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Michael Brown and Trayvon Markin Look-Alike Killings
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
November 26, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Looking more like a repeat of the Feb.
26, 2012 Sanford, Fl., killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by 29-year-old
neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
gave the same excuses. Claiming he
“feared for his life,” Wilson justified the Aug. 9 killing to ABC’s George
Stephanopoulos, insisting he engaged in appropriate policing. Unlike Wilson where a Ferguson grand
jury refused to file charges, Zimmerman went to trial citing Florida’s
Stand-Your-Ground Law, claiming self-defense in shooting the unarmed,
Skittle-eating Trayvon Martin.
Thrown the grand jury everything but the kitchen sink, St. Louis prosecutor
Robert McCulloch heaped mounds of testimony, eyewitness reports and expert
witnessing on 12-juro panel convened Aug. 20.
After three months of deliberations, the grand jury ruled Nov. 24 not to
file charges against Wilson.
Erupting in violence Nov. 24, protesters looted and torched Ferguson
after McCulloch read the grand jury’s findings 9:15 p.m. Central Time. McCulloch insisted that the grand jury got it right after reviewing reams of evidence on
the Aug. 9 killing of 18-year-old unarmed black teen Michael Brown. Blasting the press for inflaming the
situation, McCulloch antagonized protestors arrogantly proclaiming the case was
settled by the grand jury. Using
the grand jury as a de facto trial, McCulloch overstepped his boundary as a
county prosecutor. “Neither in this
country nor in England, has the suspect under investigation by a grand jury been
thought to have a right to testify or to have exculpatory evidence presented,”
said Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, showing how McCulloch abused the
grand jury proceeding. Letting
Wilson testify without cross-examination was inexcusable.
Grand jurors swallowed Wilson’s story that he was scared for his life
when he shot and killed Brown Aug. 9.
No one could cross examine Wilson and ask him if he felt Brown was so
large and imposing, why he didn’t call for backup? Confronting Brown by himself, given
his fears, was bound to turn out badly.
No one can figure out why it was so imperative for Wilson to confront
Brown without back up for stealing some Swishers’ cigarillos? “I never wanted to take anyone’s
life,” Wilson told Stephanopoulos, not considering more prudent policing that
would have called for help. Even if
you assumed the worse about Brown, that he was high on drugs, psychotic or
violent, Wilson should not have turned vigilante cop. McCulloch allowed Wilson to tell
grand jurors he was “scared for his life,” admitting Brown was too imposing, not
questioning why he decided to confront Brown alone.
Wilson had no report that the unarmed teen was armed-and-dangerous, only
suspected in a convenience store petty theft.
There was no urgency for Wilson to confront and arrest Brown by himself. Asked by Stephanopoulos whether or
not he could have done things differently, Wilson didn’t have the honesty,
humility or common sense to question his actions. “I did my job right,” Wilson
insisted, showing no capacity for self-reflection or insight, considering he
killed an unarmed teen for essentially stealing a pack of cigarillos. Ferguson’s Police Chief Tom Jackson
can’t seriously put Wilson back on active duty.
Apart from the risks from an angry mob, Wilson lacks the temperament,
judgment and common sense to wear the badge.
No law enforcement officer can possibly think killing an unarmed teen for
allegedly stealing some ciagarillos was an appropriate outcome.
Wilson told Stephanopoulos he had a “clear conscience,” something that
should trouble Jackson and Wilson’s immediate supervisors. While the tendency is for law
enforcement to close ranks, Wilson’s actions—whether acquitted by a grand jury
or not—have triggered race riots and protests around the country. There’s simply no excuse or
justification for killing an unarmed teen suspected of petty theft. While there are plenty of folks that
don’t buy Wilson’s story, it’s inconceivable how he allowed the altercation to
take place resulting in Brown’s shooting death.
“That’s not the good part of the job.
That’s the bad part of the job.
Where President Barack Obama prefers a more cautious approach to foreign
policy, McCain will begin to revive a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy. While there’s a legitimate debate
over how to win the war against ISIS, there’s currently no coherent plan how to
deal with Putin’s unbridled bullying or former Soviet satellites. From the Balkans to the Baltics,
from the Mideast to Eastern Europe, Putin’s used the Russian army to threaten
the sovereignty of former Soviet republics.
“The actions of Russia have called the peaceful order in Europe into
question and are a violation of international law,” said Merkel, calling on the
U.S. to fashion a new approach to contain Putin. Merkel knows that there’s no stomach in the EU for what must be done.
About the Authoruld have acquitted him in the death of Michael Brown. Grand jurors should have let a
criminal jury determine Wilson’s culpability for criminal negligence,
manslaughter or any other charge deemed appropriate. It wasn’t up to McCulloch’s grand
jury to try and acquit Wilson. They
had plenty of probable cause to bind him over for trial. Killing Brown displayed Wilson’s
lack of fitness to return to active police duty.
About the Author
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