A conservative Christian activist group has gained more than half a million signatures and counting from people pledging to boycott Target over its transgender bathroom policy.
The petition started by the American Family Association on Wednesday raises concerns that Target's inclusive stance on transgender rights encourages sexual predators and puts women and young girls in danger, because "a man can simply say he 'feels like a woman today' and enter the women's restroom."
The boycott has more than 503,000 signatures as ofMonday morning, marking it as one of AFA's most popular campaigns.
"This is the best response we’ve ever had this quick," says AFA President Tim Wildmon, attributing the protest's viral nature to the fact that "everybody knows who Target is, and it’s an easy-to-understand issue."
Wildmon says Target stands "to lose a lot of customers who won't come back." But Target is standing by its policy.
"We certainly respect that there are a wide variety of perspectives and opinions," says Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder. "As a company that firmly stands behind what it means to offer our team an inclusive place to work — and our guests an inclusive place to shop — we continue to believe that this is the right thing for Target."
She added that hundreds of Target stores "have single-stall, family restrooms for those who may be more comfortable with that option."
Target made its position public in a blog post last week, stating that the company welcomes "transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity." The announcement comes as legislation on transgender issues in multiple states has spurred several major corporations and businesses to take a stance on LGBT rights.
The American Family Association, a non-profit based in Tupelo, Miss., frequently protests on issues that target what it considers traditional family values.
Its more recent campaigns include canceling the organization's use of PayPal after that company pulled back on plans to open a new facility in North Carolina, which recently passed a law requiring transgender people using public bathrooms to use the one that aligns with their gender at birth.
Gov. Pat McCrory defended North Carolina’s law on LGBT rights Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” but said the issue warrants further discussion and not overheated rhetoric.
The new law establishes a statewide nondiscrimination policy that excludes gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes and forbids cities and counties from adopting their own policies. The governor said it wasn’t the state’s role to impose policies on the private sector.
But McCrory acknowledged that the issue of bathroom use by transgender people — which was the basis of the current controversy, following Charlotte’s attempt to allow choice according to gender identity, rather than physical sex at birth — needed to be addressed.
“We have to have more dialogue, not threats,” McCrory said.
Host Chuck Todd challenged McCrory on that point, noting that the General Assembly rushed a bill through in a single day in a hastily called special session and that the governor signed it into law that same night. “You guys debated for, like, 10 seconds,” Todd said.
McCrory said the speed was necessary to stop the Charlotte ordinance from going into effect on April 1.
“This is a national debate that has literally come on in the last three months,” McCrory said. “No one talked about it until Houston,” where voters rejected an ordinance expanding gay and transgender protections.
Todd said some of the same arguments on House Bill 2 were made by Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater in opposition to racial civil rights. “The same argument was used to defeat laws that are now considered untouchable,” Todd said.
McCrory said he didn’t know of any businesses in North Carolina that had discriminatory practices, and repeated, “This extremely new social norm came in a very quick time, and we need to have these discussions.”
Yet he only said the provision in HB2 that eliminated the ability to file employment discrimination lawsuits in state court should be repealed, not the bathroom provision.
Todd said NBC had estimated that North Carolina has lost $39.7 million to $186 million because of the law, and that others had estimated the loss in billions of dollars, due to companies and events not coming to the state in protest.
McCrory also said the national news media incorrectly have compared the law to religious freedom bills in Georgia and Mississippi, noting that last year he vetoed a bill that would have allowed magistrates to opt out of performing same-sex marriages.
“We haven’t had a religious freedom bill, because I’m governor,” he said.
McCrory said there is a disconnect between national corporations and everyday people.
“You know, I was in Hamlet, North Carolina, a small town that can be at any town in the United States of America,” he said. “I walked into a buffet restaurant, African American buffet restaurant, and the people just welcomed me with open arms and said, ‘Thanks for protecting us.’ I got back in my car, and I got a call from someone in corporate America going, ‘Man, you’ve got to change this. We’re getting killed.’”
