Bob McCulloch (c. 1952- ), an American lawyer, has been the county prosecutor for St Louis County, Missouri since 1991. St Louis County is a suburban county just west of the city of St Louis.
On August 20th 2014 McCulloch began presenting the Michael Brown shooting case to a grand jury. Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by Darren Wilson, a White police officer.
The grand jury will determine what crime, if any, Wilson should be charged with. It will only hear what McCulloch presents.
McCulloch seems to side with Officer Wilson, the killer:
- He had plenty of evidence to charge Wilson without a grand jury, yet did not.
- When Wilson’s name was made public, McCulloch made public a video of Brown shoplifting, an event that had nothing to do with the shooting.
- He will allow Wilson to speak before the grand jury. That is rare since prosecutors generally try to make the best case for bringing a charge.
When the governor put state police in charge of Ferguson after a hideous show of military force by county police, McCulloch opposed it:
“To denigrate the men and women of the county police department is shameful.”
County prosecutors are often in bed with the police since they work closely together to put away criminals.
But for McCulloch it goes beyond just that: his father was a police officer. So was his brother, his nephew and his cousin. He wanted to be one too but lost a leg to bone cancer at age 17.
It gets worse: When McCulloch was 12, his father was killed in the line of duty by a Black man.
Of his childhood tragedies:
“I think all of it gave me great empathy for victims.”
He used the story of his father to get elected in 1991. He has been re-elected repeatedly ever since, having made a name for himself as being “tough on crime”. Most of the people he has put behind bars are Black – in a county that is 23% Black. McCulloch is White.
McCulloch is no stranger to police brutality cases:
The Jack in the Box shooting: In June 2000, just up the road from Ferguson, two undercover White police officers shot dead two unarmed Black men, Earl Murray and Ronald Beasley. The police shot them 21 times. This was in the middle of the day in the parking lot of a fast food joint. All this because Murray was a suspected low-level drug dealer (he had cocaine on him). Beasley was not suspected of anything.
The police said Murray and Beasley were trying to run them over. That turned out to be a lie.
McCulloch brought no charges. As to his “great empathy for victims”, he called Murray and Beasley “bums”. They, not the police, were the “suspects”. You know, like how McCulloch made Brown a “suspect” by releasing that “strong-arm robbery” video.
There are protests and a petition with over 75,000 signatures calling for McCulloch to step down and for Governor Jay Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor.
– Abagond, 2014.
See also:
- The petition: MoveOn.org: Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Murder of Michael Brown
- Michael Brown
- Ferguson
- Henry Davis
- The mass incarceration of black men
- Phantom Caucasian justice
- Southern Strategy – part of which is the racist dog whistle of being “tough on crime”
- Marilyn Mosby – his counterpart in the Freddie Gray case
Is it just me or does this sound very similar to apartheid? Just a slightly different flavor.
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I know i keep pasting links but here is one that is applicable.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/mound-city-ferguson-mcculloch_n_5691472.html
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Alot of these Irish descendents seem to be perpetrators of injustice. This scum bag McCulloh is no different….
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Just my case in point when Irish Americans think they ever suffered injustice or think they are not “White”. There you have it folks…
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I signed that petition
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Not only should this prosecutor be dismissed from this case these signature should also petition his dismissal as a prosecutor for his apparent bias when applying the law to certain individuals of a particular race.
Will this happen? Probably not. Killing unarmed black people is sanctioned by THE SYSTEM of racism-white supremacy. It will not stop itself unless we stop it… by any means necessary.
It’s too dangerous being BLACK in America. Being unarmed (with your hands up or your hands cuffed behind your back) does not render Black people less dangerous to the modern day equivalent of slave patrols designed to serve and protect some while controlling and killing others whose crime is often none other than being the wrong color in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Anne
Keep posting the links because I appreciate it.
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@ Mary Burrell:
Same here! Here’s a link for those who want to sign the petition.
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/appoint-a-special-prosecutor
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If I want to sign the petition, is it better to use my USA address?
