NOVANEWS
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, hugs former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the podium after being introduced at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner, Monday, May 12, 2014, in New York. Photo: John Minchillo/AP
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is as notorious as former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in their shared support for the New York City Police State. But of all the frighteningly totalitarian things Giuliani has said over the years about police and the community, this time he might have out done himself.
Recently Giuliani commented on former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, the shooting of Michael Brown, and the continued protests in Missouri. He noted, almost in passing, that Officer Wilson should be “commended” for shooting and killing Brown, an unarmed African American teenager who Wilson stopped, harassed and cussed at for walking down the street in his own neighborhood.
“A man committed a robbery,” Giuliani errantly said. Actually Brown had apparently shoplifted a $5 pack of mini cigars. The owner of the store never even called the police. In some states, this is merely a ticketable offense. As well, this is merely what is alleged. We don’t know if Brown had come for a refund that was refused, or if he had laid money at the counter. We don’t know his side of the story, or his defense. We don’t know because he was shot and killed before he could be formally accused of this crime. Regardless, this was not why Officer Wilson originally said he stopped Brown.
Giuliani continued, saying that Brown “attempted to assault a police officer, and the police officer, to save his life, shot him.”
That too is a lie. Darren Wilson barely had a red mark on his cheek. There is no empirical evidence that he was sustaining any sort of attack that would have jeopardized his life or even safety. Both he and Brown were about the same height and Wilson was in much better shape. There is no reason why he should not have been able to handle this unarmed teenager without resorting to lethal force. If he could not, then perhaps policing the community was a bad idea for him, career-wise.
Giuliani told Fox News on Thursday, that “the police officer did his duty. The police officer should be commended for what he did. He did exactly what you should do.”
The New York Republican and former NYC mayor also spoke out against the FBI report on Ferguson, defending the racist Police Department. He said that the Department of Justice report is only “an allegation” with “no proof yet”.
The report found that even while African Americans are 67 percent of Ferguson’s population, they are stopped and arrested by police 93 percent of the time. The investigation also concluded that the Ferguson police are quick to use force on African American suspects, even when no force has been initiated. But that hard data is apparently just “an allegation” with “no proof yet” to Giuliani.
