(This photo of victim Michael Brown is from BBC.com.)The Grand Jury, composed mostly of whites, did not find a true bill in the case of Ferguson Police Officer Wilson shooting and killing the unarmed young black man, Michael Brown. This comes as no surprise. I expected as much when the prosecutor delayed announcing the Grand Jury findings for several hours -- a very unusual occurrence, as most Grand Jury findings are announced as soon as known. Evidently, the white power structure in St. Louis County wanted time to get their militarized police in position to control any justifiable response to the decision.
It is clear this prosecutor didn't want charges, and made sure the Grand Jury had enough information to obfuscate what happened (so they could return a no-bill decision). He obviously doesn't think police shooting an unarmed person, with their arms up and trying to surrender, should be against the law -- and thanks in part to this decision, it isn't.
This was a horrendous decision, but it is not an unusual decision. Police are seldom held responsible for shooting unarmed citizens in the United States, especially if the victim is a black male. And Missouri is no exception to any rule. That is true across this country.
I have said before that I think this would have been very different if the officer had been black and the victim (and witnesses) had been white. I still believe that. The prosecutor (and his right-wing friends) will try to deny this case had anything to do with race, but that is a load of crap. It was definitely about race -- from the killing to the Grand Jury decision. I think I would be very worried if I was a black male -- because this case just illustrates that they can easily be victimized (and even killed) at the whim of a white officer, and nothing will be done.
This shooting, and this decision, are both inexcusable.