Earlier in the program actor George Clooney called North Carolina’s law “ridiculous.” McCrory said Hollywood didn’t have a place in a serious discussion about the issue, and said the new Batman movie was being shown in China, which has a terrible human rights record.
McCrory’s appearance on national TV comes despite his lack of appearances in North Carolina. He has held only one brief news conference and one TV interview on the topic since signing the bill.
Soon after the TV show, McCrory’s campaign committee emailed a plea for contributions, saying the governor had just left the set, where he “defended North Carolina against the coordinated campaign of attacks and selective outrage from out-of-state special interests, the corporate elite and the national media.”
The campaign of attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory for governor, sent out a response to the TV appearance: “Today Governor McCrory doubled down on his belief that businesses should be able to fire an employee for being gay,” spokesman Jamal Little said. “It’s that antiquated, discriminatory attitude that is driving businesses away and hurting our reputation.”
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the national organization fighting to overturn HB2, issued his own reaction in an email:
“Today, a nation watched as Gov. McCrory invoked an outdated and retrograde argument to defend his decision to write discrimination into state law and deny equal treatment under the law for LGBT people. Pat McCrory can’t have it both ways and say he doesn’t want the government to tell the private sector what to do while he also sticks his head in the sand and ignores more than 160 businesses who have clearly said they want HB2 repealed.”
During “Meet the Press,” McCroy cited the Human Rights Campaign as an impediment to constructive conversation, calling them “more powerful than the NRA.”
“But they are putting on a lot of pressure, instead of having good dialogue,” he said.
An earlier version of this post inadvertently said McCrory called the new law government overreach. He was referring to the Charlotte ordinance.
Let’s start off this piece with the understanding that hypocrisy is a liberal virtue. They won’t openly claim to be hypocrites, but they will openly engage in hypocritical behavior. Without that glaring absence of self-awareness, the progressive left would likely lose some of their Stalinesque charm.
Now, turn your focus to PayPal. As reported here, yesterday, PayPal has withdrawn plans to expand their operations in North Carolina, in response to the newly passed House Bill 2, or the “bathroom bill,” which prohibits NC cities from setting gender neutral policies for all businesses and schools in their area.
The bill came as a response to a Charlotte, NC ordinance that was set to go into effect on April 1, 2016, that would have allowed men to enter the locker rooms or bathrooms of women, in accordance with how they claimed to “feel,” gender-wise, for that day. Gov. McCrory signed the bill correcting the ordinance. Cue pearl-clutching.
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest, issued a statement today, in regards to PayPal’s decision to cease expansion in the state over the bill:
"If our action in keeping men out of women's bathrooms and showers protected the life of just one child or one woman from being molested or assaulted, then it was worth it. North Carolina will never put a price tag on the value of our children. They are precious and priceless.
If a corporation wanting to do business in North Carolina does not see the worth of our children in the same light, then I wish them well as they do business somewhere else."
Kudos to North Carolina’s state government for holding the line, where other states have stood, only to quickly fold under outside pressure, in this war against cultural Marxism.
Paypal has no problem maintaining operations in areas like Cuba, Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia – all known for their stringent anti-LGBT policies (and they don’t stop at just prohibiting mixed bathrooms). Hypocrisy.
Also, while PayPal would see North Carolina’s women and children put in harm’s way, simply to save the feelings of what amounts to 0.3% of the population, they don’t exactly practice what they preach. Lt. Governor Forest displayed this picture of PayPal’s global operations center on his Facebook page today. They’ve highlighted the symbol indicating the way to the Men’s restroom – not “gender neutral,” but an honest-to-goodness, segregated-by-gender bathroom!
