When Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown on August 9th, I didn't know what to say. My first immediate thoughts were:
"How is Michael's family coping?" and "Did anyone else die?"
It did not occur to me that Wilson would not receive punishment for his crime. What he did was murder, wasn't it? That's illegal right? I mean, if you can go to prison for, say, robbing a shop, then you will go to prison for killing another person. That's justice isn't it? It has been for centuries and it should still be now.
Apparently not, it seems.
Wilson has not been sentenced, as the Grand Jury decided that he did not deserve it. This sparked me as not only immensely screwed up, but it also alerted me that something must be terribly wrong with the "justice" system if an officer is allowed to kill a man and be able to walk away scott free. What is Brown's family meant to take away from that? That their son was not worth anything? That he didn't matter?
This is what Darren Wilson said on the matter:
I want to make it known that I am not saying what Wilson is saying is all lies. I am saying that the events he is saying sound very strange and improbable.
So lets do a recap.
One of the notable things Wilson says is that Brown was "very large" and like "Hulk Hogan", which the interviewer responded with "you're a pretty big guy" and Wilson replied with "I'm above average".
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| mike brown and hulk hogan |
The next thing Wilson says is that he wonders 'how would he survive this situation?' A dead kid is lying in a grave with a devastated family and you are saying that you were concerned with how you would survive?! He was a kid! I do NOT see how you, are a grown man, could possibly be that terrified of a weaponless boy while you are sitting in a police car with a gun holstered to your hip!
After that he states that it was "his duty" to give chase to a Brown while he was running away after Wilson has tried to shoot him several times(!) Eyewitness' say that when Brown stopped running, he put his hands up and said "don't shoot!". Wilson says that Brown began charging at him, at the policeman with a gun, with his hand in his pocket. And when Wilson shot him another few times, apparently Brown kept running at him.
Wait.
What?
You shot him. And he kept... running?
Is that even possible?
Did Brown turn into some of superhero while you were trying to kill him?
The next thing Wilson says is that he shoots Brown right in the head while he himself had never shot a gun before that day. Really? You got a head-shot after you shot a gun a few times? That's...very improbable... especially if your hand was shaking with fear since you was apparently "fearing for your life".
Right now there's protests all around the country. The slogan 'Black lives matter' has become a prominent phrase and Brown has become a huge martyr for the protesters.
But he is not the only one to lose his life. Others include:
John Crawford
Kimani Grey
Sean Bell
and Trayvon Martin
And y'know what the most horrific thing about all of this is? It's that in the end, it boils down to racism. People with black heritage feel scared for their families, well, because of their black heritage. ProPublica recently did an in-depth analysis and found that black kids between ages 15-19 are 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by cops than white kids of the same age. That’s an insane statistic. That’s per capita, not total. If you are a black teenage boy, you have a 21x higher risk of being shot by police than a white teenage boy.
What are we meant to make of that?
Well, firstly, we need to educate people. Tell them that cops are people too and they may not always do their job like they should. We also need to take police brutality far more seriously. It SHOULD NOT be allowed that a police officer be able to kill a kid and receive no punishment. Mike Brown's murder case should be reopened and examined and then Darren Wilson's sentence should be decided from there. He must got to prison, but for how long, I can't estimate.
And next, the issue of guns. I would love for someone to enlighten me on why guns are such wonderful and amazing inventions and why people should be able to have them. Because do you know what they have done for us as a species?
Killed people and animals.
That's it.
I do not believe that police officers should have free reign to them and if they must, for the love of god, train them, and train them safely!
But I want to end this on a positive note. Mike Brown's family have said that message above.
They are such wonderful, compassionate people and the trauma the must have suffered must be immense. I am so happy that they want to keep the protests peaceful, in the way of Martin Luther King JR. They did not deserve what happened to them and they way they are handling the issue is beautiful and kind.
My thoughts are with them and their suffering.
So please, if you are truly in support of their cause, spread the word. I'm sorry if this is such along post but there is a lot to be said for this devastating time.
Thank you.
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