Most people, I suspect, are unaware that Darren Wilson, the police officer who, on August 9th, fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has testified several times about the events of that day.
For over two months, however, protesters – and looters – have reacted to the shooting in ways I assume you already know.
Now, however, Wilson\’s specific testimony – along with indications of whether or not it is factual – are coming out.
Excerpted from Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo and Julie Bosman\’s article in this morning\’s New York Times:
Thepolice officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., twomonths ago has told investigators that he was pinned in his vehicleand in fear for his life as he struggled over his gun with Mr. Brown,according to government officials briefed on the federal civil rightsinvestigation into the matter.
The officer, Darren Wilson, has told the authorities that during the scuffle, Mr. Brown reached for the gun. It was fired twice in the car, according to forensics tests performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The first bullet struck Mr. Brown in the arm; the second bullet missed.
The forensics tests showed Mr. Brown\’s blood on the gun, as well as on the interior door panel and on Officer Wilson\’s uniform. Officer Wilson told the authorities that Mr. Brown had punched and scratched him repeatedly, leaving swelling on his face and cuts on his neck.
InSeptember, Officer Wilson appeared for four hours before a St. LouisCounty grand jury, which was convened to determine whether there isprobable cause that he committed a crime. Legal experts have saidthat his decision to testify was surprising, given that it was notrequired by law. But the struggle in the car may prove to be a moreinfluential piece of information for the grand jury, one that speaksto Officer Wilson\’s state of mind, his feeling of vulnerability andhis sense of heightened alert when he killed Mr. Brown.
Policeofficers typically have wide latitude to use lethal force if theyreasonablybelieve that they are in imminent danger.
The article goes on to note that Dorian Johnson, Michael Brown\’s friend, who was with him when the shooting occurred, has a wholly different version of what happened than Officer Wilson — but that the forensic evidence lends credence to Wilson\’s version.
This should not be surprising, since Dorian Johnson lied about meeting up with Brown on the street, when the video of Brown robbing a convenience store clearly showed him there…and since, three years before, in a separate legal matter, Johnson was accused of lying to police.
Do I know for sure what happened between Michael Brown and Darren Wilson? No I do not. And, in the absence of a video which clearly shows the entire sequence of events, neither I nor you nor anyone else will ever know.
Is there any basis, therefore, for charging Darren Wilson with a crime?
According to the article, “The officials said that while the federal investigation was continuing, the evidence so far did not support civil rights charges against Officer Wilson. To press charges, the Justice Department would need to clear a high bar, proving that Officer Wilson willfully violated Mr. Brown\’s civil rights when he shot him.”
That probably means the answer is no. And if no charges are filed, you can bet there will be new protests, probably even more massive than before.
In that regard, I want to finish by addressing the issue of race – which has been the basis for virtually all protests and other actions related to Michael Brown\’s shooting.
A simple question: is there any indication that what did happen was in any way based on racism?
The answer is that, unless we assume Brown\’s being Black and Wilson\’s being White inherently makes it a racial incident, no there is not.
Officer Wilson has a perfectly clean record in that regard, and even the pro-Brown witnesses do not claim he used any kind of racist language when it happened.
Sickeningly, however, that has not stopped the race-baiters and professional agitators from turning this into a race incident, has it? And it won\’t stop them from more of the same – lots more – if no charges are filed.
Common sense and common decency would dictate that we all wait until the full investigation has been conducted to decide what we think about this shooting and the way investigators have handled it.
But, then again, common sense and common decency would also have dictated that there be universal condemnation of the looting done in Michael Brown\’s name, which is wrong no matter what happened to him. There wasn\’t.
And common sense and common decency would have dictated condemnation of the vile, hateful race-pimp al sharpton making his sickening comment that “this isn\’t looting, it\’s liberation” – which mainstream media were nice enough to give one-day-and-out coverage, and which sharpton\’s employer, MNBC, was nice enough to ignore.
Based on the above, I am sad to say, waiting for the investigation to conclude before judging it is apparently much too much to ask.