PayPal, like every other business, is free to conduct their business any way they see fit. If that means they just can’t tolerate doing business with a state that keeps bathrooms and public shower rooms separated for the privacy and safety of the different sexes, then so be it. However, they should know that their customers are equally free to decide if they want to do business with a company that doesn’t reflect their values and would use coercive means to force their beliefs on that population.
There are unsubstantiated reports of PayPal office phone lines being backed up with calls of users cancelling their accounts, in protest of their stance against North Carolina’s bathroom bill.
Time will tell who suffers the most damage in this cultural conflict.
Instead of Will & Jada Pinkett Smith starting a Political Race War online about the Oscars, why not use their money to help combat Racism as Tyler Perry did?
Tyler Perry opened his own Studio and hires many Black and Latino actors to star in his film projects.
Will and Jada could also use their wealth to fund Non-profit Acting and Playwright Summer camps for Low Income children.
Furthermore if Hollywood is so Racist then why haven't Will and Jada moved?
It's easy to complain and call for Boycotts but what about using their Celebrity profile to help uplift the Black community in a constructive, creative manner?
Will Smith has joined his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, in vowing not to attend the Feb. 28 Academy Awards ceremony in protest over the lack of diversity among nominees in major categories this year. Smith’s decision comes as pressure mounts on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to address what many are calling the org’s diversity crisis.
Smith told “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts on Thursday that he is “uncomfortable” with the situation. For the second year in a row, the 20 acting nominees are all white. Smith generated Oscar buzz this awards season for his work in the football drama “Concussion.”
“My wife’s not going. It would be awkward to show up with Charlize (Theron),” he said. “We’ve discussed it. We’re part of this community. But at this current time, we’re uncomfortable to stand there and say, ‘This is OK.'”
Smith has previously been nommed twice for best actor, for 2001’s “Ali” and 2006’s “The Pursuit of Happyness.” He lost both times to other black actors: Denzel Washington for “Training Day” and Forest Whitaker for “The Last King of Scotland.”
“To me, that was huge,” Smith said. “So when I see this list and series of nominations that come out – and everybody is fantastic. That’s the complexity of this issue. … But it feels like it’s going in the wrong direction.”
Smith said he has a responsibility to speak out or risk contributing to the problem.
“There’s a position that we hold in this community and if we’re not a part of the solution, we’re part of the problem,” Smith told Roberts. “And it was her call to action for herself and for me and for our family to be a part of the solution.”
“[For] my part, I think I have to protect and fight for the ideals that make our country and our Hollywood community great,” he continued. “And so when I look at the series of nominations of the Academy, it’s not reflecting that beauty.”
Although his wife’s call for a boycott was partly motivated by him getting snubbed for his role in “Concussion,” Smith insists the root of the issue is much bigger than that.
“This is so deeply not about me,” he said. “This is about children that are going to sit down and watch this show and they’re not going to see themselves represented.
“There’s a regressive slide toward separatism, towards racial and religious disharmony,” he added. “And that’s not the Hollywood that I want to leave behind.”
The angry response to this year’s Oscar nominations has steamrolled in the past few days. Pinkett Smith expressed her outrage last week after the Jan. 14 nominations announcement. Director Spike Lee joined her in vowing to sit out the ceremony, although on Wednesday during a “GMA” appearance, Lee made a point of telling anchor George Stephanopoulos that he was not calling for others to boycott the ceremony.
Also on Wednesday, past AMPAS board member Quincy Jones said he would seek to address the current board next week on the issue. Jones is the first African-American to be appointed to the Academy’s board of governors and the first African-American to be awarded the Academy’s prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He’s also a four-time Oscar nominee and he exec produced the Oscar telecast in 1996.
MONA SCOTT- YOUNG is an Intelligent BLACK Business Woman and Queen of BLACK Reality tv.
She created & produced such hit shows as the "Love & Hip Hop" series and "Sorority Sisters".
"Love & Hip Hop" is a widely known, popular reality series to
showcase "Ratchet", television, while "Sorority Sisters" was bashed for
making BLACK professional Women appear in a similar "Ratchet" manner.
