Michael Brown vs. Miriam Carey

By Joseph Farah

Miriam Carey
Miriam Carey

I don’t get it.

There are national protests – even riots – over the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot by one policeman after significant provocation and violence. The incident was thoroughly investigated by the national and international press. It was investigated by local police, who released findings to the public. A grand jury considered the facts and found no cause for charges against the police officer.

Meanwhile, Miriam Carey, a young black mother with her baby in tow, was gunned down in a hail of at least 26 gunshots by Capitol Police in Washington more than a year ago. She committed no crime, but made a wrong turn near the White House. Few facts have been publicly released, and all official video has been suppressed. Despite investigations by the police and Justice Department, no charges have been recommended against any police officers. There have been no demonstrations, the media have demonstrated a complete lack of interest in the case (with the exception of WND, which has covered the case with dozens of stories) and Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have shown no interest.

In fact, on Wednesday, the Washington Post released its first major story on the Carey incident, confirming the shocking reporting of WND, over the last 13 months.

What’s the difference between these two cases?

For the life of me, the contrast between the Brown case and the Carey case couldn’t be more stark.

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While the Justice Department is still investigating the Brown case, it long ago concluded there was “insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights or local charges against officers from the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police.”

While Capitol Police have issued very little information to the few press inquiries it has received about the under-reported Carey case, it offered this response to the Washington Post for its Thanksgiving Day story: “There is more than sufficient evidence to show that under all of the prevailing circumstances at the time, the officers were acting in defense of themselves and others at the time they fired their weapons.”

The facts simply don’t support such a statement.

Disproportionate force was used by police against Carey. As the Post found:

  • “In recent cases of motorists entering restricted areas, drivers have faced misdemeanor charges. Last May, Mathew Goldstein mistakenly followed the Obama daughters’ motorcade into the pedestrian section of Pennsylvania Avenue. A misdemeanor charge of unlawful entry was dropped.”
  • “In September, the day after Omar Gonzalez sprinted into the White House, another man, Kevin Carr, allegedly drove into the same restricted area as Carey did and parked. He, too, was charged with misdemeanor unlawful entry. His case is pending.”

The Post story makes another interesting point: District of Columbia law states that an element of the crime of unlawful entry is the refusal to leave, making the act intentional. Carey did not refuse to leave. Indeed, she was trying to leave when she was met with a hail of gunfire.

Clearly, Miriam Carey panicked, probably because she had an infant daughter in her car seat when officers drew their guns.

Press reports repeatedly claimed that Carey drove from the scene leading cops on a high-speed chase. Again, the facts don’t support such claims.

In fact, she drove 1.3 miles from the White House checkpoint before she was killed. It took her four minutes, meaning she drive at an average speed of 19.5 mph in a 25-mph zone.

Police standards prohibit officers from firing at moving vehicles except in rare circumstances. But that didn’t stop the cops from emptying 26 rounds at the car, including the fatal shot or shots. D.C. police policy was broken that day – perhaps the only law actually broken.

No justice, no peace?

What about the case of Miriam Carey?

I still don’t get it.

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Joseph Farah

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND. He is the author or co-author of 13 books that have sold more than 5 million copies, including his latest, "The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament." Before launching WND as the first independent online news outlet in 1997, he served as editor in chief of major market dailies including the legendary Sacramento Union. Read more of Joseph Farah's articles here.


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