Protester in St. Louis area charged with arson

[Ryan Fitzomething]

Source: The Associated Press

Dec. 27, 2014 3:49 PM EST

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A protester who advocated for peaceful demonstrations in Ferguson has been charged with setting fire to a convenience store in a neighboring suburb.

A St. Louis County jail official said 19-year-old Joshua Williams was being held Saturday on $30,000 bond on charges that included arson.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports media outlets and store surveillance captured images of a man trying to set a pile of wood on fire early Wednesday outside a QuikTrip in Berkeley. Charges filed Saturday said Williams confessed in a videotaped interview.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/487e1ec66d334f12a7471966f03a088b/protester-st-louis-area-charged-arson

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Edited: Apparently, memories are short, here. Cops gunning people down left and right is, I would submit, a greater problem in this country than what this teenager allegedly did.

[ColesCountyDem]

1. I have no use for rogue cops, but I'll shed no tears for an admitted arsonist. n/t

[Ryan Fitzomething]

2. I Want to See His Confession

Perhaps that last word might be bracketed by quotation marks?

[ColesCountyDem]

7. You will, at his trial. n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

8. Maybe the police gave Williams the "Jon Burge treatment." For those not up on

their Chicago police scandals:

Jon Graham Burge (born December 20, 1947) is a convicted felon and former Chicago Police Department detective and commander who gained notoriety for torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991 in order to force confessions. A decorated United States Army veteran, Burge served tours in South Korea and Vietnam and continued as an enlisted United States Army Reserve soldier where he served in the military police. He then returned to the South Side of Chicago and began his career as a police officer. Allegations were made about the methods of Burge and those under his command. Eventually, hundreds of similar reports resulted in a decision by Illinois Governor George Ryan to declare a moratorium on death penalty executions in Illinois in 2000 and to clear the state's death row in 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Burge (Emphasis added)

Or maybe they handled Williams Rampart Division C.R.A.S.H.-style:

The LAPD Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (or C*R*A*S*H) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers either assigned to or associated with the Rampart CRASH unit were implicated in some form of misconduct, making it one of the most widespread cases of documented police misconduct in United States history. The convicted offenses include unprovoked shootings, unprovoked beatings, planting of false evidence, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and the covering up of evidence of these activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampart_scandal (Emphasis added)

[Ace Rothstein]

9. Or maybe he tried to burn a business down.

We'll find out at his trial.

[George II]

13. I see you had to go back about 20 years to come up with something to presumably compare this to?

[KingCharlemagne]

14. Right. Because after Burge and Rampart, all police abuse everywhere magically stopped

on a dime. And police became paragons of enlightenment.

Whoops!

Sheriff Lee Baca announced his resignation this morning, bringing to an end a 48-year career that has lately been marred by corruption charges and woeful mismanagement of the county jails.

Baca's troubles began three years ago, when the ACLU and clergy groups began sounding the alarm about rampant abuse in the jails. In 2011, the ACLU issued a report citing testimony of numerous jail chaplains who recounted excessive violence meted out against inmates. The ACLU said Baca had turned a blind eye to the abuse, and called on him to resign.

The L.A. Times and other media outlets published a series of reports on jail violence, and the FBI also launched its own investigation. The county Board of Supervisors created a citizens' commission to investigate the claims. The commission's report, issued in 2012, was damning of Baca's leadership, stating that if he were a CEO, he would have been fired. The report also blamed much of the violence on a culture of poor accountability fostered in large measure by Undersheriff Paul Tanaka. The report recommended that Tanaka be removed from command of the jail system.

http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/01/07/plagued-by-scandal-sheriff-lee-baca-resigns-to-avoid-bruising-re-election-battle

[George II]

23. As the saying goes, "just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me"!

I'm sure the police staged the surveillance video too?

[Ash_F]

18. Well there was this not to long ago in my town

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Police_Department#Fake_drug_scandal

That makes 3, I guess.

3 too many, don't you think?

[George II]

24. See above.

[GGJohn]

16. Or maybe he confessed because they showed him the video of him lighting the fire,

maybe he hoped that by confessing, he would get a lighter sentence.

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. "lighter sentence"

That sounds appropriate, since he set the place on fire.

[GGJohn]

21. LOL, I didn't catch the irony of my statement.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[George II]

12. Ah, now we see first hand what a "New York minute" really is!

[Sherman A1]

3. I am afraid I cannot

understand your equivalencies?

The guy tried to deliberately set fire to a business and cause damage along with the potential for greater damage and possible injury.