So now BLACK Women are fighting against BLACK Women regarding which
group of BLACK Women is better received in American society and by the
BLACK Community.
Amid public backlash from the BLACK Greek community, "Sorority Sisters" was Cancelled after one season.
CHOKEHOLDS & RACIAL PROFILING BY COPS SHOULD BE OUTLAWED IN EVERY STATE & DISTRICT OF THIS NATION:
UNTIL CONGRESS ACTS LET THE PEACEFUL PROTESTS.......ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS AND CIVIL LAWSUITS CONTINUE.
Who remembers the RADIO RAHEEM - ERIC GARNER Chokehold Death Scene in SPIKE LEE'S film "Do The Right Thing"??
The practice of COPS using CHOKEHOLDS to subdue Citizens they are trying to ARREST should be completely OUTLAWED in every State by CONGRESS immediately!
RACIAL PROFILING should also be OUTLAWED in every State by CONGRESS.
NO CHOKEHOLDS BY COPS
NO MORE RACIAL PROFILING
Until CONGRESS Acts let the Peaceful Protests........Economic Boycotts and Lawsuits continue!
PRES OBAMA DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT FERGUSON:
THE PEOPLE OF FERGUSON ARE STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE.
OBAMA NEEDS TO GO TO FERGUSON....... DON'T SEND AL SHARPTON.
WE DON'T NEED MARTIAL LAW. WE NEED POSITIVE RESULTS.
Pres OBAMA does NOT know what to do about FERGUSON because he had NOT planned on doing anything, just as he has NOT done anything for BLACK Voters since he was first sworn into office in January of 2009.
For 6 years Pres OBAMA has bent over backwards to please WALL STREET, Young WHITE Voters, LATINO Voters, NATIVE AMERICAN Voters, MIDDLE EASTERN People, GAY Voters and WHITE Women Voters.
Yet he has NOT done a darn thing for BLACK Voters in the United States!
What a shame the First BLACK Legally Elected U.S. President in History has NOT done a darn thing for BLACK Voters but Enforced MARTIAL LAW on the BLACK American Community!
Each time there was an RACE RELATIONS involving the Mistreatment of BLACK Americans, Pres OBAMA simply punted the issue to AL SHARPTON who of course took advantage of each Crisis for MONETARY Purposes and for Personal FAME.
Each time AL SHARPTON became involved there were a few CONTROLLED Marches and Protests for about 2 or 3 Months until the Crisis was SILENCED.
This pattern would be repeated time and time again.
Yet NOTHING was ever Resolved.
NOTHING was Gained except for SHARPTON'S pockets getting fatter as he communicated the Plans of BLACK People to the FBI and CIA.
It's not personal but AL SHARPTON does NOT speak for ME.
I repeat.
It's not personal but AL SHARPTON does NOT speak for ME.
This time this Crisis is DIFFERENT!
BLACK People are NOT Stupid!
In fact We have NEVER been Stupid!
We are TIRED of just Talking with NO ACTION.
We want ACTION and POSITIVE RESULTS.
OBAMA NEEDS TO GO TO FERGUSON....... DON'T SEND AL SHARPTON.
WE DON'T NEED MARTIAL LAW. WE NEED POSITIVE RESULTS.
BLACK LIVES MATTER & BLACK MONEY MATTERS.
IT'S TIME FOR ACTION, NOT JUST TALK AND BROKEN PROMISES.
CONTINUOUS NATIONWIDE PEACEFUL PROTESTS & ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS UNTIL WE SEE LONG TERM EFFECTIVE CHANGE.
It’s time President Obama step in to protect protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.
As long as Black Americans have had United States citizenship, we have needed the federal government to enforce and protect our rights on the local level. Such was the case in the years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, when Union troops went state by state to wrestle enslaved Blacks away from the plantations on which they were held captive.
