On Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly references the latest New York Times' article revealing "new" forensic evidence from federal sources. The report shows that there was blood found on the gun, the police car door panel and Officer Darren Wilson's uniform. Civil rights charges are not likely, that's how we know it was from a federal source. There was no mention of the other five (or six) shots fired after the initial skirmish. Even with limited evidence, it's clear O'Reilly is convinced Wilson's actions were justified and the Ferguson prosecutor is handling things masterfully.
The case is looking less propitious for the Brown family that justice will be done.
That government officials familiar with the civil rights investigation into the shooting are leaking information to the media on Wilson’s side of the story, however, suggests the Justice Department will not be pressing civil rights charges against the police officer. It also calls into question whether the St. Louis County grand jury, tasked with determining whether Wilson committed a crime, will indict him.
O'Reilly asked the family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, what was his takeaway from this article. Since Crump and the family have gotten nothing official from the investigation, he told O'Reilly that they know nothing more than the rest of us.
On MSNBC's The Last Word, on the very same night, Lawrence O'Donnell eviscerated the New York Times' article as a shoddy piece of journalism which revealed nothing new. It claimed, in the very first sentence, that it was a scoop, but it certainly isn't.
"The police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. two months ago told the investigator he was pinned in his vehicle and in fear for his life as he struggled over his gun with Mr. Brown." (Once again, nothing new)
O'Donnell even played a clip from the Factor from late August that falsely claimed Wilson suffered an "orbital blowout fracture of his eye socket." Who's trying the case in the media now, O'Reilly?
The Factor host was hell bent on proving that the real problem is that damned Al Sharpton and others like him (black people), who are the ones trying the case in the media. Sharpton, on October 18th said, "You are asking me to believe that a young man that was shot and knew he didn't have a gun ran back at you in toward a gun that already shot him." O'Reilly thinks that it's preposterous that Mike Brown wouldn't be trying to get into a police car, unarmed, as Crump suggested. Black people are always trying to jump into cop cars, in case you didn't know that.
O'Reilly quashes any doubt that the Ferguson prosecutor is making the right decision by choosing the grand jury option, not a trial.
The grand jury is our system here. To say we don't need it, that's a little arrogant.
But it doesn't have to be that way, as the prosecutor could have rejected the grand jury option, but obviously he chose to disavow a trial that would be more transparent, more thorough and would likely ensure due process for all parties involved.
O'Reilly emphatically states that the NY Times article raises reasonable doubt.
That article couldn't have been good news for you if you believe an injustice was done.
Benjamin Crump tried futilely to explain the facts to Bill-O, reminding him that eyewitness and friend, Dorian Johnson recalled that the police officer tried to pull him into the car, there was a shot fired and then, they took off running. This all seems to be consistent with other eye witnesses' accounts. Not only did the article reveal nothing new about the incident, even O'Reilly, much like O'Donnell, admits there's a lot unaccounted for with regards to the additional fatal shots fired.
Condescending as ever, Bill refers to Crump as a stand up guy and was surprised he's associated himself with Al Sharpton who's convicting the officer in the media. It seems every right-wing media outlet places blame on Michael Brown for his own murder, so those liberal (black) people are the ones who are out of line. At this point, Crump's jaw was on the ground, so he couldn't refute this ridiculous claim.
O'Reilly is certain that it makes fair-minded people a little queasy, especially African-Americans, who 'don't like people being convicted in the media by the likes of Al Sharpton.' Crump couldn't have been more cordial to the biased and pompous blowhard who fails to see the obvious injustice in this whole tragic episode. Unfortunately for the Brown family, the bar to prove that excessive force was unjustified is set very high in officer-involved shootings and Wilson will likely emerge unscathed from this tragic injustice.
