READ THE EVIDENCE & DECIDE FOR YOURSELF: DID THE GRAND JURY MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION?
A grand jury composed of 9 whites and 3 African-Americans did not indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown.
Read the evidence presented before the grand jury and decide for yourself. Did they make the right decision?
Officer Brown claims Brown hit him in a struggle. The officer testified for several hours before the grand jury claiming he was in fear for his life. Here is one of the officers quotes: “I felt that another one of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse. I mean it was, he’s obviously bigger than I was and stronger and the, I’ve already taken two to the face I didn’t think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right.”
Of course, Michael Brown cannot tell his side of the story. The prosecutor said witnesses gave conflicting statements about what they saw Brown doing as he was shot with accounts running the gamut from he was surrending with his hands up to he was charging at the officer.
The ultimate question before the grand jury: Was the use of force reasonable under the circumstances?
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Jane Velez-Mitchell is an award-winning TV journalist and New York Times best-selling author. She is the founder of UnchainedTV and the host of several shows on the network.
I think the Grand Jury did a phenomenal job especially considering the facts,,,, knowing that no matter what their decision was there would be trouble ……. The rioters would tear the town apart if found innocent and if found guilty of something they would demand to string the officer up …….
I certainly would NOT feel safe living I in Ferguson if I were a black person.
Someone PLEASE tell me how these 9 white Jurors and 3 African American Could be a fair Jury when it only took 9 to indie or not to indite……They knew he wouldn’t be indicted from the start…..THAT’S WHY THEY WENT TO SUCH EXTREMES PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF THE GRANDCHILD JURY DECISION….. It’s a shame that the Judicial System is so messed up that they can’t see the BACK AND WHITE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR FACES……
TO family of Michael Brown you have my most sincere Condolences, MY ♡ goes out to you in this most heartbreaking unbearable time. :'( Please know you are in the prayers of many, and hopefully you will get some kind of JUST ICE ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL..
SINCERELY
Dippin in our JUDICIAL SYSTEM
The grand jury has to represent the demographics of the location where the incident occurred.
You have no clue who voted to indict. What if six of the white jurors and three black jurors all voted that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to indict him? You are ASSUMING it was all the white jurors. You are just as prejudiced against whites as the blacks who still claim that I enslaved them hundreds of years ago. Grow up, the adult 6’4 265 pound man child did not listen to directives from an authority who asked him questions AFTER said man child robbed a store. Guns are everywhere on the street and this is a wonderful example of not enough information being told to police, or maybe too much. The cop feared for his own life, its clear this man child was NOT a law abiding citizen, otherwise he would not have robbed the store in the first place not to mention when the officer questioned him and he would have followed directions and answered questions and NOT be dead right now. He would be getting ready to down some turkey with his family in two days. Certainly it is a sad situation, but I promise you it will never happen to my children. They were taught to respect those in authority no matter what color the skin was. Its all about teaching children right. What all the “classy” citizens are teaching their children there in Ferguson is how to act a fool, stomp your feet, all in hopes of getting your way. Sounds like they all are about two years old!
My sincere condolences to the family too. I would like to think that the grand jury was able to look at this as a proper use vs misuse of force though, and not a race issue. Grand jury are in place for several months to years and they were not picked specifically for this case. None of us know all the facts. We can only hope the grand jury acted with integrity.
As far as justice on the federal level, I have my doubts. If there were justice there re: local cases, George Zimmerman would be rotting in a jail cell.
He was sworn in to protect and serve. Officer Wilson was doing his job, Mr. Brown assaulted him. Mr. Brown was stealing and he was upset that he got caught.
I agree, and we saw Micheal towering over the store clerk and bullying him, and nobody can tell me he went from that attitude to a sweet, innocent little baby, in ten minutes. I`M CURIOUS HOW THIS SITUATION WOULD HAVE TURNED OUT HAD THE OFFICER BEEN SHOT AND KILLED INSTEAD, AND MICHEAL WAS FACING THE DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING A COP. OFFICER WILSON SHOULD HOLD HIS HEAD UP HIGH, AND KNOW HE HAD THE RIGHT TO DEFEND HIMSELF, AND DO HIS JOB.
