Ferguson police officers restrained a mentally ill man and repeatedly shot him with a Taser, causing him to die of a heart attack, a federal lawsuit alleges.

The suit was filed Tuesday by Tina Moore, who says officers used excessive force in arresting her husband, Jason Moore, on Sept. 17, 2011.

It names as defendants the Ferguson police department; the city of Ferguson; Police Chief Tom Jackson; Brian Kaminski and Michael White, both Ferguson police officers; Mayor James Knowles III; and City Council members Mark Byrne, Kim Tihen, Dwayne James, Tim Larson, David Conway and Keith Kallstrom.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Dorene Henderson, a family friend, witnessed part of the incident and “saw no struggle between the officers and Ford.” Henderson said that neighbors began yelling at the officers: “He’s got mental problems.”

Ford’s parents said he was diagnosed with depression and later schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A man who identified himself as Ford’s cousin told Los Angeles news station KTLA: “They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that — that this child has mental problems,” the man said. In addition: “The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out.”

KTLA reported that Ford’s mother, Tritobia Ford, said her son “was lying on the ground and complying with the officers’ commands when he was shot three times.”

Bernard Bailey "Bernie" Kerik (born September 4, 1955) is a former New York City Police Commissioner who was nominated by George W. Bush to head the Department of Homeland Security in December 2004.

A week later, Kerik withdrew his nomination, explaining that he had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny. Subsequently, numerous other allegations also surfaced. In 2006, Kerik pleaded guilty to two unrelated ethics violations after an investigation by the Office of the Bronx District Attorney and was ordered to pay $221,000.

A grand jury of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a 16-count indictment against Kerik on November 8, 2007, alleging conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and lying to the Internal Revenue Service. Kerik surrendered to authorities the next day and pled not guilty to all charges.[2][3][4] On October 20, 2009, his bail was revoked and he was jailed pending trial.[5] On November 5, 2009, he pleaded guilty[6] to 8 charges in a plea bargain with prosecutors who recommended a jail sentence of 27 to 33 months.[7] Kerik was sentenced to four years in federal prison on February 18, 2010.[8] On March 30, 2011, he lost his appeal in federal court to have his four-year sentence reduced because of alleged bias by the sentencing judge.[9]

Following his departure from the New York City Police Department, he was employed by Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm formed by the former Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani. He served as a Senior Vice President at Giuliani Partners and as Chief Executive Officer of Giuliani-Kerik LLC, an affiliate of Giuliani Partners. Kerik resigned from these positions in December, 2004. In March 2005 he created The Kerik Group LLC, where he served as Chairman until June 2009, consulting in Crisis Management and Risk Mitigation, Counter-Terrorism and Law Enforcement and Jail/Prison Management strategies.

The officers got the wrong man, but charged him anyway—with getting his blood on their uniforms. How the Ferguson PD ran the town where Michael Brown was gunned down.

Police in Ferguson, Missouri, once charged a man with destruction of property for bleeding on their uniforms while four of them allegedly beat him.

“On and/or about the 20th day of Sept. 20, 2009 at or near 222 S. Florissant within the corporate limits of Ferguson, Missouri, the above named defendant did then and there unlawfully commit the offense of ‘property damage’ to wit did transfer blood to the uniform,” reads the charge sheet.

The address is the headquarters of the Ferguson Police Department, where a 52-year-old welder named Henry Davis was taken in the predawn hours on that date. He had been arrested for an outstanding warrant that proved to actually be for another man of the same surname, but a different middle name and Social Security number.

A Republican county commissioner in Scottsboro, Alabama wants to erect a monument to the Ten Commandments that would be featured alongside similar ones to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Tim Guffey told AL.com that “I’m trying to…erect a monument of historical documents. It’s the Constitution, the Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence. I feel like that’s what this country was founded on. These documents helped America become the greatest country in history.”

Guffey claimed that the monument is necessary because of the way in which the Bible has been systematically removed from education curricula. “They don’t teach this at school anymore and a person would have to go back and research and study each one of those men’s writings to find out that that’s what established them. That’s what gave them the inspiration to read the greatest Constitution this world has ever seen,” he said.

He also told AL.com that he began studying the Constitution after the election of President Barack Obama.

The analysts found that rich individuals and business-controlled interest groups largely shape policy outcomes in the United States.

The analysts found that when controlling for the power of economic elites and organized interest groups, the influence of ordinary Americans registers at a "non-significant, near-zero level."
The analysts further discovered that rich individuals and business-dominated interest groups dominate the policymaking process. The mass-based interest groups had minimal influence compared to the business-based interest groups.

The study also debunks the notion that the policy preferences of business and the rich reflect the views of common citizens. They found to the contrary that such preferences often sharply diverge and when they do, the economic elites and business interests almost always win and the ordinary Americans lose.

The authors also say that given limitations to tapping into the full power elite in America and their policy preferences, "the real world impact of elites upon public policy may be still greater" than their findings indicate.