Never ones to leave well enough alone, “Authorities are investigating whether Michael Brown’s stepfather intended to incite a riot last week when he urged a crowd in Ferguson, Missouri, to ‘Burn this bitch down’ after the grand jury’s decision was announced, the city’s police chief said Tuesday.” http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/02/justice/ferguson-protests-investigation/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Of course, I’m not endorsing what Louis Head said, and I won’t dignify by calling it “free speech,” because it’s not. It’s inflammatory, incendiary, and provocative speech, and he shouldn’t have said it, especially in the middle of an angry crowd that didn’t need much incitement to turn violent. But you’ve gotta expect people who get shit rubbed in their faces to sometimes say shit in response, and trying to criminalize the anguish of the man whose stepson they killed doesn’t seem like a good community relations move at this juncture, not to mention that it lacks class.
But then, Ferguson’s police union demanding disciplinary action against NFL players for displaying solidarity with protesters against Ferguson police abuses of citizens lacks class, too. Let’s face it, Ferguson’s cops aren’t a class act. They’re thin-skinned, petty, mean, vindictive, and reactionary. So we shouldn’t be surprised they’re now trying to throw Michael Brown’s stepdad in jail for verbalizing the anger he felt whenthe powers that be refused to indict the cop who committed what looks like murder to most of the world, with a grand jury process that looks rigged to most of the world.
