Left: The burnt down Fashion R boutique
Right: Bertha Ewing (left) manager, and Juanita Morris, the owner of Black-owned Fashion R boutique
The interview with CNN is here
Laura Wood at The Thinking Housewife has posted an intelligent commentary on the Ferguson Riots.
Interestingly, Ben Carson, who is getting ready to start his run for the presidential race, said something very similar on Hannity's Fox News program a couple of nights ago. I've been looking for the direct quote, but he essentially said that he wants more information on why the police officer (Wilson) had to shoot and kill Michael Brown.
Hannity was a little bewildered by this comment. He said something to the effect that as this giant of a man was charging at the officer, then the officer had no choice but to shoot. I think Hannity missed the point (he finished off the interview right after that and didn't let Carson explain further). I think that what Carson meant was why it had to be a lethal shot, rather than an incapacitating shot.
I think Hannity didn't post the video because he was surprised by it. He expected Carson to say that Wilson was cornered, and shot in self-defense (Hannity made this "explanation" himself as he wrapped up the interview).
I have a slightly different take on this.
There is no doubt that Brown was an imposing man. Wilson had also heard about the robbery earlier, and the description of the thief fit Brown's physique.
Wilson described the approaching Morgan as "demonic." I think Wilson was temporarily "blinded" by this large, approaching figure. Combine that with the prevalent racial tensions everywhere in America, where whites have always to be super-cautious and blacks can be belligerent even towards the police, then I can see where Wilson behaved the way he did.
I watched the Fox News report on the riots (it is hard to call them demonstrations).
I just kept thinking how sad it all was. Was this all that there is left, complete mayhem?
My sadness was justified, since many of these businesses were actually owned by blacks (see top image and corresponding CNN story). So, the riot, which was supposed to protest racism of whites against blacks, ended up with blacks destroying the hard-earned buildings (often one-room businesses) of other fellow blacks.
The whole thing was also fascinating to watch, how an entire city was hijacked by something outside reason, as though some evil force was flowing through like thick lava spilling through the streets as it engulfs and destroys everything along its way.
And even as lucid and astute as Carson may be, he still is reacting within this hyper-saturated racial atmosphere, which led to the incredible two nights of unchecked mayhem of fire and rocks and a demonic environment.
But, as usual with this stories on race, there is more.
According to the journalist Debbie Schlussel, the owner of the convenience store which Morgan robbed used the store as a front for laundering money and arms to the PLO.
She writes:
When I learned that the market Michael Brown robbed was called “Ferguson Market & Liquor,” the name rang a bell. And one of my twitter followers (follow me on Twitter) reminded me that I’d written about its owners’ 2008 indictment for laundering money to and financing of Palestinian Islamic “entities” after an FBI Terrorism Task Force investigation, using the store as a front for that operation. They later pleaded guilty to the scheme. Here’s a flashback:It is no wonder that Wilson felt the evil of this incident.Fourteen people have been indicted on charges of using convenience stores to trade in stolen goods and contraband cigarettes, sending the profits to groups in the Palestinian territories. Five stores were raided Tuesday as part of an alleged racketeering organization and at least nine people were arrested, authorities said. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was involved in the investigation.As I noted then, the “entities” probably had names like HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, etc. Sadly, the men got very light sentences after pleading guilty to racketeering and money-laundering.
The indictment . . . said that since 2000, the organization profited from bank and wire fraud, receipt of stolen property and sales of contraband cigarettes. The organization, led by 33-year-old Bassam Hamed, operated convenience stores that were used to sell stolen goods, Hanaway said. He and two of his brothers were among the 14 people charged.
The indictment . . . said members of the “Hamed Organization” transferred money to “entities” in the Palestinian territories. Officials would not disclose those entities but said they were not individuals.
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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