Posted on 08/19/2014 12:07:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If you say that we should have an "honest" discussion about what's going on in Ferguson, it makes people think that hard truths are going to be spoken and we're all going to deeply disagree.
But, what if the dirty little secret is that MOST people, black and white, liberal and conservative, are actually on pretty much the same page about the shooting of Mike Brown?
If Mike Brown surrendered to that officer and the policeman shot him anyway, like every conservative I know, I want that cop to do hard time for it. However, I do think we should find out everything that happened before we render judgment on the situation. "Justice" in this situation may mean that the police officer ends up in jail because he shot Mike Brown after he surrendered. On the other hand, "justice" may mean an acknowledgment that the officer was justified in shooting Mike Brown because Brown was aggressively running towards him after getting in a struggle for his gun. That’s why we have trials -- so we can find out what really happened in cases like this instead of judging it via rumors and wild accusations on Twitter. Hopefully, the idea that this should be sorted out in a courtroom isn’t a big area of disagreement for most Americans, black or white.
Now, some people might say white people don't get upset about black men being shot by the police. That's generally true. But, in all fairness, we don't get upset about white men being shot by the police either. If some white kid who gets high and robs a convenience store gets shot tomorrow, there aren't going to be any white protests over it. That doesn't mean it’s okay for the police to fire at will. I think it’s appropriate to take the police to task if they shoot a DOG unnecessarily; so you bet it’s not okay for them to blow away a human being without good cause. Policemen do incredibly difficult work and they deserve a lot of respect for that, but they also have to be held to the highest standards so they have the moral authority to do their job.
As to peaceful protests, conservatives absolutely support the right of every American to assemble and protest without police harassment. Whether you're protesting a shooting by a police officer, at a Tea Party or at an anti-war protest, as long you're obeying the law you shouldn't have weapons pointed at you and you deserve to be treated with respect by the police.
Of course, some people aren't "peacefully protesting." They're looting and rioting. Molotov cocktails have been thrown. The police have also been shot at regularly since the protests began.
The police should use as little force as possible, but as much force as is necessary to deal with thugs who riot, loot, or attack them. Some people might get the impression from loud mouths on Twitter that there is widespread support for that kind of inexcusable criminal behavior, but I don’t believe that’s true. For example, in Ferguson, Mike Brown's father has called for peace.
"We don't want no violence. Michael would have wanted no violence. We need justice for our son."
Mike Brown’s cousin also put out a strong statement against the violence on behalf of the family.
“I just want everyone to know and understand that the stealing and breaking in stores is not what Mike would want, it is very upsetting to me and my family. Our family didn’t ask for this but for justice and peace…. Please let my family grieve in Peace (and) stop the violence in the street tonight, we don’t want this happening when we protest for justice for my cousin Mike Brown, please get this message out to the people that the Mike Brown family do not want this.”
Some of the peaceful protesters have even stood guard to protect stores from looters.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton haven’t gotten warm welcomes. Apparently, there are a lot of people who don’t appreciate their showing up and polarizing everyone for fun and profit. Jesse Jackson was booed in Ferguson after asking a crowd for donations and Sharpton got an even rougher reception.
Reports of protestors’ statements poured in on Twitter Wednesday, from Andy Carvin , Ryan J. Reilly , Anonymous , and others. Carvin reported that one protestor yelled, “Obama, you have done nothing! We need you! You haven’t changed anything! F**k y’all!” While Anonymous wrote that people were “p*ssed at Obama and Al Sharpton” and quoted rallyers saying they “didn’t do sh*t for us” and “F*** Sharpton.”
This isn’t just happening in Ferguson either.
CNN contributor LZ Granderson hammered Sharpton this week-end.
“I think the black community does a disservice to itself when it allows charlatans to come into these situations, make a name for themselves and then evacuate the situation. The situation in Duke, for instance, with the lacrosse players — we rushed in, automatically assumed the black woman was right and that all these white males on the lacrosse team were wrong. When we found out that she was lying, there was no apology, there was no recognition of the lie, we just moved on, and that left (a) bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
At the end of the day, if we’re all Americans, we support peaceful protesters, we oppose rioters and looters and we think the officer who was involved should go to jail if he shot Mike Brown after he surrendered, then we agree on 95 percent of what matters. Sure, we can always find SOMETHING to disagree about, but there’s a man dead, there are parents grieving and there are good people in Ferguson who’ve had their lives turned upside down – so maybe we should emphasize where we’re on the same page instead of looking for any excuse to divide each other.
Isn't it interesting that in this summation a man who is supposed to be speaking for conservatism, can't manage to put the opposing proposition in there?
