Odd Notes From Ferguson Police Chief Jackson's Press Conference (Thurs Aug 14) [View all]

[alcibiades_mystery]

For those not close to a teevee, the Police Chief of Ferguson, Thomas Jackson, gave a short press conference around noon local time. Here are some of my observations, including mostly the odd moments of the press conference.

1) Shushing his Subordinate - At one point, Jackson was asked about the two journalists who had been arrested in the McDonald's last night. He hemmed and hawed awkwardly, then one of his subordinates grabbed a mic and said something like "They were upset because they wanted to be on television..." at which point Jackson literally pushed him away and shushed him.

2) "We're Reviewing that Today Again" - On naming the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, the Jackson had a few interesting things to say: a) He absolutely denied that the person named by Anonymous earlier today was that officer, but then suggested that the person named was actually an officer, which is different from what he'd said earlier, saying something like "The officer they named who was not involved," b) He hemmed and hawed oddly when another name - Gary - was thrown at him, saying "No comment" to that name (why deny the one but not the other?), c) most importantly, he mentioned that they were reviewing the decision "again today." (see 3)).

3) Reviewing the Decision not the Release the Name - Jackson made some very odd remarks about naming the officer involved, saying "We're reviewing that again today." He said that he had mentioned two circumstances in which he'd release the name: forced to by a judge, or if the officer was charged. But he also said that a third condition applied: that he could change his mind on a day-to-day basis, and today was a new day! It was a remarkable thing to say. He then implied that he would be having a meeting on that question today, "this afternoon." And promised "more on that!"

On point three, I think Jackson is under great pressure to release the name of this officer, and that some of the pressure is coming from the Justice Department / White House. Notice that in Obama's statement (which was, let's face it, underwhelming at best) kept mentioning an "open and transparent investigation." I think that was code for "release the name," and that this is coming down at Jackson from federal and from Nixon.

In any case, a very odd conference indeed.