The grand jury in the Michael Brown slaying is expected to make a decision sometime this month on whether Officer Darren Wilson should be charged for the killing. Most expect there to be substantial unrest if there is no trial, so much so that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has already declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard.
However the grand jury rules, there is absolutely no excuse for violence or destruction of property, and the threat of said violence should not in any way sway the decision.
There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the circumstances of Brown’s death, even now, months after the fact. The investigation has produced two narratives of the shooting. The first, which is argued by the Brown family, is Wilson pursued Brown and shot him needlessly as his hands were raised.
The second, which paints Wilson as a cop just doing his job and trying to stay alive, is the officer confronted Brown, who attempted to grab Wilson’s gun. In the struggle that ensued, Wilson fired his pistol several times, killing Brown.
Both sides have autopsies to back up their claims, but the official autopsy indicates a gunshot wound to Brown’s hand, which gives credence to Wilson’s account.
In short, either Wilson brutally killed Brown for potentially racially motivated reasons or Brown made the very unwise decision to try to take a cop’s gun from him. All this has made for a highly charged environment in Ferguson, intensified by race-baiters such as the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Sharpton, a former civil rights leader, said he and his activists are on “high alert” for a ruling in the case and has indicated there would be demonstrations if he does not get his pound of flesh. Since the case made national headlines, Sharpton has added nothing of substance to the proceedings other than his constant, shrill cry of “racism!”
It’s this sort of talk that inspires people to go out and needlessly riot, loot and destroy property when all that’s needed is a simple, nonviolent protest. Even then, protest of any sort are inappropriate in this setting. Yes, we all have our First Amendment rights, but this is not a political debate; it is simple criminal proceeding where decisions have to be made on empirical evidence, not public opinion or emotion.
Our judicial system is designed to be insulated against a mob rule, which the Founders referred to as “the tyranny of the majority.” To stand outside of the grand jury proceedings and insist that a case be taken to court just because you are angry about it is nonsensical and definitely not how we do things in this country. We must either abide by the rule of law all of the time, or we won’t have a rule of law at all.
How would we feel if we were in Wilson’s position? We would want the evidence to be the only thing considered, not the desires of people who threaten unrest when things don’t go their way. The fact that a state of emergency had to be declared for the rest of the proceedings is ridiculous.
The protestors need to be on their very best behavior once a decision comes down, regardless of what it is, if not go home altogether. It is a criminal proceeding outside of their control. The only reason we are talking about it is because a few people decided to inject the topic of race into the discussion.
Ryan McGehee is a 21-year-old political science, interdisciplinary studies and history senior from Zachary, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @JRyanMcGehee.