raised questions about the shooting of Kajieme Powell in St. Louis, near Ferguson, on Tuesday and then I was first, I believe, to post on a blog and analyze the cell phone video that emerged, yesterday afternoon.  I updated for the rest of the day and critiqued the very weak coverage on CNN and MSNBC all night (with Chris Hayes, among others, dropping the ball).  Now I'll continue to follow today.

It's really gone viral, with NYT (although in limited way) now covering on its site.  And the paper's conservative columnist @DouthatNYT just tweeted a string of comments critical of the police as shown in video, such as : I think it's impossible to watch the video and not see a policing disaster....I have never been directly menaced by a lunatic with a knife. I also have not been trained, on the public $, to handle situations like that." 

The contradictions in police account that I raised remain unresolved. This piece at The Atlantic is all over the place but includes some valid postings by others and link to Ezra Klein piece grappling with it.  I still have not read one word about his background, beyond him telling some at the scene that his mother recently died, and that he had moved in with grandmother.  I've also not seen any signs of street protests in the neighborhood, but maybe not covered much.

New Republic piece seems to think police followed policy-but policy is "insane."

The Usual: Israel Claims on Dead Kid Refuted, 'NYT' Publishes

You could expect no less, but once again Jodi Rudoren and colleagues publish pure Israeli spin without questioning. The latest is death of Israeli child, age 4 (the fourth Israeli civilian to die in the two-month conflict), due to a mortar.  IDF claims the shell was fired from a Gaza school where refugees huddled, usually run by U.N.  First, the IDF admitted the firing was not "from" the school but "near" it.  Yet the NYT still refers to "from."  Then it said the facility nearby was run by Hamas, not the UN.  The Associated Press went with this, too, but Chris Gunness, the UN spokesman in Gaza, just tweeted, "AP about to publish Israeli Army retraction of accusation that the weapon that killed the child today came from an UNRWA installation."  We'll see how quickly the NYT picks this up.

Shocker? Racist St. Louis County Cop

Amazing story on CNN just now:  That cop, a 35-year veteran, who shoved Don Lemon on the air the other day--much overplayed--turns out to be a racist who on tape brags about "hating" everyone and being willing to "kill" anyone.  He gave a speech not long ago for the Oath Keepers and someone sent link to Lemon overnight.  On the tape Sgt. Maj. Dan Page also hits gays and claims Obama is an illegal alien born in Kenya.  "I don't trust nobody and I hate everybody. I hate y'all too--I hate everybody. I'm into diversity. I kill everybody."  Says there are four Supreme Court who are "sodomites." He calls all police "cynical." His solution to severe domestic marital disputes?  Both parties should kill themselves. He has "no qualms" about killing people himself.

And: "We have no reason to pass hate crime laws." Refers to "black-robed perverts" in Washington.  And more. "You're going to go to the ballot box or the bullet box in the next 18 months."

Now the police chief has suspended him and  apologized on air for his remarks.  Chief John Belmar said Page will also have to take psychiatric exam.  And he asked people to send him any other videos of any other officers making such statements. The Oath Keepers claim he is not a member but admit they did invite him to speak.  Local NAACP board member John Gaskin on CNN just now points out "this was someone who was to 'serve and protect.'  Very concerning that an officer like that is on the ground--who knows what he's done."  Also concerning that his views might have been "tolerated" by colleagues, why didn't they speak out, especially about killing people.  

Here's full tape:

Outrage Grows Over Police Killing of Kajieme Powell

9:40 p.m.  Oddly, given the Maddow segment (see below), a piece just up at the MSNBC site is one of the most critical of the police on a mainstream site today.  And first to quote a new witness, who says, as video shows, that Powell was just walking with hands at side and didn't seem like "a threat."

NYT w/ a useless report, actually claiming that from video you can't tell if Powell has arm raised with knife. (See my full report from yesterday.)

Rachel Maddow opens show with this on MSNBC.   Starts with several parts of video.  Times incident from moment cops drove up to 23 seconds.  Like others, she praises "transparency" of police and for putting out video themselves (even though they had no choice as it was about to come out). But she does not  point out right away that he also gave much false testimony.  

Also she ticks off three questions they asked the department this morning and answers--even though everything they asked about had already come out.  Then hails the "transparency" again as reason there hasn't been much community protest there.  She then interviews a local radio host, Kenneth Murdock.  He says community upset about police acting like "soldiers" and need for dash camera in all cars--and points out, which Rachel did not, that police lied about Powell hold knife up as he moved toward cops. 

7:25  Erin Burnett on CNN rolls part of tape again.  St. Louis defends police fully again.  Powell made "bee line" for officers.  "Point of no return."  Van Jones (whose father was a cop) says "probably legally justifiable" but "probably avoidable."  Guy with mental health issues "can be talked down."  Not enough training for police and too many weapons.  Repeats again that "probably legally justifiable."  End of story, I guess?

