I start by thinking back to the moment itself- why? Why did Michael Brown, a kid who had no prior record of trouble with the cops, and who had only committed a petty theft (not the "thug criminal" his detractors like to point out), feel that he should disobey Officer Wilson, and have an altercation with him? What made him feel so negatively toward that cop? By extension, why did Wilson fear Brown? Why, after having shot him twice, did he feel the need to shoot him again? Yes, Brown was a big kid, and yes Brown had an altercation with him already, but let's not pretend he's an NFL Defensive End or something. He was a twice shot, big kid. It's obvious to me that Brown felt extremely negative towards the police in Ferguson, something that didn't randomly just turn up in that one child on that one day. It's also very clear to me that Wilson felt extremely negatively towards the local youth, something born out in his testimony to the grand jury too. Whether Wilson is guilty of murder or not, there are bigger problems in Ferguson.
It's also clear to me that the prosecutor did not want this case from the get-go, and only took it to a grand jury because of public pressure. Charitably speaking, I imagine a prosecutor who has a good relationship to the police in the county, and once he saw some of the evidence knew that taking this to trial would end in an embarrassing loss, and a loss of the good will he had with police. A less charitable view of this is that he just threw the case because he was pre-disposed to side with the cops. I've never seen a prosecutor present both sides of the story at a grand jury, and i'm sure the same courtesy would not have been put forward if the shooting was the other way around here. I do get that the case was not winnable with the evidence they had, but the prosecutor doesn't have to be the one out there defending a grand jury clearing a suspect, and it looked really bad.
And even so, even if the case had no chance, we have to examine the fact that this keeps happening. It happened to Trayvon Martin. It happened to Michael Brown. Unarmed, young, black men are killed by armed men, and then the law finds them to have been the aggressor, and clears their killers. There are some awful racial stereotypes out there about black men, and clearly those stereotypes make black lives less safe within our society. Even beyond these cases, Eric Garner died of a heart attack during a physical altercation with police in Staten Island that both appeared unnecessary, and was prompted by Garner's "non-compliance" in the words of the cops. Why is it that black men are considered so threatening? Even beyond that, it feeds into why we had militarized police in Ferguson to respond to the initial angry protestors. It's very clear that this paranoia by law enforcement escalated a situation that should have never been this tense. It really is time for a discussion of how largely "white" people feel about black people.
It's also time for a conversation inside of the Democratic Party about race relations and police. We had State Senators who were African-American on TV last night criticizing the "party," and clarifying that they meant the white leadership (namely the DA and Governor), for not caring about Michael Brown and African-Americans at-large. There is a huge divide within America's left about the relationship of African-Americans and police, and how to bridge it. On a basic policy level, going along with Republican law enforcement ideas, such as mandatory minimum sentences, the "War on Drugs," and the militarization of police, has left a major constituency of the left feeling isolated and alone in their dealings with police. That surely can't continue.
I'll just never get the people who support Darren Wilson. I won't second guess the grand jury (based on what they saw, I understand their stance), but the man has something wrong with him. His stereotypical speak about Brown as a "hulk," his negative feelings towards the community he served, even his boasting in his first interviews that he would "do it again" all are signs about this man. Is he guilty of murder? Based on the evidence, probably not. This isn't some zero sum ball game though. Even if Wilson was not guilty of a crime, this is not the outcome we desire as a society. Stealing a pack of cigars should not be a death sentence for an 18 year old kid with no prior record, just because he lives in what we deem a "tough" town. Relations between the town and the cops shouldn't be so bad that this happens. Wilson might find it acceptable to "do it again," but it is most certainly not.
I have to confess that I can't believe this guy wasn't at least bound over for trial. Neither can the National Bar Association. At some point, you can empathize with the actual protestors out there, because it really doesn't make sense at all. I can understand why they fear that their lives matter less. There's a legitimate problem in this country that people of color don't think the law represents their needs and interests, or that their lives matter the same. Certainly we can't leave a chunk of our citizens out there living in this condition.
None of this should be confused with me supporting the rioting and looting that did go on last night. A body was found shot up in a car in Ferguson, the only death that I know of, but the burning of cars and businesses in Ferguson had no place in a civilized society. There should be prosecutions where possible. Let's not overstate that issue though. Ferguson has a little more than 21,000 people in the town, and well over 20,000 of them were in their homes last night, while a few hundred were peacefully protesting near municipal buildings. There were legitimate grievances, being aired by legitimately upset people. A few hundred troublemakers at most, some of them not even from Ferguson, some professional protestors, caused the scenes that Fox and others gloriously covered.
What happened in Ferguson is awful. A child was killed by a police officer, and the community does not believe it was justified, even though the courts do. This is a problem. This is a big problem in this country. You can mock it and focus on a messed up convenience store, or you can realize that the problem is much more serious than that.
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