I realize I'm a bit late hopping on the Ferguson outrage train, but retail hours can be a bit odd. In any case, I feel the need to comment in more than 140 characters, so here goes.
Firstly, I'm a bit uncertain as to how shocked I really am over the grand jury's decision. On the one hand, I'm astounded that, even after the uproar the killing itself caused, they still decided there was no need for a trial. That just seems crazy. On the other hand, we live in a culture of mindless fear and blind respect for authority. It's conceivable to me that the people on that jury thought, "Well, he is a police officer, so he knows what he's doing. It was an honest mistake. I mean, if the kid had been armed, he would've been perfectly justified, because who knows what he might've done? I'm sure it was just a mistake."
And to be perfectly honest, that mentality is terrifying. The idea that people in our society are capable and willing to excuse a blatant abuse of power that results in a death is appalling. This officer had no reason whatsoever to assume a teenager had a gun (despite the jumbled story he tells), but pulling out and using his own was his first instinct. And yet people in our society, quite possibly your own neighbors, could simply look the other way if what happened to Michael Brown happened to you, because the killer wears a uniform.
Now, I will grant, it's more than the uniform. It's the fact that officers are supposed to have been trained in guns and how and when to use them. They're supposed to be able to read a situation and determine the best course of actions. They're supposed to be leaders, and they're supposed to protect and serve.
But, just this week, an officer shot and killed another child. In this case, there was a gun involved, but it was "probably fake," and had been left sitting on a bench or table after the boy was playing with it on the playset. Now, with those things in mind, the odds that the child had brought the gun to the park intending to hurt anyone are slim to none. Yet, the officer, rather than ducking, using his taser, or even shooting once to incapacitate if he thought he was really in danger, shot the boy twice, and killed him. His first instinct was to kill.
And these aren't by any means the only two times in even the past two months that police officers have "accidentally" injured or killed innocent people. (Note: I put "accidentally" in quotation marks not because I think they intended to do innocents harm, but because they intended to use harmful methods.) This has become a pattern, of late. I understand that there have been some horrific occurrences in the world recently, too, but that still doesn't excuse how trigger-happy many of our police forces seem to have become.
Furthermore, police officers are just that: officers. We have a justice system for a reason. The job of a police officer is to catch the suspected criminal, not play judge, jury, and executioner, too. They are supposed to protect ALL citizens, suspected criminals or not, to the best of their abilities. Of course, there are times when lethal force is the only option, but it should always be a last resort.
But the issue goes even deeper, and is especially illustrated by the grand jury's decision to not bring the officer to trial in Ferguson. What this new phase compels me to wonder is this: at what point did we lose so much faith in ourselves? We appear to have reached a point at which members of our society are so dependent on authority that they can't possibly trust their own judgment. But why should that be? Many of us have the potential to become police officers. If we'd taken the same classes, done the same training, etc., then we'd be the ones with the badges and the guns. Are we infallible? Would we be then? The answer should be no in both cases. And it's no different for anyone else.
We are all only human. Now, I'm not saying this to excuse any wrongdoings, mind you. This is to remind us all that no amount of schooling, training, or power makes anyone any more than human, and we should all be treated, respected, and judged accordingly. We are responsible for our actions. We cannot simply take the easy way out to avoid whatever consequences may follow the decisions that we make. The grand jury should've been braver, as we all must be, especially when life and death hang in the balance.
While I certainly don't condone mindless burning and looting, I support wholeheartedly the protests the people of Ferguson are carrying out right now. They understand that we must act and make our voices heard. We must protect ourselves, and serve proper justice to those who deserve it, whoever or whatever they may be. We alone have the power to change the situation here in America (and beyond).
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