It was again the case in Jim Crow America when President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to escort nine Black students into the doors of Little Rock Central High. President Kennedy stepped in to help integrate the University of Alabama and Lyndon Johnson did it in Selma. In 2005, folks in New Orleans desperately needed the intervention of the federal government when local officials failed them in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
It’s sad but a fact of Black American citizenship is that — as a minority group in every single state and as a historically oppressed people — we are not safe without the oversight and, sometimes, intervention of the federal government. And that point is made abundantly clear when watching the absolute carnage coming out of Ferguson in the days since Mike Brown was killed by local police.
In Ferguson, protesters have had their First Amendment right to freedom of assembly trampled on by local authorities sworn to serve and protect them. Peaceful protests have collapsed into outright chaos from antagonism by police officers armed to the teeth with military-grade weaponry. The situation has only escalated as the days have rolled by with no end in sight and it’s becoming more and more clear that the city of Ferguson needs an intervention.
The people of Ferguson need the federal government to step in to affirm and protect their Constitutional rights. And in this moment, when the city seems on the precipice of a violent clash between citizens and police, the chief executive of the federal government, President Barack Obama, has been almost completely silent while in the middle of a two-week vacation to Martha’s Vineyard.
One year ago — to the day — President Obama spoke out on the crisis in Egypt, about 5,805 miles from Washington D.C., saying he was “concerned” by action taken by the government there.
“The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt’s interim government and security forces. We deplore violence against civilians. We support universal rights essential to human dignity, including the right to peaceful protest. We oppose the pursuit of martial law, which denies those rights to citizens under the principle that security trumps individual freedom, or that might makes right.” Obama said. “The Egyptian people deserve better than what we’ve seen over the last several days.”
The American president was a strong voice for the Egyptian people as they protested an oppressive government from Tahrir Square. He must show the same strength in affirming the rights of protesters in Ferguson.
~Obama's Comments on Ferguson. Circa August 2014:
“The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time,”he said in a statement. “As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed.
I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”
Condolences are appropriate and an investigation necessary but what is President Obama prepared to do to ensure the security of protesters who are organizing within their rights? What do they “deserve” from their government, aside from calls for “reflection and understanding?”
Like presidents Lincoln, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson before him, Obama must deploy federal forces to take control of a local situation in Ferguson, one that could very well descend into total bedlam without his intervention.
Five St. Louis Rams players stood with their arms raised in an apparent show of solidarity for Ferguson protesters before trotting onto the field for pregame introductions.
A Rams spokesman said Sunday the team was not aware the gesture had been planned before the game against Oakland.
Wide receivers Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt came out together first, with the move obscured by a smoke machine in the upper reaches of the Edward Jones Dome. Stedman Bailey, Jared Cook and Chris Givens — all of whom are black — then came out and stood together with arms raised.
After Tre Mason scored on an 8-yard run to make it 45-0 in the fourth quarter, he and Britt raised their hands together.
There have been riots, looting and buildings burned in Ferguson since a grand jury declined Monday to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown in August.
Across the street from the stadium, about 75 protesters gathered in the second half as about 30 police wearing riot gear watched from a safe distance. Protesters chanted "Hands up, don't shoot!" ''No Justice, No Football!" ''This is what Democracy looks like," and "We're here for Mike Brown."
The Rams had additional security measures in place for the game, including armed personnel from the National Guard. The team has wanded fans outside entrances all season.
On another front inside the stadium, a group of fans formed letters spelling "Keep the Rams in St. Louis" in seats in the north end zone.
FERGUSON, Mo. — When Sam Andrews awoke on Tuesday morning, he found his wife watching a television interview with a woman whose bakery had been vandalized during the violent unrest here on Monday.
“She said, ‘You’ve got to go help her,’ ” Mr. Andrews said in an interview on Saturday morning.
