Silent Remains
Even though the news cycle has more or less moved on at this point, I still thought I should do something about last week’s failure by a grand jury to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri police officer who gunned down 18-year-old Michael Brown in August.
Much like the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin by trigger-happy, wife-beating human marshmallow George Zimmerman, presumption of the shooter’s innocence relied heavily on an assumption that the unarmed, black teenager ultimately shot to death was guilty not only of acting as the initial aggressor, but also escalating the conflict to a point where lethal force was necessary to resolve it.
Law-enforcement, including the prosecutor charged with investigating the incident (and making recommendations to the jury), seemed more interested in blaming the victim–conveniently unavailable to defend himself, or provide his side of the story–than questioning the version of events put forth by his killer.
Like many others, I was left wondering, “who’s on trial here, again?”
I hoped the above cartoon would address this irony, as well as commenting on the larger issue of how people–minorities in particular–are pressured, often by the threat of further violence, to remain silent about police brutality, and other abuses by law-enforcement.
2 Responses to “Silent Remains”
Well, there is evidence that Brown had robbed a store just before this, having been aggressive towards the store clerk. Also many conflicting reports about what Brown was doing, acting, and how he was positioned when being confronted by the officer. It isn’t to sa that it is very likely abuse of power and straight up murder, but for all we know, Brown could have been charging up to the cop and trying to attack.
None the less, what really gets me is all the outcry and call to arms by the activist and social justice warriors, many of whom are not from Furguson, for violence and rioting. Had this been a black cop shooting a white guy, no one would care. Had it been a black cop shooting a black guy, no one would care. The riots? committed by black people mostly, attacking and looting black owned businesses. And many of the riot/looters were not from the area.
I was going to make an ironic remark about “B-but the robbery! Looters and rioters! Black on black crime! SJWs!!!” but then I noticed that someone already made such remarks unironically.
Yes, there are conflicting reports, eyewitness accounts, evidence, etc. But you know what? That’s what trials are for. Since there was no indictment, the grand jury effectively looked at the conflicting evidence and said “yup, no problems here.” The police accounts are probably the most dubious since they kept changing (first releasing footage of a “robbery”, then admitting there was no robbery at all), but since the previous commenter still believes all that, that just shows how effective and complete the character assassination of Michael Brown was.
I’d go on a rant for longer but really there isn’t much to be said that Terrence hadn’t already said.
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