Ferguson Police Statement: If We Arrested A Journalist Then We’ve ‘Taken The Proper Action’

Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol made a statement and answered some questions at an impromptu press conference at 2:21 A.M. — naturally in the middle of the night — on Tuesday regarding the events of Monday night.

Lincoln Madison has a transcript of the press conference and I’m going to attempt to pick out the most mind-boggling statements, although they are in abundance.

Tonight began peacefully, with calm and orderly protests. Other law enforcement officers and I interacted on numerous occasions with protesters, who shook hands with officers and expressed their opinions. This was the freedom of expression that we’re committed to protecting.

On those elusive molotov cocktails:

Here on the table, we also found this Molotov cocktail tonight, and many of these were thrown last night [Aug 17] and today [Aug 18]. I’ve talked to many of you in the media that says you have not seen these being thrown. Many of our peaceful protesters haven’t seen these being thrown, because a lot of times they’re thrown without their knowledge, and as many of you saw today who were staged at West Florissant and Ferguson, you saw the bottles — the FROZEN bottles, the glass.

Questions from the press:

Question: You hinted that you wanted people to protest tomorrow during the daylight hours. Are you suggesting a possible curfew tomorrow?

Capt. Johnson: No, sir. What I want is, our PEACEFUL protesters to come in the daytime. All these criminals at night, that are masking themselves, and hiding themselves behind peace: let them come at night so we can identify them, so we can take them away from our community, and put them away and make our streets clear, so they can no longer mask themselves behind the peaceful protesters, and define this city. And I’d ask you [reporters] not to glamorize THEIR activities.

When a curfew is lifted but it’s still a curfew.

Question: You said there was no curfew tonight, and yet at about midnight, you all sent everyone along on their way. How is that NOT a curfew?

Capt. Johnson: That’s — we did not have a curfew tonight, and, matter of fact, we told some of the protesters that they could stay AS LONG AS THEY WANT, but after SAFETY was a concern, it just happened to happen at midnight, just to happen at midnight, and so, because safety was a concern — and you know, you were out there, you saw the chaos, you saw the shootings — we just had officers in the midst of GUNFIRE. We had officers in the midst of gunfire, and I guarantee you those officers’ wives and husbands and parents are calling them now. I stood there and listened over the radio and heard the screams of those officers, who were under gunfire. I went back to our SWAT vehicle and saw the gentleman laying in the back who had been shot. I saw a car pull up and drop a gentleman off that had been shot in the hand, that was dazed, walking down the street. We can’t have this. We do not want any CITIZEN hurt, we don’t want any OFFICER hurt, but when you’re shooting into apartment complexes, and children are lying in their bed in apartment complexes, and bullets are flying through the air, the old saying on the streets, as they say, “A bullet has no name.” We do NOT want to lose another life in this community.

A good question which went answered.

Question: But if you don’t like violence, how come your cops are dressed like the military, with military gear?

Capt. Johnson: [no answer]

Again, no answer.

Question: Why are our First Amendment rights being infringed upon? I know the risk involved. I served in combat…

Capt. Johnson: [no answer]

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This one is my favorite:

We may take some of you into custody, but when we DO take you into custody and we have found out that you’re a journalist, we have taken the proper action.

(my bold, because WTF?)

After that odd statement, Johnson said that we have to work together.

But I’m going to tell you, this nation is watching each and every one of us. This nation is watching law enforcement, this nation is watching our media, and I’m gonna tell you, if we’re going to solve this, we’re gonna have to do it TOGETHER — we’re gonna HAVE to do it together — and I want YOU to think about that tonight. We’re going to HAVE TO DO IT TOGETHER.

Thankfully, the Ferguson police have gotten a few criminal journalist thugs off the street, so have a nice day.

We are going to make this community whole, and we’re going to do it together. And I am NOT going to let the CRIMINALS that have come out here from across this country or live in this community, define this neighborhood and define what we’re going to do to make it right. Have a great day.

The sad part of this is that we thought Johnson wanted to do right by the protesters. We thought he would be the one to bring unity.

H/T: My BFF @ComgenKDT with thanks.

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D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.