And so Mr. Andrews, a former Defense Department contractor who is now a weapons engineer in the St. Louis area, set to work. Under the auspices of a national group called the Oath Keepers, Mr. Andrews accelerated plans to recruit and organize private security details for businesses in Ferguson, which are receiving the services for free. The volunteers, who are sometimes described as a citizen militia — but do not call themselves that — have taken up armed positions on rooftops here on recent nights.
“It’s really a broad group of citizens, and I’m sure their motivations are all different,” said Mr. Andrews, who is in his 50s. “In many of them, there’s probably a sense of patriotism. But I think in most of them, there’s probably something that they probably don’t even recognize: that we have a moral obligation to protect the weakest among us. When we see these violent people, these arsonists and anarchists, attacking, it just pokes at you in a deep place.”
Mr. Andrews declined to say how many people were assisting in the effort, saying only that the number was “more than five, less than 500.” He estimated that men make up about 80 percent of the volunteers. About 80 percent are white, and 10 percent are black.
But on Saturday, with the county police said to be threatening the Oath Keepers with arrest, the volunteers decided to abandon their posts and instead protest against the authorities. During the evening, Mr. Andrews and some of his colleagues appeared on South Florissant Road, conducting a protest of their own. They ate pizza and stood beneath a handmade sign critical of Chief Jon Belmar of the St. Louis County police.
Just after 8:30 p.m., those protesting Mr. Brown’s death crossed paths with the Oath Keepers. Mr. Andrews shook hands with the demonstrators, many of whom have also been critical of Chief Belmar.
That some business owners accepted aid from a group regarded by some as an antigovernment militia is a testament to the rawness of emotions here following a riot on Monday night, after a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer, Darren Wilson, who shot to death Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, on Aug. 9.
Since then, the riot police have tussled on the streets with protesters. Convoys of National Guard Humvees patrol the streets, and law enforcement officials have confiscated guns, firecrackers and homemade firebombs from arrested protesters. The Oath Keepers, equipped with militia-style gear and often clad in camouflage, have joined the volatile mix.
Their presence is a symbol of the continuing criticism of Gov. Jay Nixon’s handling of security before and after the grand jury’s decision became public. In the days before the announcement, Mr. Nixon declared a state of emergency and sent the Guard to Ferguson. Yet, in the initial hours following word of the grand jury’s decision, the Guard played only a limited role.
Troops protected a police command post and other facilities, but they were not posted along the main commercial corridors where property destruction was rampant.
“The governor said himself, I think on TV, that the businesses will be protected by the National Guard during this situation,” said Reggie Jones, the mayor of Dellwood, a neighboring city where many businesses were damaged in Monday’s unrest. “Unfortunately, that did not happen until Tuesday. But we were expecting it to happen on Monday.”
After the destruction that night, Mr. Nixon ordered hundreds more soldiers to Ferguson, saying, “We must do better, and we will.”
But for people like Mr. Andrews, the governor’s vow was of little solace. So while the New Chinese Gourmet restaurant at the end of a block of South Florissant Road appears to have little in the way of defense beyond the painted wooden boards that cover its windows, armed men and women on recent nights have roamed the rooftop it shares with a dental practice and a law office.
“When they’re here, there’s definitely a weight lifted off of our shoulders,” said Davis Vo, whose family owns New Chinese Gourmet. “I’d be lying if I said otherwise.”
On its website, Oath Keepers released a recruiting message to “all skilled veterans and patriots” and asked them to “grab your gear and start rolling toward Ferguson.” The post listed nine types of people the group was seeking, including paramedics, police officers, “private drone operators” and videographers who could “film any encounters with looters.”
Mr. Andrews said he researched the qualifications of each volunteer, as well as whether any might have racially based motivations to participate.
“I don’t want any racists in my group,” he said. “I don’t want any people who want to visit violence on any group. I only want professionals with real credentials that can be verified and have experience in dealing with violence.”
But the St. Louis County police, Mr. Andrews said, and other law enforcement officials have expressed misgivings.