2:15 p.m. CNN just now with latest defense of police from ex-cop policing "expert."  Says "they had to use deadly force."  Says what if taser doesn't work.  Couldn't "negotiate." Shooting in limb might not stop him.  Must shoot "until threat negated."  Then host runs tape of police chief, hails police expert.  The usual.  No questions about false police accounts.

It's revealing (though host doesn't pursue, naturally) that ex-cop says Tasers can be effective up to 15 feet.  Powell closer than that to one cop so theoretically accuracy might be pretty good.

Note:  Police Chief Sam Dotson continues to fully defend shooting with such as "They used lethal force in a lethal force situation." Seems a bit prejudicial for any in-house investigation....

Earlier Thursday:  I first raised questions about the shooting of Kajieme Powell in St. Louis, near Ferguson, on Tuesday and then I was first, I believe, to post on a blog and analyze the cell phone video that emerged, yesterday afternoon.  I updated for the rest of the day and critiqued the very weak coverage on CNN and MSNBC all night (with Chris Hayes, among others, dropping the ball).  Now I'll continue to follow today.

It's really gone viral, with NYT (although in limited way) now covering on its site.  And the paper's conservative columnist @DouthatNYT just tweeted a string of comments critical of the police as shown in video, such as : I think it's impossible to watch the video and not see a policing disaster....I have never been directly menaced by a lunatic with a knife. I also have not been trained, on the public $, to handle situations like that." 

The contradictions in police account that I raised remain unresolved. This piece at The Atlantic is all over the place but includes some valid postings by others and link to Ezra Klein piece grappling with it.  I still have not read one word about his background, beyond him telling some at the scene that his mother recently died, and that he had moved in with grandmother.  I've also not seen any signs of street protests in the neighborhood, but maybe not covered much.

New Republic piece seems to think police followed policy-but policy is "insane." 

Williamsport: Taney's Town?

For Mo'Ne and the guys, great Steve Earle song, "Taneytown."  From his best album.

'NYT' Public Ed. Hits Paper's 'New Witnesses" in Ferguson Story

Update:  O'Donnell returned tonight by natually citing public editor, and going after the paper's response in her column.  Also pointed out that an editorial in the paper, like the news story, claimed wrongly that witness accounts "differ sharply"--at least from what we know. 

Earlier:  I tweeted last night about Lawrence O'Donnell's strong takedown of that NYT story yesterday based mainly on anonymous sources that suggested that maybe a bunch of witnesses either backed Officer Wilson's account of at least disputed others on killing of Mike Brown.   Now that paper's public editor Margaret Sullivan joins in.

I’ll grant that the Ferguson story is a difficult one to report, with dangerous conditions for reporters and photographers, relentless deadlines and shifting story lines. The Times has generally covered it accurately and well, from all that I can see.

But this article doesn’t measure up, for the reasons detailed above.  The Times is asking readers to trust its sourcing, without nearly enough specificity or detail; and it sets up an apparently equal dichotomy between named eyewitnesses on one hand and ghosts on the other.

Talib Kweli vs. Don Lemon

I tweeted this as it happened but here's part of epic "discussion" between the hip hop artist and the CNN host.  They did end with a handshake.

That 'Other' Ferguson Area 'Officer-Involved' Shooting

As you probably know, another young black man was shot and killed about three miles from Ferguson, MO, yesterday afternoon, this time by two young (white) officers.  I posted this yesterday:

Not sure why media and most locals seem okay with explanation of shooting of the young black man with knife--now IDed as Kajieme Powell, age 25--near Ferguson, trusting police account.  Indeed, the account itself may be mainly accurate but the fact remains, the dead man was known to have severe mental issues and even with knife was there no other option for two white cops, such as tasering or momentary retreat?  Chris Hayes among those who seem very impressed that Police Chief Sam Dotson waded into crowd to take questions--but that doesn't mean the shooting itself was fully warranted.  Just asking.  This young man was just a bit older than Mike Brown--and allegedly known to be mentally impaired.  He had taken two energy drinks--and a muffin from the store.  Earlier Hayes had tweeted:   "People here not disputing the knife, but all asking 'why not shoot him in the leg?'  'I thought they were supposed to have training.'"

Update #1:  Certainly, the St. Louis police have been more open in stark contrast to the Ferguson variety.  They posted this incident report within hours, for example.   And this video from inside and outside the store today.  But a couple points.  The chief has now confirmed, it seems,  that the officers had tasers--but did not use them because the victim was wearing a sweat shirt which the wires may not penetrate.  But the video clearly shows that it is a mostly unzipped sweat shirt with t-shirt underneath and plenty of space to hit him in chest.  The video also does not show the shooting at all--it stops when the store owner goes outside to try to get Powell to pay.  The chief has also now revealed that each cop fired six shots.