If the officer acted in accordance with the law and sound police procedure, then he should be absolved and go back to work.
Eh, no need to talk about that I suppose. Like hell!!!!
If only the press were more like this instead of “opinion shapers”.
I agree. I expect to see the guy do time, just to keep the lid on things. I’m not convinced he did a thing wrong right now.
He may not have had the best attitude. I have no way of knowing. That wouldn’t justify what the kid did though.
An officer tells you to get out of the street, you don’t lip off. You get out of the street.
These kids were pushing their luck. The kid that was walking in the street with Brown, is all serious and trying to make the case they were acting like two upstanding citizens. Bull!
The kid is lying. His comments are inconsistent with the autopsy report.
Sadly, blacks will watch him and believe every word of it. If he lies once, you can’t trust anything he says, and he did lie about the way Brown was shot.
Thanks for the post NickCarraway.
These issues are so hard to pin down. I don’t think it’s out of the question the kid only had the remote in his hand. On the other hand, it is possible the kid had something else in his hand too.
The dad had a run in on going. I’m not sure what it was for. He had outstanding warrants. So was the family the kind to set up the cop after the fact? I don’t know.
The police woman broke down after the shooting, but even a clean shooting can un-nerve you. Even if justified the shooting of a kid can cause you a lot of second guessing.
What a mess. I’ll bet the dad is wishing he hadn’t allowed something to go to warrant.
Amen and fully concur with the essay.
The media as usual always like to create race division.
Unfortunately, A thousand words is not worth a picture.
“If Mike Brown surrendered to that officer and the policeman shot him anyway, like every conservative I know, I want that cop to do hard time for it.”
I agree with this, but with one major reservation. And my problem with this applies to lots of self defence actions.
The policeman was, of course, only human. And, like it or not, humans do not react instantaneously. If Mike Brown posed enough of a threat to justify shooting in the first place, then the policeman is justified for some length of time after Mike Brown changes his mind and throws up his hands.
How long a time? Hard to say. Certainly not five minutes, but perhaps as long as two or three seconds.
A Study....
http://www.forcescience.org/mentalchronometry.html
“A corollary to the plain implications of the time measurements is the difficulty an offi- cer (or any human being) has in “turning off” a reactionary decision made in the moment. In a shooting situation, once an officer decides to shoot at a suspect in response to some threatening stimulus, it is nearly impossible to abort that decision (21-22, 24-25). In fact in over 600 exam- ined cases of officer shooting decisions during a 7-year period, only one officer was identified who was able to keep himself from firing at a suspect who had already been deemed a threat and the decision to shoot had already been made (21).”
Michael would have wanted no violence...
Right.. they never do even when they start it..
Bullies hate it when the victim fights back....
They expect you to cower terrified.. and witnesses to DO NOTHING!..
Shooting a bully (with something) cleans up the gene pool..
Not this time, not for this law enforcement officer...
oh well!
Wish the author were correct, but I don’t think so. The Left believes those in certain victim groups should be able to act & agitate outside the Law, as a form of pay-back for past wrongs. Vandalism becomes simply unrest, civil disobedience and a form of free speech (a ‘protest rally’).
“......That’s why we have trials — so we can find out what really happened”.....
And the blacks say, “Trials? We don’t need no stinking trials,” as they continue on their way to destruction, robbery, stealing, looting, burning and living their distorted life style. Like odumbo and Holder, they want the “LAWS” to be what they say are the laws. Once again, the “Street Rats” will do what they choose and it will more than likely not be what is their best route to recovery.
Buy all the ammo you can and be prepared, it’s gonna hit the fan.
My thoughts exactly!
I don’t assume the cop shot the Jolly Teen Giant for no reason. Common sense and the video from the store shows his attitude towards the law.
The cop was doing what he was hired to do, and unless they can present evidence that it happened different than what the cop reported he should be back on the job.
Umm...actually if he wasn't sleeping in a refrigerator he'd be out there with a t-shirt on his face, pants below his azz looting the same store that he robbed.
I would put the guy on paid leave or a desk job for a month, perhaps more. What he went through was traumatic. He needs to heal. He should not be fired or prosecuted. IMO, he serves prison time. The inJustice Department can’t be seen as allowing him to get off free. It’s part of the reason it’s only reaction to this should have been to demand peace and order. Instead it telegraphed this was the township’s fault. Ah, no, it was the fault of a young man out of control.
This would have gone to a grand jury. It would have been reviewed, charges leveled if warranted.
Instead, we have inJustice involved. Great! /s
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