“When we hear information that someone, or a group, is providing security without a license, our department has to investigate the issue,” a police spokesman, Shawn McGuire, said in an email on Saturday.
Mr. Andrews said that the warning on Friday was tantamount to a temporary shutdown order, and he said he did not expect his volunteers to defy it.
Washington (AFP) - The Missouri police officer who killed an unarmed black teen sparking months of protests in the city of Ferguson will never return to policing, his lawyer said.
Darren Wilson is currently in discussions with the Ferguson, Missouri police department on the terms and conditions of his departure, attorney Neil Bruntrager said this week.
"There's no way in the world he can go back to being a police officer," the lawyer said.
"It's not a question of if, it's a question of when," Bruntrager said of Wilson's departure.
Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in August claiming he acted in self-defense.
The shooting set off days of racially-charged protests that erupted again this week after a grand jury on Monday announced that Wilson would not be charged over the fatal shooting.
Bruntrager told CNN that Wilson, who has said his conscience is clear, could simply not go back to work given the outrage over the case.
"The first day he would be back on the street something terrible would happen to him or to someone that would be working with him," he told CNN.
"The last thing he wants is to put other police officers at risk," the attorney added.
I RESPECT SHARPTON BUT HE NEEDS TO ALLOW NEW YOUNG BLOOD TO STEP UP AND LEAD.
SHARPTON CAN REMAIN IN THE MOVEMENT BUT HE SHOULD NOT LEAD IT.
WE NEED LONG TERM ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS AND PEACEFUL PROTESTS ALL OVER THE USA UNTIL CHANGE OCCURS.
TALK IS CHEAP WE NEED ACTION……..JOBS………SMALL BUSINESSES……..EQUAL JUSTICE.
Long time Self-Appointed Civil Rights Leader AL SHARPTON should NOT be allowed to LEAD this New Racial Justice MOVEMENT in the United States of America.
Although I may NOT have always agreed with AL SHARPTON'S Motives, I do appreciate his Voice but now he needs to fall back and make way for some New, YOUNGER LEADERS to take charge of this MOVEMENT.
If SHARPTON wants to remain in the MOVEMENT than be a MENTOR but don't try to LEAD because his LEADERSHIP days are over.
Older Civil Rights LEADERS are often Stubborn and Stuck in their ways.
Older Civil Rights LEADERS are often NOT as Open-Minded and Open to Effective CHANGE as Younger people are.
Older Civil Rights LEADERS are often too entrenched and Sold-out to CORPORATE MONEY to remain Effective.
What worked 20 years ago will NOT work today because the World has Changed and INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM has grown Worse!
The 21st Century BLACK Community needs NEW, YOUNG LEADERSHIP like the FLORIDA DREAM DEFENDERS and Mayor BILL DE BLASIO of NEW YORK CITY.
Dream Defenders plan rally against shooting of unarmed Michael Brown
UPDATE: Monday, Nov 24, 2014; 9:26 p.m.
The grand jury reached the decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August. Dream Defenders are set to march at 10 p.m. at the Civic Center.
UPDATE: 6 p.m.
Tallahassee's Dream Defender's changed the time and location of their rally to 9 p.m. at the Civic Center.
Lead Organizer Brian Marshall said they will hold the rally regardless of the verdict.
---
The grand jury reached the decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August. Dream Defenders are set to march at 10 p.m. at the Civic Center.
Tallahassee’s Dream Defenders say they will hold a peaceful rally, marching from the Civic Center at 10 p.m.
In addition to the situation in Ferguson, Dream Defenders are rallying against other police brutality and race issues in Tallahassee, including the tasing of 61-year-old, unarmed Viola Young last month. They are also rallying for justice for Duane Strong, an 18-year-old shot and killed by police from inside his car at Cheek's nightclub in Tallahassee.
