I have a real concern about the Grand Jury decision about to be released in Ferguson. We all know that if officer Darren Wilson is not indicted on any charges, Ferguson will probably burn. The prosecutor knows that. The Grand Jury knows that. Many lives will be placed in harms way if officer Wilson is exonerated. I’ve seen good cops go to prison because of public opinion. They conducted themselves within the law, but were railroaded and hung out to dry in order to pacify the public. The public has no idea what cops do to survive every day. I have challenged people who criticize the Rodney King “beating” that was captured on video tape. I’ll analogize it this way. If a young woman living alone in an apartment wakes up and hears an intruder, and goes into her living room and finds a large male stealing her TV, does she have the right to knock him to the ground with a baseball bat? Sure she does. She then orders the man to lay on the floor while she calls the police. The man gets to his knees and starts getting back up. Does she have the right to hit him again and knock him down and order him not to move? Sure she does. The man begins getting up again. Does she have the right to whack him again with the baseball bat? Absolutely. So why did a bunch of cops go to prison for knocking a man back down to the ground when he repeatedly refused to comply with the officer’s commands to lay on the ground and not move so handcuffs could be applied? I’ve been in situations (before tasers) where it took five officers ten minutes to subdue a hopped up crazy suspect whose super strength and sharp teeth was all we could handle. Sometimes just getting the suspect on the ground is impossible. But having a civilian taping an officer repeatedly smacking the nut with his nightstick doesn’t look good on TV. Especially if the officers are white and the suspect is black. No one knows all of the facts in the shooting of Michael Brown, but from what we do know, many of the initial reports of a police officer executing an innocent black boy by shooting him in the back with his hands in the air surrendering were lies. We know now that the 18 year old “behemoth” robbed a store and physically attacked officer Wilson. I can unequivocally say that if the officer was black and the robber was white, this story wouldn’t have even made the national news. During my career I learned that many black people feel oppressed, even if they aren’t. Many black people feel that they are unfairly targeted because they are black. Almost every black person I ever arrested really believed I was doing so because they were back, not because they committed a crime. There is no way to change that mindset, folks! Sorry to say, but some of it is justified. But in the Michael Brown shooting, the officer was right. And Michael Brown was wrong. But unfortunately, those facts aren’t going to matter to the black community in Ferguson. If officer Wilson is exonerated, many blacks will feel that “the fix is in,” and will conclude wrongly that the white man has again suppressed the truth and got away with murdering an innocent black boy. And Ferguson will burn. I just hope that the Grand Jury doesn’t let that threat interfere with their decision. I’d hate to see another innocent cop get hung out to dry.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 16:45:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015