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[…] Source: abagond.wordpress.com […]
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[…] Bob McCulloch (c. 1952- ), an American lawyer, has been the county prosecutor for St Louis County, Missouri since 1991. St Louis County is a suburban county just west of the city of St Louis.On August 20th 2014 McCulloch began presenting the Michael Brown shooting case to a grand jury. Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by Darren Wilson, a White police officer.The grand jury will determine what crime, if any, Wilson should be charged with. It will only hear what McCulloch presents.McCulloch seems to side with Officer Wilson, the killer:He had plenty of evidence to charge Wilson without a grand jury, yet did not.When Wilson’s name was made public, he also made public a video of alleged shoplifting by Brown.He will allow Wilson to speak before the grand jury. That is rare since prosecutors generally try to make the best case for bringing a charge.- Click through for more – […]
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🙂
Heh, a Grand Jury! Those are guaranteed institutional mechanisms for state agents to get off scott free.
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The prosecutor should step aside for this case and be replaced by a black prosecutor. The reason is that the case will either be dismissed or the officer acquitted on grounds that lethal force was justified. It’s better if that happens under a black prosecutor so racists can’t use it to stir up hatred.
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The whole thing is preposterous. Law enforcement is completely corrupt and out of control. Things have been so bad for so long that people are actually prepared to believe that lethal force to the extent of shooting an unarmed young man 6 times (the figure I have seen quoted) may be justifiable.
Accounts by the police have been conflicting and unreliable. Law enforcement and local officialdom CANNOT BE TRUSTED AT ALL. Not just in that town, but in general.
Appointing a black prosecutor would be a futile PR gesture. Whoever got the job would be hand-picked by the establishment. The very role of prosecutor is, by definition, one that shows that the person is embedded within the ruling power structure and works in its interests. Its interests in this case are to justify the murder of Michael Brown.
Yesterday I was shown the video of the shooting of Kajieme Powell. Once again, the video shows that the police account was untruthful.
The guy is reported to have had severe learning difficulties. The video shows him clearly behaving in an irrational and agitated manner. He needed assistance, not 9 bullets. That murder will also be “justified” somehow.
A black prosecutor will fix NOTHING. It will serve the interests of police and officialdom, not the interests of the people or of some mythical “justice”.
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Big Momma
You are as about as bright as sh*t in the sun. It is not about the race of the prosecutor or officer. It is about justice and getting to the truth. A bias individual can not and will not do that.
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To qualify my comment above: a black prosecutor is obviously better than a white one, but my point is that it’s still a rigged game and guess who won’t win.
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A lot of my friends? On fb are socially aware, and, you know, black. I am not black, and i wont be. Ever. Also, i have options over people in the hood. My parents would opine that well my mom anyway, ‘they gave me every advantage’ but my net worth is -300k. I dont think thats helping. Half is student loans for USC LA not South Carolina. So, there is advantages of people who can provide transportation etc but the thrift stores i have found all manner of business dress and you know what sell some weed or something. And please be advised i hustle so good im legit and dont work for noone. Havent had a boss in 5 years really. At will. Lately i cant handle these videos on my timeline, of cops shooting people especially because i was raised around guns. I love them. They love me. I cant have one. I could. Easily. I do not. But when them cops say im going to kill you with that m4 i know would be like so perfect! And i hear those shots on that video, amateur even, see cops man shooting people and wow i think i have ptsd? Not sure. Im actually logging out of fb. A lot. Its like really? for me? I cant handle it man. Its helping me see if i um buy a couple bottles of vodka and wind up in ferguson mo it might be bad. So its helping me not drink? Not exactly now? But in general. It is black and white but it is a superset as well actually duality is not my thing. So, just holding on, i am so not watching tv too 4 days now. Omg sorry bout that as usual.
@abagond not sure if i should put () around fb links or if you administratively can handle that, not trying to mirror my timeline here
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Well, this is turning out well…SMH.
