More Ferguson, to be filed in the Annals of Really Bad Policing — video of a cop in last night’s protests in Ferguson of a cop waving his weapon at peaceful protesters telling them that ” I will fucking kill you!” There are two videos here — one of the cop threatening the protester and a clearer one of the cop and the other cop who caught up to him to get him to lower his weapon. Seriously, this cop doesn’t look angry — he looks scared to death. In a group of people with their hands up (and often you can see the light of smartphones filming), folks. No wonder he didn’t want to give his name.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Rick Perry has a mug shot, y’all!
Jeffrey Toobin has a piece at the New Yorker noting that once these kinds of cases get brought, the idea that “everyone does it” doesn’t typically fly:
So Perry may have a point, but he also has a problem. Prosecutors have wide, almost unlimited, latitude to decide which cases to bring. The reason is obvious: there is simply no way that the government could prosecute every violation of law it sees. Think about tax evasion, marijuana use, speeding, jay-walking—we’d live in a police state if the government went after every one of these cases. (Indeed, virtually all plea bargaining, which is an ubiquitous practice, amounts to an exercise of prosecutorial discretion.) As a result, courts give prosecutors virtual carte blanche to bring some cases and ignore others. But, once they do bring them, courts respond to the argument that “everyone does it” more or less the same way that your mother did. It’s no excuse. So if Perry’s behavior fits within the technical definition of the two statutes under which he’s charged, which it well might, he’s probably out of luck.
Sussex County restaurateur Matt Haley died in India today, as a result of a motorcycle accident earlier in the week. He was on a humanitartian mission there, and won the James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award this past spring. I didn’t know him or his restaurants, but if my Facebook page is any indication, he was well-loved by many Delawareans. RIP, Mr. Haley. (h/t commenter Dave)