BTW the QuikTrip is still closed, I drove by it about an hour ago, so they are also losing business and the employees are most likely losing hours.

[Historic NY]

4. Pretty stupid on his account...when he had been photographed over and over..

St. Louis County police arrested Joshua Williams, 19, of St. Louis, on Friday after several local media outlets and store surveillance captured images of him trying to set a pile of wood on fire outside the QuikTrip on North Hanley Road early Wednesday.

Williams confessed to setting fires at the store in a videotaped interview, according to court documents.

Police say Williams entered the QuikTrip shortly after looters shattered its glass doors during protests of the death of Antonio Martin, 18, who a police officer had shot earlier at the Mobil on the Run store across the street. Surveillance footage from the Mobil store shows Martin point what police say is a gun at a Berkeley officer before the officer fatally shoots him.

Williams can be seen in videos both inside and outside the looted QuikTrip, authorities said.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/protester-who-advocates-peace-charged-with-setting-fire-at-berkeley/article_ad4006c5-06ab-5b7e-8a7f-3fd2ed4dbbcb.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[840high]

29. Pretty dumb.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. What was that supposed to accomplish?

Nothing good, that's for sure.

[4139]

10. He was trying to prove that black teens should be profiled...

...at least that was his accomplishment

[reddread]

15. hey look, filthy trash stands on DU

im quite averse to censorship, but unmitigated filth *should* have no place HERE in a discussion.
3-4 in favor?
alrighty then.

[4139]

17. ? I don't understand your reply

[Babel_17]

25. Semantics, on the internet, where tone of voice can't be heard

Some are likely to read your post as saying "He proved that some black teens are deserving of being profiled". I think you mean something like "And now some haters will use this as an excuse to justify profiling black teens". But what do I know?

[reddread]

27. which is what a sophisticated poster would have done

I dont think that is the case here.

[4139]

33. Yes, my point was the only people he helped were the haters.

[George II]

26. Did you mean "IF he was trying....."? White or black.....

....and faux "profiling" notwithstanding, he was on video igniting the fire.

[reddread]

28. nice coaching

from the great white north

[greytdemocrat]

6. Good. nt

[George II]

11. UNBELIEVABLE, even this admitted arsonist gets a pass around here....

...and I see down thread that some are doubting the confession.

As I said, UNBELIEVABLE!

[branford]

22. I can both oppose unjustified police violence AND arsonists at the same time.

It's really not that difficult. No matter how much you oppose the police, racism, or anything else, you do not get to set the property of others on fire.

All this man managed to accomplish is demonstrate how some "peaceful" protesters may really not be that peaceful, thereby hurting all protesters, and in the process, probably ruining his own life with an anticipated felony conviction and a significant and well-earned incarcerative sentence.

[bobclark86]

32. No you can't...

It's against the rules. You are either anti-minority or anti-cop. You can't feel bad for cops who get murdered while also being outraged at police brutality. You can't be against murdering unarmed people when it's caught on video and feel police are justified if they shoot somebody pointing a 9 mm handgun at them on video. You can't be for protesting police abuses and against some guy trying to burn down a convenience store.

Don't you know? The world is black and white, and if you aren't with us on one thing, you're worse than someone who is against us on everything! Moderates are such a huge problem with this world... That and people outraged at more than one thing at a time.

(because someone will need this ... )

[Calista241]

30. Now another 19 year old will be consigned to the rolls of "convicted felon"

Unable to pass a background check and get a good paying job. Unable to live where he wants to live. Unable to vote. Unable to do a million things that most Americans take for granted.

[GGJohn]

31. It's sad, but he should have thought of that before attempting to light the store up.

Maybe the DA will offer him a deal that'll knock it down to a Gross Misdemeanor or a Misdemeanor.

[Historic NY]

35. Apparently you didn't see the video...

http://fox2now.com/2014/12/27/teen-charged-with-berkeley-quik-trip-arson-burglary/

[GGJohn]

36. Yeah, I saw the video, if he's a first time offender, the DA may offer him a deal.

Pretty damning though.

[branford]

34. I'm having trouble feeling much sympathy.

He was old and mature enough to be a protest leader and spokesperson who purportedly advocated peaceful protest, yet apparently knowingly and willingly was videotaped trying to set multiple fires on private property, an inherently very dangerous activity.

His is a confessed arsonist with political motives. He made clear and voluntary choices, and will now suffer the entirely expected consequences.

It can be easily argued that maybe he shouldn't be able to do all the things that most law-abiding and peaceful Americans take for granted.