And they say they have recovered knife--but have not described length or shown picture of it.  So questions remain. Meanwhile, I have not been able to find any background on Powell, beyond claim that he was from outside area and living with kin and until shot was telling folks he was upset that his mother had recently died.

Update #2   Now a cell phone video has been posted on You Tube. A little distant but see what you think--as witness keeps saying "they could have tased that man."  Note that Powell appears to be slowly walking toward officers--with arms asides--and far from rushing them or lunging at them.  He is also much further from them than Dotson has claimed--at least 8 feet from one and 13 feet from the other (who is also partly behind car). when shot--although he then tumble closer.  Dotson yesterday said he was only two or three feet from the officers when shot, which "is a lethal range for a knife,” said.  He also called it "life and death" situation and claimed victim was "three to four feet" away.  Jeff Roorda of the St. Louis Police Officers Association calls the video "exculpatory." Your thoughts?

Too far to see knife in hand but you see him take hand out of pocket, possibly with knife in it, as he approaches cops.  Must be fairly small knife to fit fully in pocket of hoodie.  Police Chief Dotson yesterday said he had been holding it with overhand grip, which would suggest a scary lunging action.  Today he corrected to say actually it was underhand, perhaps at side, a quite different image.   Passersby (and the man in red cap who I think is the store manager he had just shoplifted from) had been laughing at him in the seconds before so one wonders how big his knife might have been.  Final touch:  Cops shoot him five or six times while on ground, then handcuff him. (Vice News visited scene last night and found shop owner with M-16 out ready to defend store.)

Update #3  Chris Hayes promised me on Twitter he would cover this tonight and he just did.   Hayes shows Dotson today describing what's in video--far different from what is in it (he has Powell wandering from one side of car to the other, you'd never know it was all over in 14 seconds).  Then praises Dotson for calling victim's grandmother.  Then interviews St. Louis mayor who says they released video because guy who shot it was "shopping it" around (so had no choice).  Hayes affirms officers followed "training protocol."  But says some who see video might ask if non-lethal force could have been used.  Mayor says, well, we'll look at it.

No questions about disparity in Dotson account vs. video, use of tasers, and so on. Then Hayes on to fear of crowd protest and it's over. Hayes says he's watched video, and knows police chief has put out false info on shooting but lets it go.  I'm told CNN for Anderson Cooper's show did show part of video--but then someone said you have to give "benefit of a doubt" to the police.

Update #4 Dotson on live on CNN with Don Lemon just now.  He admits that Powell's hand with knife was by side, but still posed threat.  "The officers did what I think you or I would do, they protected their life in that situation." He then claims tasers not 100% sure thing so you have to shoot or you have an injured officer (but no means clear in this case).  Then claims they released video "when we didn't have to" though mayor (see above) had said they released because they knew it was about to come out.   Then got no tough questions but usual thanks plus handshakes for being "open."

Then, later, Mark O'Mara, attorney, tells Don Lemon that maybe one cop could have used taser and the other taken one shot.  But then says cops usually can get away with this. Another guest named Julia then says cops trained heavily to avoid shooting so you can't support firing so much. Good new piece on video by Ezra Klein at Vox.  Raises question about troubling gap between police feeling this is "exculpatory" and most people feeling the opposite.  Also:  What if police were unarmed and had to find another way to handle (as happens all over the country every day when police are confronted by crazy street people).

Cop Tries to Explain Just-Do-What-You're-Told Op-Ed

Veteran cop (and prof) who wrote that just-do-what-I-tell-you op-ed in Wash Post just now on CNN.  Sunil Dutta  claims oft-cited paragraph has been "taken out of context."  Was just telling people to "cooperate with officers" after being detained legally.  "If you challenge officer and officer feels threatened" then watch out.  That's the time you need to shut up.

"What I am tryint to say clearly is, when you're approached by a police office you have right to be treated with respect."  He says in his own career he never had to use force and only in "few cases" do officers "abuse  their territory." If there's a "lawful detention then cooperate with officer."   In majority of times then "you will be treated with respect."  Says every officer should be equipped with video recording for more transparency. 

Beethoven, Tolstoy and "Kreutzer"

Having  read Tolstoy's novella "The Kreutzer Sonata," inspired by the Beethoven classic,  and seen the acclaimed play off-Broadway last month, I was shocked to discover  that a Kreutzer Sonata film appeared a few years back, starring Danny Huston and Anjelica Huston, and directed by Bernard Rose--who also gave us the troubled Immortal Beloved--and it's even on Netflix streaming.  Now, today, NYT with big piece on new look at Tolstoy's wife resenting portrayal of wife (i.e. her) and even writing a couple of works in response. Here's that film trailer and Beethoven's piece below that: