<p>The news article I read stated that the officer was not told that it might be a ‘fake’ gun. He only heard that the suspect had a gun. So the news reports are all over the map in what they are reporting.
When he saw the gun (when it was aimed at him) he did not see an orange tip so it was reasonable to assume that it was a real gun. </p>
<p>Maybe (note sarcasm) it would helpful if the news outlets spent more time fact checking before writing their stories. </p>
<p>Many things can be true at once. It is unquestionably very dangerous to be a young black man (or even an older black male, frankly) when dealing with police. It is unquestionably true that institutional racism exists in police departments across the country. Those things are important and terrible and must not be tolerated. However, it can also be true in any specific instance that an individual officer wasn’t legaly culpable in a particular shooting. </p>
<p>I always tell my kids that when bad judgment meets bad luck it will take an act of God for them to walk away and I believe that to my soul. We know that all kids make mistakes, every single one. We can only pray that bad luck doesn’t meet up with their mistakes. Michael Brown made a mistake in his actions in the convenience store. Had bad luck been busy elsewhere at that time, if that baby hadn’t been in distress and caused the officer to be right there at that moment, perhaps their paths wouldn’t have crossed and Michael would have lived to gain wisdom and experience and have a long and happy life. I do think he was a punk at that point in his life. However, I don’t think that was all he was and as long as he had lived, there would have been hope for a bright future. Now, none of that.</p>
<p>“A black teenager doing the same thing is called a punk and a thug.”</p>
<p>Michael Brown is a poor poster child, though. Trayvon Martin WAS an innocent black teenager who was just walking to go visit relatives with his Skittles and Coke, and wasn’t harming anybody. Michael Brown had just stolen from a convenience store and roughed up the owner. I’m sorry, my reaction to these cases is totally different. </p>
<p>I highly encourage everyone to listen to slam poet Sonya Renee’s “When the Shotgun Questions the Black Boy”</p>
<p>Can’t post it on here due to explicit language but extremely powerful. It’s on YouTube.</p>
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Trayvon Martin was not shot by an officer of the law in his official capacity. He was killed by a violent crazy person off the street for whatever sick reason. It’s a totally different situation.</p>
<p>I am so angry about the outcome of this, and not because he wasnt indicted, but because proper procedures were not followed throughout the entire process. I dont know if Wilson is guilty or not, but I do know the prosecutor shouldve removed himself. This was a big cluster@#$%. Lets see, Ferguson police dont write up reports immediately following the incident, so the officer is allowed to tailor his response. There was certainly enough evidence that the prosecutor couldve charged wilson, and went to trial. If the facts are as he stated during the press conference, then Wilson still couldve been exonerated. You dont have to have a grand jury to press charges! Since he decided to have this grand jury, they shouldve been sequestered. It seems the prosecutor presented evidence FOR wilson during the grand jury proceedings based on his press conference, which also is wrong. You are not supposed to try a case in front of a grand jury, they are only there to decide if the case should proceed. Since his father was killed in the line of duty, I believe he is totally biased. And my biggest problem is they seemed to have wanted chaos to be unleashed. They let the crowd gather and simmer all freaking day, and release the info, at night when folks have the cover of darkness for all sorts of mischief. What the hell?? Apparently the governor asked them not to release this at night, but they did anyway. </p>
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<p>Not a chance in the world. If you rush a police car and block the officer from opening the door and reach in the open window and try to get control of the gun, you have created a situation that puts you in danger. I hope your 18 year old white son knows that. </p>
<p>There are problems in Ferguson and across the country with the relationship between blacks and the police. Having “snitches get stitches” spray painted on the side of the Quik Trip that was burned in the first night of rioting does not help that, and neither does the disproportionate rate at which minorities are stopped by police. But in this specific case, given the specific facts that were brought before the grand jury, it does not appear that race was a primary issue. </p>
<p>There are 12 people on the grand jury, at least 9 must vote to indict. If you can’t get 9 out of 12 to indict (probable cause) based on hearing mainly the prosecutions case, it’s hard to see how you could ever have gotten 12 to convict beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. </p>
<p>So I was looking up the past history of the Ferguson PD…and I have to say I’m quite impressed, they can give the good old LAPD a run for its money in the area of shady dealings and corruption. </p>
<p>“Not a chance in the world.”</p>
<p>If it were two white kids walking down the middle of the street (like Brown and his friend) about all the cop would have down is roll down his window and tell them to get out of the middle of the street. If that. </p>
<p>partyof5, the prosecutor cannot press charges on his own. It’s either a grand jury or an arraignment before a judge. In the case of an arraignment, the prosecutor has to bring forward witnesses to testify in public and under oath, and the judge has to agree that there is probable cause. Avoiding that public circus was the right thing to do. </p>
<p>Maybe in some universe you are familiar with the grand jury results could have been kept secret, but here in the year 2014 in America, the results would have been out by the end of the night anyway. The announcement was postponed long enough to let schools and businesses close and get the police forces in place, but I see no advantage that would have been gained by trying to push it back any farther. </p>
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<p>If the 2 kids walking down the street were white, and one of them matched a description of a robbery suspect the policeman was hearing about on the radio, and one of them knew (whether the policeman did or not) that he had in fact just robbed a store, and the policeman backed up and tried to get out of his car, and the white teenager that matched the description of the robber blocked the door and reached for the officer’s gun, what is it again that you think would have happened???</p>
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<p>The prosecutor does have to press charges to be brought up for an arraignment, which is what shouldve happened here.</p>
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<p>I didnt say the results shouldve been kept secret. I said they shouldve been sequestered, last time I checked, that had a different meaning. </p>
<p>And no the announcement was postponed far longer than necessary. I have no problem with letting folks get home, but there was a long time between folks getting home and when the announcement occured. The governer declared a state of emergency days ago, so spare me, they had all of their forces in place.</p>
<p>Nothing justifies the arson, looting, and violence in Ferguson last night. That kind of activity only cements the idea that this is a community of criminals who are a constant threat to police.</p>
<p>^^^ Not to me.</p>
<p>So are the rowdy white college kids in Keene, NH, a “community of criminals who are a constant threat to police”?</p>
<p>I don’t recall ever reading about mob violence in Ferguson before the Michael Brown shooting.</p>
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<p>Exactly. The officer was never arrested or charged. The prosecutor presented exculpatory evidence to the GJ, something that I believe is normally just not done.Normally they present only the evidence of a crime, and the exculpatory evidence is presented at trial.</p>
<p>This was conducted in very bad faith, as far as I can see.</p>
<p>@TatinG Absolutely. Their behaviors disgust me. </p>
<p>MomofJandL, I stand by what said. </p>
<p><a href=“Exactly How Often Do Police Shoot Unarmed Black Men? – Mother Jones”>http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/police-shootings-michael-brown-ferguson-black-men</a></p>
<p><a href=“Here’s the Data That Shows Cops Kill Black People at a Higher Rate Than White People – Mother Jones”>http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/police-shootings-ferguson-race-data</a></p>
<p>I lived through the LA riots. It’s an experience that I will never forget. The decision just as in Ferguson was just an excuse to run wild, stealing, rampaging, burning. 50 some people were killed. </p>
<p>When police officers are killed in the line of duty, no threads are started. The news media have small headline stories. The president makes no comment. Recently in Northern Cal, a thrice deported illegal immigrant killed two LE officers. Barely made a ripple in the news.</p>
<p>“When police officers are killed in the line of duty, no threads are started. The news media have small headline stories.”</p>
<p>There were certainly plenty of media coverage when the policeman was shot and killed last month in Pennsylvania. It was all over the news until he was finally apprehended (alive.) </p>