Ferguson
It’s an all-too-familiar story, and one we have heard many, many times since (at least) April of 1992. The legal process is followed in strict accordance with established standards of jurisprudence, a white officer(s) is exonerated of alleged crimes in the performance of duty, and the result is met with disproportionate rage, expressed in violent behavior by disenchanted blacks and others taking advantage of a specific situation, far removed from their own respective existence.
Four policemen, three of whom were white (along with one Hispanic), are acquitted in Los Angeles, of assault and excessive force in the beating of an intoxicated black driver who led police on a dangerous, high-speed chase. Rodney King survived the attack, but fifty-three people were killed and 2,000 people were injured in the riots that followed. Approximately 1,100 buildings were destroyed. 3,600 fires were lit, and countless businesses were looted- many of which were owned by businessmen of Korean and other Asian minorities, who seemed to be particularly targeted.
Fast forward twenty-two years. In Ferguson, Missouri, part of the greater St. Louis metropolis, an 18-year-old black man is shot by a white police officer six times. Supposed eye-witness accounts initially allege he was shot in the back, despite undeniable forensic evidence to the contrary. All hell breaks loose in Ferguson, and other places, immediately following the shooting. Two people are shot, others injured, and a bacchanalia of looting and vandalism takes place, destroying businesses and livelihoods, as a result. These riots, encouraged by well-practiced race-baiters like presidential advisor Al Sharpton, and perpetrated by malcontents in the form of the New Black Panther Party and the Revolutionary Communist Party USA, are particularly and precisely engineered to wreak havoc by organized groups who have absolutely no connection to the officer, Darren Wilson, nor to Michael Brown, the man who was shot and killed.
In strict accordance with Missouri law, a grand jury, comprising of nine whites and three blacks, spends three months painstakingly reviewing all evidence and eyewitness testimony in order to determine whether criminal charges be filed against the officer. The county’s District Attorney, spends twenty-five minutes on live television, explaining in copious detail the process, the findings and, ultimately, the determination by the grand jury, that no charges of criminal conduct would be filed against Officer Wilson….and what happens?
Demonstrations take place across major cities in the United States showing, in some cases, professionally pre-printed signs and well-organized gatherings that required much planning, and little regard, for the rule of law. Worse, Ferguson again erupts in violence, vandalism, looting and destructions of lives, livelihoods and property. Shots are fired, automobiles are set afire, and stores are looted by individuals taking sheer and perverse advantage of the discordant disarray that ensues.
Meanwhile, in Washington DC, a president who was purportedly elected to be “a uniter and not a divider” pulls out the moral equivalency card once again- equating the street rage with law enforcement, as though both are on the same altruistic level of moral authority. This same president, whose Attorney General, Eric Holder has been extremely and undeniably selective in the pursuit of cases where race is involved, ignoring cases where whites are victimized and exploiting cases where blacks are victimized, has done nothing but fan the flames of racial discord in this country- thus taking us back to a regrettable time where racial hatred was more the norm and less the exception. Once again, this country is being ripped apart because of certain, highly placed individuals who make their living off of the misfortune of others. But don’t tell this to the miscreants in Ferguson who broke into area liquor stores and availed themselves of free spirits- that would be racist, right?… Think about it… For the sake of our country and our world, for God’s sake, just think about it….
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.
-Drew Nickell, 25 November 2014