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Originally published 11.29.14
FERGUSON, Mo. (Source:Â FinalCall.com) – Physical fires and fiery passions were ignited here with the decision not to charge officer Darren Wilson in the killing of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown.
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On the 108th day after the 18-year-old’s shooting, chaos exploded at night as many felt the failure to indict the White officer was another sign of a war on Black youth and an assault on the Black community.
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“It is a too often repeated message that your life is worthless in the context of the power of the state versus the individual. You can be exterminated without impunity. There are no repercussions for the state taking the life of a Black person,†said Dr. Wilmer Leon, a political science professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
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“Why now are we seeing these increases around the country? Why now? They don’t want you to feel empowered by the election of a Black president. Don’t think you have arrived. Nothing has changed. That’s all I can figure it to be,†he said.
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St. Louis county prosecutor Bob McCullough made the night announcement that there would be no charges from the grand jury that was first empaneled Aug. 20, some 11 days after Mike Brown was killed. Mr. McCullough defended the decision to refer the case to the grand jury because of “unfounded but growing concern†that justice would not be done. The Justice Dept. and local officials conducted joint investigations and shared information, he said. Conflicting witness accounts and the physical evidence contributed to the decision not to indict officer Wilson for any one of a range of charges from first degree murder to involuntary manslaughter, said Mr. McCullough. The Justice Dept. said its investigation will continue.
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President Obama took to the air minutes after the Nov. 24 televised announcement of the decision. He urged respect for the rule of law and called for using the Brown death to deal with longstanding problems.
The president said he instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to work to build better relations between police departments and communities, including proper training for fair application of laws, creating community alliances and having police forces reflect the race of communities that they work in. Criminal justice reform is also needed, the president said.
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“We have to recognize this is not just an issue for Ferguson it is an issue for America,†said President Obama.
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Two days before the Ferguson explosion, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam warned Ferguson was ready to blow up. The injustices that Blacks have faced are growing intolerable and Black youth are growing as angry as unarmed Palestinians battling heavily armed Israeli soldiers, the Minister said in a Nov. 22 address at Morgan State University in Baltimore. [Read More]Â
