The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Ferguson, Mo. Police
Department to order its officers to stop wearing bracelets in support of
Darren Wilson, the white officer who fatally shot an unarmed black
teenager last month.
The DOJ wrote Friday in a letter to Ferguson police Chief Tom Jackson that the bracelets “upset and agitated” people and “reinforce the very ‘us versus them’ mentality that many residents of Ferguson believe exists,” according to Reuters. The agency wrote that residents told its investigators on the ground in Ferguson that they saw officers who oversaw protest sites Tuesday wearing “I Am Darren Wilson” bracelets.
A letter sent to Ferguson police from the DOJ earlier this week also said investigators had noticed some officers either not wearing or obscuring the name tags on their uniform in violation of the police department’s own rules, according to Reuters.
A photo purporting to show a cop wearing the “I Am Darren Wilson” bracelet circulated widely this week on social media:
OMG! From the photo, there’s no way anyone could claim the bracelets are low key or tasteful. In fact, they appear to be designed to inflame. It is amazing the local department had to be told to stop the practice.
This is what happens when a convicted killer is hired as the department’s PR person.
And more proof the DOJ needs to fire everyone in that department and start over, and this time they can’t just move to another department like last time.
If it turns out that Darren Wilson is found guilty of some form or degree of murder, are the Ferguson cops still going to wear their “I Am Darren Wilson” bracelets.
Yes.