Michael Brown: ‘Be Reasonable,’ Police Chief Tells Public After Killing Of Unarmed Teen
After the police killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday sparked riots and looting after a vigil for the slain teen the next day, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar has called on the public to “be reasonable.”
As of Monday afternoon, the officer who shot Brown — who was set to start college classes this week — had not been named publicly. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Pearce, Belmar said he would release the officer’s name as soon as “he can reach the officer to notify him.”
Ferguson chief says he plans to identify officer in Michael Brown shooting today, if he can reach the officer to notify him.
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) August 11, 2014
Pearce’s tweet was met with baffled and outraged reactions on Twitter.
@mattdpearce @BuzzFeedNews If he can reach him?! U know his phone # and his address and he is your officer how can he possibly not reach him
— Marine (@TAINTEDLUVV) August 11, 2014
That’s interesting. The officer didn’t notify anyone before he murdered Michael Brown. Very interesting. @mattdpearce @Kat_LynD
— Whitley GilbertWayne (@KeikoKaveri) August 11, 2014
The Los Angeles Times reporter also noted that residents in Ferguson are preparing for more civil unrest Monday night.
Several stores in Ferguson are boarding up in preparation for more action tonight.
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) August 11, 2014
At the same time, the family of Michael Brown called for an end to the rioting and said that Brown would not have approved of violence as a response to his own violent killing at the hands of police.
“He wouldn’t have wanted none of that. We’re going to do it the right way,” said Michael Brown Sr., father of the slain 18-year-old. “But we need justice for our son.”
Belmar also said he understood the public’s “skepticism” about the shooting.
“I understand that the public has a right to be skeptical, and I appreciate that and I would expect that the public be skeptical oftentimes of government or some forms of it,” the chief said at a Monday news briefing. “But I would also ask the public to be reasonable because it takes a long time to make sure we do this investigation the right way.”
Belmar blamed social media for the outbreak of violence, which was met by hundreds of heavily armed police officers and resulted in 32 arrests Sunday.
“Fifteen years ago, 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago, we wouldn’t have had the issue with social media’s impact on this crime spree,” Belmar said.
According to his family, Michael Brown Jr. was walking to see his grandmother when he was shot by a police officer. The slain teen was planning to attend Vatterott College, a career training institute with multiple campuses throughout the midwest.
“Do you know how hard it was for me to get him to stay in school and graduate? You know how many black men graduate?” said a grief stricken Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown. “Not many. Because you bring them down to this type of level, where they feel like they don’t got nothing to live for anyway. ‘They’re going to try to take me out anyway.'”