WHY IS DON LEMON AND ALL OTHER SHELTERED, ELITE BLACK PEOPLE JUDGING THE HURTING, OPPRESSED FERGUSON PROTESTERS??
HOW DOES A BRUISE ON DARREN WILSON'S FACE COMPARE TO 8 BULLETS FIRED INTO MICHAEL BROWN'S UNARMED BODY??
DON'T JUDGE......COME TO FERGUSON & CHARLOTTE AS REGULAR PEOPLE AND SEE HOW YOU WILL BE TREATED BY DECADES OLD INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM.
WE ARE TIRED........IT'S TIME FOR NATIONWIDE ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS & PEACEFUL PROTESTS UNTIL REAL CHANGE OCCURS.
Once again Elite, BLACK People such as DON LEMON........JUAN WILLIAMS......RAFFI WILLIAMS.........TAMRON HALL are Judging the Young BLACK OPPRESSED Protesters and CIVIL UNREST in FERGUSON and other Cities around the Nation Monday night.
DON LEMON........JUAN WILLIAMS.......RAFFI WILLIAMS.......and TAMRON HALL all live SHELTERED lives.
All of them are PUBLIC FIGURES!
Don't judge the Civil Unrest in FERGUSON and other U.S. Cities.
Leave your ELITE, SHELTERED Lives at the door!
Roll up your Sleeves, Come to FERGUSON and CHARLOTTE as Regular BLACK People and Experience everyday life as Regular BLACK People!
There were 12 Jurors who allowed another WHITE Man who Maliciously MURDERED an Unarmed BLACK Boy, to walk away FREE with a Smile on his Face.
Please Explain to Me how a common BRUISE on DARREN WILSON'S face compares to 8 or more BULLETS being Fired into MICHAEL BROWN'S Unarmed Body??
So you say that RIOTING and BURNING BUSINESSES Kills JOBS in the local Community right??
As for the RIOTING in FERGUSON, those Burned BUSINESSES are Not HIRING the BLACK People who live in the local Community anyway!
I Don't Advocate VIOLENCE or RIOTING, but I also Don't Advocate INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM.
You want BLACK Money but You don't want to RESPECT or HIRE Qualified BLACK People from the local Community.
You just want to throw BLACK People in PRISON in order to procure FEDERAL $$$$ for housing more Inmates!
You want to Force a BLACK Woman who was a Victim of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE to accept 3 FELONY Charges in order to remain FREE, just for Firing 3 Warning Shots into the Ceiling of her Garage after she was Threatened again!
As BLACK Female Activist FANNIE LOU HAMER once said:
"WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICK AND TIRED."
It's time to Enforce Nationwide ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS and PEACEFUL PROTESTS.
WE ARE TIRED OF VOTING WITH NO RESULTS AND FALSE PROMISES AS IF WE ARE STUPID.
Contrary to what BILL O'REILLY says, BLACK Voters are Not STUPID!
BLACK Voters supported a BLACK Man at the Polls because we wanted to give a Qualified BLACK Man the Opportunity to become President of the UNITED STATES, just as We supported WHITE Presidents in the past.
If the tables were turned in FERGUSON, MICHAEL BROWN would be facing Life in PRISON or facing the DEATH PENALTY instead of somewhere Celebrating.
DARREN WILLIAM recently Married and is somewhere Celebrating.
MICHAEL BROWN lies in a Cold GRAVE.
So please Don't JUDGE the Civil UNREST in FERGUSON and other U.S. Cities.
I repeat.
DON LEMON.......JUAN WILLIAMS.......RAFFI WILLIAMS......TAMRON HALL all live SHELTERED Lives.
I invite all of these ELITE, SHELTERED BLACK People to come to CHARLOTTE or FERGUSON as a Regular BLACK People and see how they will be Treated by INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM.
I'm just saying.
Article Sources: CNN; FOX NEWS; Mediaite; TPM; Wall Street Journal; Youtube,
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