As Twitchy reported, a group called the Don’t Shoot Coalition presented Ferguson, Mo., police with a list of 19 demands, or rules of engagement to follow when the grand jury announced its decision whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently conceded to many of the demands, telling protesters, “We do not want to appear to militarize our response.”
At yet another pre-announcement press conference held Friday afternoon, Slay promised that St. Louis would not go down the path of “increasingly repressive measures.”
STL mayor Slay says those being civilly disobedient will "in most cases" be given opportunity to comply with the law before being arrested
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
Mayor Slay quotes Pres. Truman on dangers of "increasingly repressive measures", says St. Louis "will not go down that path" #ferguson
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
St. Louis Mayor Slay issues a statement "Path Ahead" addressing life after grand jury decision on the Mike Brown case http://t.co/MGuzoZXgAK
— Patrick deHahn (@patrickdehahn) November 21, 2014
Slay wrote on his website:
Our goal, our job, and our prayer, is that at the end of each day, everyone goes home safe— police, protesters, and people who are not involved; that there is no widespread damage to people’s homes and businesses; and that we are in a position to begin to heal, to close the racial divide, and to make the changes needed to make St. Louis a more fair and just city for everyone.
…
It is important to remember that we are going to have to work together to make needed change to make St. Louis more fair, more just and more prosperous for everyone. I ask everyone – protesters and police officers and everyone else –to remember our underlying goal: to protect the demonstrators’ constitutional rights and to keep everyone safe.
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Two press conferences later, the message is everyone wants peace. #Ferguson
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 21, 2014
Also today, police announced their own response to the list of 19 rules of engagement, agreeing “totally” with 11.
STL Co. exec Charlie Dooley and aides are stressing "there was no negotiation" over these proposed rules. Just proposal & response #Ferguson
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
Here is the list of Ferguson protesters' proposed "rules of engagement" and the unified police command's responses pic.twitter.com/fjnQJUgebP
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
However, police are unwilling to give up crowd control gear in the event of a riot. The original draft of the rules of engagement demanded that riot gear not be used and police “wear only the attire minimally required for their safety.”
Police refuse Ferguson protesters' proposal that "equipment such as armored vehicles, rubber bullets, rifles and teargas will not be used"
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
Police also refused to agree that media and legal observers are not participants in Ferguson and should "be allowed to do their jobs freely"
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) November 21, 2014
Finally, here’s some “news” from the news conference that is news to no one.
St Louis Mayor: We expect a grand jury decision very shortly. #Ferguson
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 21, 2014
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Related:
‘There’s fear’: Parents worry, students suffer as Ferguson braces for riots
Report: Ferguson grand jury announcement expected Sunday? Protests continue tonight [Vine]
Full Twitchy coverage of Ferguson
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