This is just a glaring example of the so-called criminal justice system working against the rights of black people. Bob McCulloch is just one of many with the same ideals about black folks. There’s enough reason to suspect (at least) he has that racist avenging superhero complex, “My father was killed by a black man. So they all must pay!”
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Am I mistaken or did I hear this Mccullouch charactor, that I am no fan of, come on the news and say he is more than willing to step out of this case if the governer sais so …he said he would be happy to step out if the governers would man up and say so….so it would apear that its in the governers hands totaly about this , and , I only hope the governer does boot him out
And, Micheal Browns parents were on the news today , expressing that violent demonstrators, coming from outside, who were the majority from the outside, were hindering the case
Im in the states now seeing this …am I mistaken?
Ive seen a huge community meeting in the church their , over flowed with the community, with an enormous line standing outside in the rain , who couldnt get in…people were expressing their anger and indignation in a chosen non violent manner, talking with officar Johnson….cheering with him….the real people of Ferguson
Ive seen the people of the community cleaning up the morning after the violent demonstrations , saying they dont want outsiders coming in doing this
Am I mistaken , or are the people of Ferguson saying they want justice, but dont want outsiders insighting violence
Are people really listening to the people of Ferguson?
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So , v8 , its good you turned your tv off and logged out , so you wouldnt take your vodka bottles, get drunk , go to Ferguson and take out your personal disgrunteled emotions at the police out , in Ferguson…
Because , the real people of Ferguson dont want people like that coming in , causing violence and chaos and making a mess in their community
So , good for you
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@sharina: I want one of those paid trolling jobs Big Momma has where do i sign up? LOL!
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@Mary
Rofl.
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@ B.R.
1. About 90% of the people who have been arrested turned out to be from out of town.
2. Governor Jay Nixon has said it is McCulloch’s decision whether to step down. McCulloch said governor should man up and either remove him or back him fully. It seems like each wants to be able to blame the other in case this whole thing ends badly.
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Thanks for those figures and clarifications , Abagond…I would love to see Mcculloch removed…
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This should be proof enough for anti-racist to realize white racist can not be reasoned with. They don’t even care about the lives of teenagers
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/22/us/missouri-police-officer-suspended/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
“St. Louis cop: ‘If I need to, I will kill a whole bunch more'”
i venture out to cnn after a real annoying day still tryin to avoid msm and this is the headline. i really have a problem with this attitude so pervase
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*pervasive
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Racism no doubt played a part in this and is playing a part in the aftermath, racism seems to be part of the whole system in that region still, but this is also part of a much bigger problem: police killing the very people they are sworn to protect.
There is something seriously wrong in USA today. The police seem to be ready to shoot to kill anyone they please all over the country, for no reason at all, or what ever reason at all. Something has gone terribly wrong for a long time. And the worst of all: they do not seem to understand that it is simply wrong.
I remember seeing a document years ago where a veteran cop from NYC said that during his career as a NYPD police officer, including tours in such places as Harlem and South Bronx, he pulled out his gun twice and never did fire a single shot. This was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Race riots, heroin epidemic, crack epidemic, gangs… And this cop never shot even once at anyone. And more to the point: he was proud of it.
I personally was once stopped on at night in the street by some feds, FBI and/or ATF, in early 90’s. They had rifles and such, but they did not shoot us down. Scary as it was, is was more of an annoyance than anything else.
Today, some plus 20 years later, they are shooting everyone.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/24/james-boyd-killed-by-cops_n_5021117.html
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A black ex-cop in the St. Louis police department weighs in on the need to use special prosecutors in police brutality cases and the failure of police departments to police themselves:
Being a cop showed me just how racist and violent the police are. There’s only one fix.
Redditt Hudson, a former cop, works for the NAACP and chairs the board of the Ethics Project. The views expressed here are his own.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/06/i-was-a-st-louis-cop-my-peers-were-racist-and-violent-and-theres-only-one-fix/)
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