Furguson Mess... A Grand Jury spent 3 months meticulously analyzing the physical evidence, and decided there was no merit to the plausibility that Officer Wilson acted inappropriately. Had there been any doubt, or any merit to the claim, they would have recommended a trial. The Grand Jury does not convict, they only assess claims of plausibility and prosecutability. I am extremely concerned about racial and other inequality in our country, and I am absolutely certain that police abuse their power and that they and the justice system persecute minorities in a biased and unjust manner. But that is not the question here. I do not have nearly enough knowledge of the details of what transpired to make a claim about Mr. Brown or Mr. Wilson, nor the altercation that led to Mr. Wilson being killed. I do, however, have confidence that 12 people who spend several months immersed in the details of the event, and informed about the law, can and likely will make a proper decision. I have no basis to second-guess them. This confidence is bolstered by what I have seen reported about the plentiful evidence of wholly manufactured witness testimony, and especially the witness testimony that completely contradicts physical evidence. Given physical proof vs somebodys emotionally charged memory, I will always argue for trusting the evidence. I do not, and I suspect most others who are passionate about this issue do not have nearly enough information to second-guess the facts. Even worse, I am not willing to play armchair judge and jury to such a serious event. I do not want Officer Wilson prosecuted at the States expense for a crime he clearly did not commit, and I do not want him to be exonerated for a heinous murder. I do not want Mike Brown to be slaughtered without cause, and I do not want him to be victimized if he was assaulting a police officer. One of each of these scenarios is true, and I have no personal idea which. I do have reason to believe that people who spend many months of their lives sorting through the facts DO have a very good idea though. It is entirely plausible that the evidence might have been very different, and that the evidence would have pointed to a different sequence of events, objects and acts. But a Grand Jury looked at these things far more carefully than I and decided it wasnt so. What basis do I possibly have for disagreeing with their findings, other than my own anger about racial bias? Shouldnt we defer to the facts instead of emotion? All of these calls for justice confuse me. What kind of justice are people unhappy with the ruling wanting to enforce? Their own ill-informed preconceptions? Are they so willing to stake a persons life on their confidence? From what evidence does such confidence derive. Please: Call for an end to racial profiling, for the end to police brutality, for an end to unjust sentencing of white vs. black persons found guilty of crimes. Call for these things loudly. Do NOT call for blood just because you presume to know more than the jury. The emotionally loaded language the portrays Officer Wilson as a murderer or a killer or Mike Brown as a defenseless kid already presumes a conclusion. I much prefer to withhold judgement until people who know more, see more, learn more and debate the facts very much more than I come up with an informed conclusion separated from bias and emotion. I want a just legal system. I demand that our machinery of justice and enforcement be color-blind, gender-blind, etc. I just dont think this particular case should be a rallying point. How about instead we choose the killing of James Boyd, who was shot in the back, and for which crime we have a clear, unambiguous recording of the events. Couple this with a history of violence and bias on the part of the Albuquerque police, and I believe that is a much better place to focus our disgust and demands for justice. Or keep the candles burning and peaceful protests active for Eric Garner who was allegedly suffocated by New York police after being safely subdued. For Messrs Brown and Wilson, what do you or I know well enough that you can second-guess the jury?
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 04:27:01 +0000
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