Ferguson Fire, the grind

The headlines have been filled with the protests and rioting going on as a result of the grand jury decision to not indict the white police officer involved in shooting and killing a black suspect.  To be quite honest I have only skimmed over the details of the shooting and is often the case, there are loud voices on both sides of the situation.

A very simplistic view of this, which is all too many people require, is white officer shot black man, it must be racially motivated.  However if you read the officers account, Brown attacked the officer when the officer recognized Brown as a potential store robbery subject which was just called in.  According to Wilson’s account Brown actually grabbed the officers hand that was holding his gun, said “You are too much of a pussy to shot me” and turned it back towards Wilson.  Brown was a huge man at 6’4″ and almost 300 pounds and obviously could physically overpower a normal sized man.

During the wrestling for the gun it went off, shooting Brown in the hand which sent him running. Wilson got out, told Brown to stop which he supposedly did however according to Wilson, Brown then charged the officer and was shot repeatedly as he advanced.

One of Browns friends that was there disputes this claim, saying Brown never charged and in fact was saying he didn’t have a gun, yet he was still shot.  There were also stories of how Brown was known as a “big teddy bear” to help build additional outrage among the lightly informed.  I saw the security video of Brown robbing and assaulting the store owner.  That was no teddy bear, it was pure thug, regardless of his skin color, age, nationality or religious beliefs.

I think it is really sad that misinformation is allowed to spread, fester and infest the masses, creating a lemming mentality.  Brown’s stepfather uttering the words “Burn this bitch down..” in reaction to the announcement of the grand jury decision just further outlined the mindset involved in these riots.

I watched video of people running into and out of a broken window of a store front grabbing whatever they could, and felt utter disgust.  Do you think these people really gave a shit that a black man that acted aggressively towards police after indisputably committing robbery was shot and killed?  As they grabbed electronics, food or other merchandise was it supposed to be a tribute to Brown? I destroy and steal in honor of your name! It’s fcking insanity.

Now of course I wasn’t there and neither were you so all I can do is draw conclusions from the information presented.  To me the likelihood that Wilson, who states he NEVER has had to fire his weapon before, decided to go trigger happy without good reason is highly unlikely.  You don’t fire that many rounds at someone unless you are fearful for your life.  Unfortunately logic is something that is a vastly underused resource when much of the public is forming opinions.

I wish the the human race could all develop color blindness.

I am in the midst of the Thanksgiving race grind which I will not emerge from until around 9:30 tomorrow morning.  After that I can take a deep breath followed by a sigh of relief before enjoying the remainder of my 4 day weekend.