Yes, I am aware that Brown was not entirely innocent -- there was drugs in his system, he had robbed a store, he resisted arrest and got into a scuffle with Wilson, etc. When the news first broke months ago, I myself thought, "Michael Brown is not really the best example we want to use to talk about injustice, even if he was a young man..."
Then I read about the 6 bullets.
6 bullets. How many times do you need to shoot to injure the suspect enough to apprehend him/her? I don't know what the magic number is, but 6??? Furthermore, Brown was unarmed. It wouldn't have been so clear a case if Brown had a weapon and injured Wilson. However, Brown did not have a weapon, and when you shoot 6 bullets into an unarmed person, it's a no brainer-- guess who's going to die.
What really galls me is the fact that Wilson was not even indicted to go to trial, which means he will not have to account for every bullet that he put into Brown's body. You want to talk about defending Wilson, what about letting him explain every single decision behind every single bullet. Perhaps there was a justification for 6 bullets, but guess what, we'll never know now.
Aside from the clear injustice of the decision, my Facebook has been inundated with posts either protesting the decision, or saying something along the lines of, "Why are people looting and protesting and using violence to voice their disagreement with the decision, or vent their anger against the system? It doesn't solve anything"
Well, my friends, because this is not a one-time thing that black people happen to vent their anger out on. The truth is, Darren Wilson is not the 1st or 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th or 6th or 10th or even the 100th police officer to commit such a gross crime, especially against black people or people of racial minority. This is probably the X000th time this has happened. For example, see THIS ARTICLE detailing another recent incident, the Trayvon Martin shooting. The article also throws into relief some needed historical perspective that shows how black people have been repeatedly
Pray, tell me, how many times should one group of people suffer from injustice again and again and again and again and again and again and again before they have had enough and decide to fight back? True, violence and looting are probably not the best solutions to venting anger and frustration, but I can understand the fury behind their actions.
I wrote on my Facebook status "No justice, no peace. RIP Michael Brown," and a friend commented, "Seriously?" I'm not sure what he meant by that, except to infer that he disagreed with my status, and that's fine. However, I would like to respond here:
Yes, I'm serious. There was no justice to this decision. How do you expect me, a woman of racial minority, to have peace of mind, knowing that a cop can shoot me (or my future children) 6 times, and walk free, without even having to go to trial? Sure, Michael Brown wasn't your star poster child, but neither did he deserve to have 6 bullets put into his body. And yes, I'm serious when I say that I hope Michael Brown rests in peace.
This is one time I disagree with you, Keshia. Unless you're going to teach your children to rob and assault police officers, they're not likely to get shot by a cop. Also, while I agree with you that 6 shots are excessive, you have to understand how police officers are trained. Justin's dad is a former cop and current instructor of criminal justice at a technical college. He raised Justin to respond to threats by ensuring that the attacker cannot harm you again, even if it means ever again. I'm more of the "do the least amount of damage, just enough to get away" kind of person myself. I've told Justin numerous times I'm scared I won't be able to really hurt someone trying to hurt me or my children. But I honestly hope I would because I would have more guilt knowing I could have prevented injury or death to my children than in killing someone attacking me. Anyway, police are trained to be more assertive and defensive than people like you and me like to be. (Whether or not you believe their training should be different is a whole other topic of debate.) Furthermore, this was the officer's first time shooting on the job, so he was probably caught up in fear and adrenaline. I'm not saying he's 100% innocent. I honestly don't know enough to pass judgment on either guy. Only God knows what truly happened. I'm just saying to see the other perspective. Love you!
ReplyDeleteHi Francesca, thank you for your push back. Friends won't always agree with each other 100% of the time, so it's totally fine. I'm not offended at all. My reply to your very thoughtful comments is that I understand that Wilson was probably caught up in fear and adrenaline. Like I wrote in my post, I know that Michael Brown is to blame for part of the situation. That I agree with you.
DeleteWhat I don't agree is whether you consider the entire incident a crime. As an indictment (not a trial), the grand jury basically said that a cop can shoot 6 bullets into an unarmed man (innocent or not) and kill him, and it would still NOT be considered a crime, or at least, "probable cause" for a crime. As you wrote, even 6 shots is "excessive." I know Wilson is not a murderer, and given the circumstances, I don't think he would even have been charged with manslaughter. But how can "excessive shooting" of an unarmed man not be considered a crime? Where do we draw the line at what is "justified homicide" and "a crime?" To me, Wilson should have at least gone to trial and made to justify every single one of those shots. This is when the defense would tear Michael Brown's character apart, etc. If he had a valid reason for all 6 bullets, I agree that he is innocent, and no crime was committed. The problem is, the grand jury basically passed the judgement that the excessive shooting was justified, and there was no crime AT ALL. My thoughts: 6 bullets? 6 bullets in an unarmed man's body is not considered a crime?! Is that really what was needed to take down Michael Brown, as large a man and drug-induced as he was?! Maybe yes, maybe not, but without a trial, we'll never know! And all it looks like now is a cop who had no control over the trigger, just kept shooting, killed a man, and wasn't even charged! That's why I'm angry at the verdict of the grand jury (that, plus if you saw what happened on my Facebook wall, you would notice that I'm still upset over some bullying that took place).
Okay, I can get off my soapbox now. We can agree to disagree. That's what true friendships are. Love ya too!
I think it's fair to ask him to justify every bullet (isn't that what Internal Affairs is for? I wonder if they will investigate). I haven't seen your Facebook wall--are we even Facebook friends? I'm sorry there was bullying. I wish people could discuss differing opinions civilly. It would be so beneficial, because different perspectives and ideas are what help us find solutions that can help the most people.
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