The Day After: My Reactions to the #Ferguson Decision

Posted by HeyItsHales on November 25, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Feature Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

I try not to comment on super hot-topic issues. But I couldn’t hold my tongue this time. Because this time, it’s ridiculous.

I have been told by family and strangers alike that I’m not seeing the facts that have now been released in the Darren Wilson grand jury decision. I’ve been told to read all the facts before I say anything. Let me say that I research everything I say in situations like these before I say anything. That’s in my blood.

Also, let’s remember one thing here. An indictment means that Darren Wilson would have been officially tried for the crime. According to Dictionary.com, “indict” literally means “to charge with an offense or crime”. Last I checked, murder is a crime. There would be a trial where all of the evidence would be shown and an official verdict on Wilson’s guilt would have been made. The point of this was not to declare Wilson guilty or not guilty. It was to determine if Wilson even deserved to be tried for murder.

And, according to this Grand Jury, he didn’t. He literally got away with murder.

The photos that were released Monday night show Wilson with a fat lip and some bruises and scratches on his cheek and the back of his neck.

Last night, I reposted the images that had been released of Darren Wilson’s injuries that had been sustained during his altercation with Michael Brown. Before these photos had been released, the general public had been told he’d gotten injuries such as a broken eye socket and serious facial injuries. So, yeah, I was expecting something a little more than a fat lip and some rosy cheeks.

Anyway, I’d reposted this photos on Facebook saying, and I quote, “Do these injuries really support fatally shooting someone six times, including twice in the head?”. The response I got had nothing to do with my question. Instead, I was accused of not knowing all the facts, then told that “liberal democrats” were the problem here by a man that I didn’t even know. I don’t know if his comment was calling me a liberal democrat, but it sure seemed like it was pointed at me. It wasn’t the liberal democrat part that hit me, it was the fact that I was being labeled and judged by some guy I didn’t know who most definitely didn’t know anything about me.

No one responded to my initial question, which meant two things. Either my friends were in agreement with me that Darren Wilson could have gotten more serious injuries tripping over his own feet and falling down than what he got in this fight, or they were ignoring the question entirely.

Immediately after the decision for no indictment had been announced, I looked at the reactions on social media. When Mashable posted their piece to Facebook on the Grand Jury’s decision, the comments on it were, to say the least, appalling. People were saying things like Brown’s parents should have taught him better. Brown was a thug that was a threat to society. One man suggested that police “shoot to kill” on protesters. Another said “I believe this policeman deserves a congressional medal and it should be “open season” on those who riot. No rubber bullets, no teargas – live ammo. That will teach the lowlifes in America about respecting authority.”

Police and riot squads stand under a “Seasons Greetings” sign in Ferguson, MO, Monday night. (Reuters)

This was happening, right before my eyes. Do I think that Michael Brown was an innocent, carefree 18-year-old that never did anything wrong? No. Do I think that his actions required he be shot six times? Most definitely no. Do I think Brown’s parents should be cited as the reason their son was shot? Never. Never ever ever.

I then went to Twitter, hoping that I’d see something a little less heartbreaking. I saw a mixture, but at least it wasn’t as harsh as what I was seeing. I saw a lot of people who were announcing their agreement with the decision calling rioters animals. I saw a lot of people who were outraged by the announcement. I even say people spreading around an image showing Jared Loughner, James Holmes, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice all in comparison.

What I got most out of everything I saw is one simple fact. An unsettling amount of people in our country don’t understand our justice system. A lot (and I mean A LOT) of people seemed to think that Wilson getting indicted meant that he was being found guilty of murder. That’s not even remotely true. Wilson being indicted would have meant that there was enough cause to hold a trial. A FREAKING TRIAL! No indictment means that there are people in this country that think that murder, whether it was justified or not, can go without explanation.

And that’s just messed up.

Hale Day