Decent people want justice.
Decent people want the truth to come out and justice to be based on that truth.
This, it seems to me, has eluded the “justice for Michael Brown” crowd from day one – and still eludes that crowd today.
The more information that comes out, the more it is becoming clear that there is a great deal more credence to Officer Darren Wilson\’s version of what happened on August 9th than what several “witnesses” have been happy to tell anyone who will listen (and, among the Professionally Oppressed crowd, there are plenty of them),
From Christine Byers\’ article in today\’s Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:
The official autopsy on Michael Brown shows that he was shot in thehand at close range, according to an analysis of the findings by twoexperts not involved directly in the case.
The accompanying toxicology report shows he had been using marijuana.
Thosedocuments, prepared by the St. Louis County medical examiner andobtained by the Post-Dispatch, provide the most detailed descriptionto date of the wounds Brown sustained in a confrontation Aug. 9 withFerguson police Officer Darren Wilson.
Asource with knowledge of Wilson\’s statements said the officer hadtold investigators that Brown had struggled for Wilson\’s pistolinside a police SUV and that Wilson had fired the gun twice, hittingBrown once in the hand. Later, Wilson fired additional shots thatkilled Brown and ignited a national controversy.
TheSt. Louis medical examiner, Dr. Michael Graham, who is not part ofthe official investigation, reviewed the autopsy report for thenewspaper. He said Tuesday that it “does support that there was asignificant altercation at the car.”
Look at that report. Now tell me what “justice” is.
To decent people, interested in the truth coming out and being dealt with accordingly, it means:
-There is significant evidence that Officer Wilson\’s version of what happened is largely, maybe completely, true;
-Accordingly, there is significant evidence that the “eye-witnesses” who spun a tale of Michael Brown running away, and/or holding up his hands in surrender as he was shot, were either mistaken (very hard to believe) or lying. Fabricating. Telling fairy tales concocted either for self-serving reasons and/or as a way to ingratiate themselves to the protesters (everyone likes to be a hero).
-Michael Brown was under the influence of marijuana at the time of this incident, which may have affected the way he behaved.
But do you now expect the protesters to issue a statement to the effect that “based on this evidence we are reconsidering our position regarding the Michael Brown shooting”? Do you expect that looters will start returning merchandise to Ferguson\’s business establishments? Do you expect the protests to diminish or end?
I assure you none of that will happen. Because, to a many (not all) of these people, neither justice, or Michael Brown, or Darren Wilson, mean a damn thing.
Virtually from the start, it has been clear that most of the protesters see the Michael Brown shooting as nothing more or less than an opportunity:
-For some, an opportunity to riot and loot.
-For some, an opportunity to demand furtherance of their social agenda, which some politicians- deathly afraid of being called racist for daring suggest all parties wait for the investigation to play out – would be scared into going along with.
-For some, an opportunity to get face time on news media (which media have been more than happy to provide).
In such an atmosphere ,”justice” – real justice, which means dealing with facts as they are – doesn\’t have a chance.
In Ferguson, it never did.
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UPDATE: If what you just read were not enough, we have this, from an article in today\’s Washington Post:
Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brownfought for control of the officer\’s gun, and Wilson fatally shot the unarmedteenager after he moved toward the officer as they faced off in the street,according to interviews, news accounts and the full report of the St. LouisCounty autopsy of Brown’s body.
Because Wilson is white and Brown was black, the case hasignited intense debate over how police interact with African American men. Butmore than a half-dozen unnamed black witnesses have provided testimony to a St.Louis County grand jury that largely supports Wilson\’s account of events ofAug. 9, according to several people familiar with the investigation whospoke with The Washington Post.
Some of the physical evidence – including blood spatteranalysis, shell casings and ballistics tests – also supports Wilson’s accountof the shooting, The Post\’s sources said, which cast Brown as an aggressor whothreatened the officer\’s life. The sources spoke on condition of anonymitybecause they are prohibited from publicly discussing the case.
The grand jury is expected to complete its deliberations nextmonth over whether Wilson broke the law in confronting Brown, and the pendingdecision appears to be prompting the unofficial release of information aboutthe case and what the jurors have been told.
Now why do you suppose Black witnesses who were at the scene of the encounter between Brown and Wilson are staying anonymous?
Because they assume that the people who have spent the past two and a half months protesting (not to mention rioting and looting) and demanding “Justice For Michael Brown”, will congratulate them for coming forth and testifying about what they saw and heard?
As I said earlier…justice – actual, real justice – is the last thing that crowd wants.
