Friday, August 22, 2014

No Playing in the Street Allowed On Ferguson's Canfield Drive

Canfield Drive is a dinky, winding, 1/2-mile (800 meter) long residential two-lane (30' or 9 meters wide) street without a traffic signal at its east end.  It's the kind of street where you might play kick the can, street hockey, or red rover.  Every once in a while you have to move over for a car.



At 12:01 p.m. on August 14, 2014, Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking down the middle of the street when Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson came along (unaware of an apparent robbery by Brown 1/4 mile away and 10 minutes earlier) and hollered at them to "Get the f*** on the sidewalk!".  "According to police, Brown's presence in the middle of the road was stopping traffic." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2014_Ferguson_unrest

That is the end of my story.  Now I only have questions.

Since when is it okay for a police officer to shout obscenities at a citizen walking down the middle of a residential street?

Since when is walking down a residential street or play hopscotch there a stoppable offense?

Since when is playing, walking, or parking a moving van on a residential street actionable for stopping traffic?

Is this how the Ferguson police officers roll?

No comments: