Who is at fault in the Ferguson situation?

Question

Depending on the article/video/etc. Michael Brown is either a martyr or thug and Darren is either a racist hick or a hero. Who is at fault? Is it possible that both were at fault? Maybe MB shouldn't have been high and DW shouldn't have shot the kid 6 times? I don't know what to think in this case. So many people are saying one thing and than another. I hate to be silent on this but I just don't know what's true... Can anyone offer me some clarification?

Answer 1

The Social-Structure, and Police-Academy are, and here's why.



Michael Brown, and Darren Wilson live in an area where modern-equality isn't that developed yet(the Black/White-divide is still very much there, before this shooting it was there too), so there's a lot of tensions, because different groups don't trust each other, and rightfully so.



Now in those towns, where there's little, to no real future for most kids, those kids become rebellious, they act up, and often become rebellious, and aggressive adults(living without much of a future does that to people), and if you have a proper Police-Academy, that trains their Officers right, so capable of handling a physical-conflict(without having to kill the suspect), but also capable of communicating with people(being capable of defusing a problem, before it becomes a conflict).

Ferguson clearly didn't have that, the Police are trained like an oppressive force, and no offense to Officer Wilson, but he isn't tall, or fit enough to be a proper Police-Officer in a difficult town(which you don't want, short-cops, weak-cops use the gun as equalizer, and that's how things get out of hand), making an already frustrated population deal with an enemy, supposedly there to enforce the law.



That system-error is what put these 2 people in the wrong-place, at the wrong-time. What is really worrying me is how Darren Wilson is either in denial(saying he couldn't have done anything different), or a sociopath(he liked the kill), because he could have done a dozen things differently, it's in his training(which he either forgot, or is ignoring).

Answer 2

Browns family, Brown himself and the black community at large that would rather glorify a piece of human debris rather than a Ben Carson. If you still do not know what to think, you need to develop some critical thinking skills and street sense. Look, the kid was a toad. He was a criminal. He like so many, especially blacks, thought he could get by with the crap he pulled, but instead he got killed. Frankly, after the moment that it was learned that he had strong armed robbed a business, I would not have cared if the cops had just ran him over with the cruiser. It is not like we lost anyone of value. And he stole cigars to empty and then fill with weed. I mean, had it been some guy with four legitimate kids who robbed to feed his kids because he had lost his job, maybe a bit of sympathy would have flowed. He would have still been a criminal but. But this kid? In my mind, the only thing that happened was more people in the community have been spared being victims by this toad being dispatched.

Answer 3

We dont really know for sure. If America has CCTV cameras on the streets we could perhaps have seen what happened,better still if the police car had carried cameras.



The case of the 12 year old black boy who was shot has not led to so much trouble has the police have issued film from the camera on the police car which showed the boy was told to drop the gun several times.



As far as Officer Wilson does,he is innocent as a jury deemed him so.

Answer 4

What do you mean, the rioting or Mike Brown's death?

If it's the rioting, it's the rioters' fault. As for Brown's death, it depends on who you believe. I can't think of a single reason why you'd need six shots to take someone down, even if it's only 9mm's. On the other hand, if Mike Brown had complied with the officer's request, he would have been fine. So it's probably a combination of both their faults.

Answer 5

Six bullets seems a bit excessive to take someone down for s professional marksman, his story seems inadequate to me but this doesn't justify looting shops and burning cop cars, they should organize more black cops in the area so the locals have more trust in the police!

Answer 6

The grand jury chose not to indict officer Wilson. So the current riots are the fault of the rioters and the rioters alone.



If everything remained peaceful I may have been more inclined to support their cause. But these actions show they just wanted to riot and cause destruction.

Answer 7

I think your assessment is one of the better ones I heard. If you read the report of the grand jury, there were varying accounts of the transaction between Brown and Wilson. But what was pretty much proven was that Brown was no angel and Wilson himself may have second guessed his actions.



We may never know for sure, but there are still many questions that haven't been answered.

Answer 8

The States Attorney for not pressing charges and having a fair trial. In the area as any other would be done.

Answer 9

The Media (Right and Left), Al Sharpton and anyone else that stood to profit from the violance.

Answer 10

The dead thug was asking for it.



A town full of hoodlums and bums

Answer 11

That part of the country.

Answer 12

The dead thug was asking for it.



A town full of hoodlums and bums

Answer 13

The dead thug was asking for it.



A town full of hoodlums and bums

Answer 14

The evil of conservatism.

Answer 15

The media, for fueling the whole thing and making it into an event that was way-overblown.

Answer 16

http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/209603-ferguson-anti-police-protester/

"SS: Also, there was no proper account of the events of that day heard from Wilson until very recently. Why did it take so long?



MG: You know, that’s correct, and part of it is this: if you, or I, or any average community member was involved in a crime or even a witness to a crime, we would be interviewed right away, our accounting of the situation would have been documented quickly. First, there wasn’t even a police report for the better part of the month that would put into writing Wilson’s own position on things. They didn’t even interview him or create a police report until a better part of the month. This gave him a long time to concoct his version of reality. When you’ve got two people and one of them is dead and not available to be the witness any longer, then what the other person says takes on great weight. So, consequently, than needed to be cast in writing quickly. This idea of giving him nearly a month to come up with his story before they put anything into writing is wrong. And then, even since then, his story story has changed multiple times.



SS: But also I couldn’t help but notice what he said, when he actually said that – Wilson said he had a clear conscience, that he wouldn’t have acted any differently. Why he’s acting so self-assured in the face of a such strong reaction? Does he feel a police force has his back no matter what he does?



MG: That’s exactly what the issue is. The police force, the city officials, the county officials, the government has his back no matter what he does – and this is characteristic of policing in this country. This was an egregious situation to be sure, and of course people have reacted strongly to it – but we had a situation in Detroit, some years back, in which a 7-year old girl Aiyana Jones was shot through the top of her head while she was napping on the sofa in her home, after the police broke into the wrong apartment in a raid. Here’s this young woman, a girl, little child laying on her sofa sleeping, and then she’s shot through the top of her head and they couldn’t even get indictment in that case. We, in Minnesota, have documented over 208 cases in which people died at the hands of police, in the state of Minnesota in the last decade or so. We have never seen a single indictment. We have never seen a single prosecution, not even a single charge. Nothing happens in this cases. It’s just is the nature of policing in America because they’re given a wide berth to control the masses, if you will, by any means necessary.



SS: We’re going to talk in detail about the power of police and why they have so much power, but before we get there, I want to talk about this particular case, because this time around National Guard was deployed around the city. Ahead of the announcement over Wilson, the police was on standby, store owners boarded up windows in preparation for riots, the government imposed a state of emergency. Authorities knew, there would be public outrage. Was the reaction bigger than expected?



MG: I don’t think that the reaction was bigger than expected at all, and frankly, like you’ve said, they prepared for it. So, it’s very interesting to us that with all these weeks of preparation and all of this expenditure on military armament and bringing in the National Guard, and really, essentially, turning the city of Ferguson into a war zone – it is amazing to us that, essentially, the police were nowhere near the black side of town. The people we were talking to down there, they have said that police basically abandoned the black side of town and left the people who are not protesters – there’s always people who do bad things and criminal element – and basically, left that part of town to the criminal element to do the looting and things like that. I really don’t think that those people were involved in protests, in fact, I even think that some of them might have well been encouraged to behave that way. It’s quite amazing to us that there could be so much preparation, and yet, that was the outcome – and so, many people are quite suspicious. Like I’ve said, many residents in the area are quite suspicious about the role of the police in that whole matter."



http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2014112672358760344 "Killing our demons

In his testimony, Officer Darren Wilson, the man who shot Michael Brown, said of the victim that "it look[ed] like a demon". That is, not only was Brown a "demon", but an "it".

Granted, Wilson may have misspoken. He probably meant "he" instead of "it". But, this is a man who has sworn to protect the lives of his fellow citizens. He has also had weeks to receive the finest media training available. This was, to put it neutrally, a very delicate case. If it did not occur to him or his handlers that referring to a dead boy as "it", "a demon", or "the threat" in public was a bad idea, does that not suggest that perhaps something might be wrong with the way Ferguson police interact with the citizenry?

But none of this matters, because Michael Brown was not a person. He was a demon, and apparently, a comic book character.

At another point in the testimony, Wilson said that Brown "looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I'm shooting at him".

Nobody seems to know what "bulking up" even means. I've only heard it in terms of sports - athletes eat more and workout during the off-season so as to "bulk up" and be more muscular and competitive come game time.

But "bulking up" isn't something that one instantaneously does after being shot once, nor in order to prepare to run through a hail of bullets. Really, this doesn't sound like a testimony, it sounds like the plot line of The Incredible Hulk.

To be honest, Wilson's story doesn't make any sense to me, but I'll never know the truth now, because the US was denied a trial. So, I'm afraid I have to agree with all of the racists. Perhaps whatever Wilson saw that day wasn't human. There might have been a human out there in the street, but Wilson didn't see him. He saw a demon, and it's hard to blame him, because that's all we seem to see."



http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/25/75039/ "They want law and order, but the police have shown a consistent disrespect for the law, flagrantly violated the Constitution, and operated with little to no accountability. Instead, the police operate as a rogue outfit, their actions create disorder and fear. Furthermore, failure to indict effectively exonerates the police force, providing a pretext for the police to ramp up violence and repression in response to the legitimate expression of anger and frustration over the government’s failure to protect Black lives and ensure justice. It is already happening in the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision, as riot police invade the headquarters of Hands Up United as well as designated safe spaces."

Answer 17

With all due respect, there are web articles and training classes, books, dvds, etc. that teaches people to “Shoot em’ to the Ground” Fire Superiority! or in other words: teaches people: self-defense enthusiasts, police, anyone who is interested to shoot the "bad guy" until the "bad guy" goes to the ground, i.e. dead.



Here's a web link:



http://hcstx.org/2014/07/15/shoot-em-to-the-ground-fire-superiority/



From the article:



"One of the most frequent questions I get from students is “How many rounds do I fire in a situation where my life is at risk?” I often answer this with the very simple answer “As many as you need too to put the threat down.” I then refer back to the military term of FIRE SUPERIORITY and how important it is to have in a firefight. Militarily, there are many tactical reasons for fire superiority. But the most practical reason that translates to a typical civilian situation is to increase the CO’s odds of survival by putting more rounds into the enemy (and the enemy’s direction) than the enemy is putting into yours."



And here's a similar theme youtube video:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_LTexIQFAQ



Note* that the youtube video links to a site that sells "self defense" products "Tactical Point Shooting for the 21st Century" and part of the self defense is to fire you gun until the target goes down.



And there are others that advertised "modern self defense" that encourages trainees to fire into your target until your target is dead, after all it's the "modern world" or the "real world".



So yes, there was reason that Officer Wilson fired so many times, maybe he attended, even paid for it out of his own money (those classes can costs a lot), thinking it will help him, one of those courses whose "real world" training involves firing into your target until your target is dead.



That begin said, the problem is that, I think, may be that some *people* think that the "real world" is more brutal that it really is, and teach it to other and make others believe it, and that includes Brown's family as well, they seem to believe that the police officers are all out to get them instead of putting themselves in his shoes and try to understand him. I mean, their son was robbing a store with his "friends" and behaving brutally, shouldn't Brown take the blame instead of calling Officer Wilson a "murderer" I mean if they've done their homework, they would know what's begin taught at those "self defense" courses some of the actions some teaches are down right brutal and from what I've read Officer Wilson's actions don't indicate that he set out to kill Mike Brown, there are more brutal techniques out there he could've used if so. For example, he could've jammed his hand into Mike Brown's eyes yes eye grudging out his eyes while firing into his belly until he dies, the reason for going for the eyes is that while Mike is going for the gun he wouldn't be able to defend himself against someone going for his "aiming optics" i.e. his eyes so even if he got the gun he would be blind and less of a threat, but Wilson didn't do that, moreover he missed a few times as was reported so no Officer Wilson probably didn't want to kill Mike at least until Mike Brown wanted or seem to have wanted to kill the Officer.



Also, "the talk" that's begin touted around by some black people: that's one of the things that's keeping racism alive, after all if people are taught to live in fear of others they are less likely to seek change, save for a few who tries to take advantage of the fear, and this concept of "Black" and if you step outside it, for some Black persons, it sometimes means "acting White". I mean what is "Blackness"? It seems to be doing the job of the white supremacist better than all the lynching they ever did, the title of the below article says it well:





'Acting White' Remains a Barrier for Black Education

Blaming the issue on society is like telling someone on a rainy day not to use an umbrella, but to support efforts to eliminate weather.





http://reason.com/archives/2014/10/08/acting-white-remains-a-barrier-for-black



Why aren't historical people like Garrett Morgan: a highly esteemed inventor who created a gas mask and a black man respected more?



Yes, a inventor of the gas mask in the United States was a BLACK man.



Well it may be due to "Black music" that encourage blacks to "act black" i.e. all the bad stereotypes of what blacks are what a blacks should aspire to.



"The Damaging Effects Of Gangsta Rap"



http://michronicleonline.com/2013/10/09/the-damaging-effects-of-gangsta-rap/



And worse yet, people seem to strongly dislike those who step outside it, look at the "Reflections from a Black officer in Ferguson"



http://flcourier.com/2014/10/09/reflections-from-a-black-officer-in-ferguson/



"We’re not robots.”



Dilworth believes their hard facade is fueling some of the fire.



“I think it pisses them off even more because they think we’re unemotional,” he said. “We feel, but we can’t show that because as soon as we say something we will be all over the news … I can’t so much as spit on the sidewalk right now without someone throwing it on social media.”"



I think people would do well to remember that police officers are not robots and that they do respond emotionally, even if they do not show it when doing their job.



People talk about the large numbers of white police officer, but they don't talk about what Black officers go through, here's some more quotes from the above linked article:



"Most of the insults he heard on the line that day are too graphic to print. Among the more polite are “sellout,” and “Uncle Tom,” Dilworth said. He had stood with two other Black officers, one from the Missouri Highway Patrol and one from the St. Louis County police."



Again, that goes for the Brown family to try to understand what the police officer who shot their son was going through and still goes through, and for everyone to know what police officers, both white and Black and whatever race goes through instead of begin so quick to judge.



So who was at fault?



Mostly the media for telling only one side of the story.



After all why doesn't anyone mention all those "shoot them to the ground" training that's begin advertised and taught to people interested in self-defense?



Personally, I think that Officer Darren Wilson may have done as he was trained/taught to do, after all it's the "real world" and in a life or death situation you must shoot your target to the ground, that's what's begin taught in all those self-defense classes.



And to those who say "he should have been trained better" or known better, etc. then look at all the law enforcement budget cuts that has happened over the years despite warning of the dangers.



"Training Budgets: The Cost of Cuts"



http://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/2012/11/13/training-budgets-the-cost-of-cuts/



"This is where the diversion between reality and budget numbers begins. The people crunching the numbers and recommending reductions in budgets are rarely, if ever, involved in the training! Further, in some governments they either do not consult with the LEOs who are involved with the training or ignore their input when they do speak with them! So, how do we get the attention of the folks with the calculators?"



So another aspect of "who is at fault" would be government officers who cut Police training budget, thus forcing police officers to seek additional training on their own budget, or get send out under trained.



For example from a police website:



http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/06/how-to-deal-with-shrinking-budgets.aspx



Heck, the above link even recommends selling confiscated items for addition money to pay our law enforcement officers quote from the link above:



"Need some money to make up for a budget shortfall? Use online public safety auction sites to sell off your confiscated items. If you have a savvy IT guru, you can even create your own web page to do the same."





So to those who want to blame Officer Wilson maybe, just maybe, you should instead blame the budget cuts that may have prevented him from getting the training he really needed.



Also Officer Wilson was ATTACKED by Mike Brown so even if he had received whatever training, he still might/would've fired multiple times given that he was in a fight or flight situation. When someone is under attack, and Mike Brown, despite what some people claim, DIDN'T had his hands up nor was he retreating, and he was HUGE compare to Officer Wilson, he was preparing to to attack Officer Wilson a second time, again looking at the evidence, so yes, Officer Wilson was probably justified to react the way he did. Nevertheless we may never know for sure and we weren't there, and I could always be wrong.