memeorandum: Texas Governor Rick Perry indicted by grand jury (Patrick Tolbert/KXAN-TV)

9:15 PM ET, August 15, 2014

Top Items:

The Day Ferguson Cops Were Caught in a Bloody Lie — 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 …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Federalist, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Liberaland, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

The Ferguson Police Chief's Statement Is Only Making Things Worse — Five days after a police officer fired multiple rounds at and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, we now know that the officer's name is Darren Wilson. Thanks to Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson …

Discussion: Mashable, Vox, NBC News, Hot Air, Colorlines, USA Today, Shakesville, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, emptywheel, Washington Monthly and The Dish

Julia Ioffe / The New Republic:

White St. Louis Has Some Awful Things to Say About Ferguson — About a 15-minute drive from the Ferguson protest that, by now, feels more like a block party, in the more upscale St. Louis suburb of Olivette, there's a new strip mall with a barbecue joint and a Starbucks and an e-cigarette store.

Discussion: RedState, Colorlines, Washington Post, USA Today, Eschaton, Business Insider and msnbc.com

USA Today:

Ferguson police identify officer in Michael Brown shooting — Ferguson, Missouri police department released store surveillance video that shows a man shoving the store clerk and stealing cigars. Michael Brown was a suspect in that robbery. … FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown was identified …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Colorlines and CBS St. Louis, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Ferguson Police Identify Darren Wilson as Officer in Fatal Shooting and Link Teenager to Robbery

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog, Medium, Colorlines, BillMoyers.com, CNN, CANNONFIRE, Blazing Cat Fur, Prairie Weather, Featured stories and The Huffington Post

Danaradio / The Dana Show:
Alleged Friend Of Officer Darren Wilson Offers His Side

Discussion: The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit and The Jawa Report

The Hill:
Lawmaker drafting bill to demilitarize local police

Discussion: Politico, Shakesville, The Week, Slate, BillMoyers.com, American Prospect, National Review and New York Times

CNN:
Michael Brown was a robbery suspect before he was shot to death, police say

Discussion: Hot Air, protein wisdom, BREITBART.COM and Washington Post

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Libertarians make their voices heard on police in Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion: National Review, The Huffington Post, Liberal Values, RH Reality Check, Democracy in America, Gawker, Jezebel, The Raw Story and Deadline

Tim Devaney / The Hill:
Congress under pressure from left and right to ‘demilitarize’ police

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Politico, Instapundit and Senator Ted Cruz

Patrick Tolbert / KXAN-TV:

Texas Governor Rick Perry indicted by grand jury — AUSTIN (KXAN) - A grand jury has handed up an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in connection with the investigation into an effort to force Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign. — Read the Indictment

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, ABC News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Associated Press:

TEXAS' PERRY CHARGED WITH COERCION FOR VETO THREAT — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A grand jury indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday for allegedly abusing the powers of his office by carrying out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Brains and Eggs

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power — AUSTIN, Tex. — A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts on Friday, charging that he abused his power last year when he attempted to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to cut off state financing to her office.

Discussion: Power Line and CANNONFIRE

Andy Abrahams / Parade:

Paul Ryan on His Father's Private Battle, Family, and ‘House of Cards’ — More by Andy — When Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan to be his running mate in 2012, the most dramatic detail in the potential veep's biography was the tragic loss of his father when Ryan was just 16.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, PoliticusUSA and Mediaite

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Al Gore sues Al Jazeera for fraud — Former Vice President Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt have filed a lawsuit against Al Jazeera on charges of fraud and material breaches in their acquisition of Current Media, POLITICO has learned. — Gore and Hyatt, the co-founders of Current Media …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Blazing Cat Fur

Bloomberg:
Al Gore Sues Al Jazeera Over $500 Million Current TV Deal

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TVNewser, Bloomberg and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:

Ernst Says She Was Sexually Harassed in the Military — Breaks with party, Pentagon on stance — Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst, who is running for Senate and served more than 20 years in the military, said Friday that she was sexually harassed in the military and, given her experience …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Des Moines Register, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call and OnPolitics

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Twitter User Appears To Provide Eyewitness Account Of Teen Shooting — A Twitter user appears to have provided a contemporaneous account from the scene of the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, on Saturday, Aug. 9. — The account of the incident was found and curated …

Discussion: UPROXX and National Review

Lizzie Dearden / The Independent:

Huge asteroid that ‘could end human life’ defying gravity as it moves towards Earth, scientists say — Scientists have moved closer to being able to stop a huge asteroid colliding with the Earth and potentially wiping out human life. — Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered …

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Candidate Can't Explain His Position On Women's Health, Forgets What Birth Control Is — Rep. Mike Coffman,, left, and Democratic challenger Andrew Romanoff smile at the start of a their first debate — At a political debate on Thursday night, a GOP candidate for the U.S. House …

Discussion: The Spot, Jezebel, Shakesville, Towleroad News #gay and Denver Post

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

Why Is Dem Nunn Touting Endorsement From Zell Miller? — Georgia Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn's campaign has been strongly touting a new, major endorsement: former Georgia governor and Sen. Zell Miller (D). — Miller supported segregationist candidates early in his career and then became …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jim Galloway / Political Insider blog:
Zell Miller endorses Michelle Nunn for Senate, but Nathan Deal for governor

Discussion: Washington Monthly and OnPolitics

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

There Is A Man In Texas Who Has Been Imprisoned 34 Years Without A Conviction — In 1977, a Texas man named Jerry Hartfield was convicted of murder. His conviction was tossed out three years later because the process used to select his jury was unconstitutional.

Discussion: Shakesville

Ben Jacobs / The Daily Beast:

Meet Montana's Nose-Ringed Candidate for the U.S. Senate — A week ago, Amanda Curtis was a just math teacher from Butte with a TED talk. Now she's the last-minute frontrunner to hold on to the Democrats' Big Sky Senate seat. — In recent years, Montana has been electing a certain breed of burly, alpha male Democrats.

Discussion: Washington Post

Melissapamerktla / KTLA:

MMA Fighter ‘War Machine’ Arrested in Simi Valley, Was Sought in Las Vegas Beating of Ex-Girlfriend — A mixed martial-arts fighter from California who was sought in connection with the beating of his adult film star ex-girlfriend was arrested Friday in Simi Valley.