Ferguson’s Tef Poe: Obama ‘no ally’ of city’s black citizens

The US Justice Department has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, officials said.

The conclusion is based on a six-month investigation after a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager, Mike Brown, dead in Ferguson, which sparked violent protests across the country.

Read more: timeline - the shooting of Michael Brown

Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 per cent of arrests while accounting for only 67 per cent of the population in Ferguson, according to an official.

The report is also expected to charge that police disproportionately use excessive force against black people and that black drivers are routinely stopped and searched far more than white motorists.

‘Violent’

The findings vindicate critics who have cited a pattern of abuse in Ferguson. Among those critics includes local rapper Tef Poe, who told Channel 4 News that black people are “unfairly presumed to be violent”.

Kareem Jackson aka Tef Poe, said he was one of many arrested during the protests, and believes that the state had an “over-the-top” reaction towards Ferguson residents.

The St Louis activist said: “I saw pregnant women shot with tear gas canisters, I pulled children out of tear gas. I was shot with rubber bullets myself. I had friends who were unjustifiably thrown in to jails.”

For some of these racist institutions there is no distinction between class. Tef Poe

Tef Poe reflected some of the findings in the report, saying: “You are still subjugated to getting pulled over in a Mercedes Benz as a black person, pulled out of that car, with a pistol to your head.

“You can have all the college degrees that you want. You could be the most educated person in the land”.

On President Obama, Tef Poe claimed that if he came to Ferguson and marched alongside protesters, he would still be subject to the same actions: “For some of these racist institutions there is no distinction between class, distinction between your place in society.”

Obama is not a black president, he is the president. Tef Poe

However, he criticised the president saying he is “not an ally to the poor, disenfranchised black citizens of Ferguson.

“Obama is not a black president, he is the president. He has the same exact responsibilities that George (W) Bush had.”

The artist released the track War Cry ahead of a Grand Jury verdict, which decided that the officer who killed 19-year-old Brown, would not be charged.

Mayor James Knowles said Ferguson was committed to making improvements. “The city has always been committed to making sure we have the very best police department and any training and improvements or reforms we make to help improve service to the community, we are interested in,” Knowles said.