Officer Wilson was doing his job, Mike Brown was a big guy with a big attitude, who didn’t care about anyone but himself. where were the protester when the baby died from gun shot to father in Chicago, or the shooting of all the innocent children and others? but a guy like Brown , who stole and assaults two people, everyone worries about his legacy, what legacy, violence, terrorism, that’s his legacy, a legacy, he made it himself. people can dismiss this, but it is the truth.
What an absolute embarrassment for Ferguson, Missouri… These aren’t protests.
These are CRIMINALS who are vandalizing, destroying, polluting and showing the world PURE IGNORANCE in their region of the United States.
Instead of acting on emotion, try doing something productive like reviewing the facts that have released by the courts versus basing your facts on all of these hear-sayers who have since retracted their stories.. As the state prosecutor stated, the evidence did not support many of the claims as described on national media which got emotions high.
Don’t be ignorant by listening to hear-sayers. Instead, base your decisions on FACTS presented in the court of law.
We have a young man who is deceased. Based on the evidence as shown to the grand jury, the sworn police officer had probably cause to use deadly force.
The United States MUST have police protecting citizens. If a person gets physically combative with an officer and the officer feels his/her life is threatened, deadly force is justifiable.
The easy thing to do is DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN THAT SITUATION!!!!!
Protesting is okay… Maybe if these folks understood the meaning of “protest”, they could make a difference…
Defining ‘protest’: a way of publicly making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or they may undertake direct action in an attempt to directly enact desired changes themselves. [2] Where protests are part of a systematic and peaceful campaign to achieve a particular objective, and involve the use of pressure as well as persuasion, they go beyond mere protest and may be better described as cases of civil resistance or nonviolent resistance.
Instead, they are going about it completely wrong. Protesting does not include shattered glass from looted stores covered the asphalt; Shell casings from unknown shooters littered the ground; and more than a dozen buildings, including stores owned by local residents, had been set ablaze.
They are hurting themselves by acting like pure ignorant fools. Be constructive in your move forward as destruction has never paved the way to positive beginnings.
God speed Ferguson, Missouri.
On the video i saw how.was it possible that he try to get his gun n his car if he.was.trying to do that he would had to pull the cop out of the car so where he.was standing there was no way he was able to do what the cop said n whatever happen he wouldn’t.had to shoot him that many times with that the said.there want.justice
why does it always have to be black and white? in an area where the population is mostly black, and police force is mostly white, of course an officer has a higher chance of being confronted by a black person. he was known to police for a reason. he was a criminal. an officer was doing his job. to serve and protect. let’s now speak of this ratio of white/black officers. how many black residents have applied to and graduated from the police force? The race card is played all too often, to the point where it is like the boy who cried wolf. the race should be kept out of it. this was a police officer who shot a known criminal. no black, no white. if it were a black officer who shot a white criminal, we would not even be having this conversation.
The first hit in the car and most of us would know we were going to jail or dying. We need to learn to respect one another. Learn what it is and actually use it. Too many people have no clue. Look at the rioting and it will show you that. Personally I think the grand jury made the wise decision. I think most of the country knows that if a cop is threatened or harmed it is ok to use bodily force. To the point of death. It is part of the job description. There was the victims blood inside the police car where he never sat. The cops face was bruised up. Was it magic? No, it was the guy hitting the cop and the cop fighting back. So without even a jury it was justified. Let alone the mounds of other evidence to back it up. Evidence doesn’t lie but people do.
Oh wait…while all this is going on…the officer is honeymooning…he got married october 24 to a female police officer…her first marriage his second. So keep destroying your hometown while officer wilson is celebrating with champagne…idiots
Based on the evidence they did the right thing ! Sorry that Mr Brown lost his life but it showed he did fight back maybe if he did not would still be alive ! But this riots need to stop will only end up with more pain & injuries maybe death !
This is straight BULLSHIT,How is Browwn coming towards him charging at him, 1. How did he get away from the car that he so called snatched Wilson up and assaulted him, 2. Why wasn’t back up called before drastic measures .3. Where are YOUR bruises WILSON?
What a shame for the people in this town . To act like this when the officer did his job to protect this town , put his life at risk everyday he went to work , HOOLIGANS ” WE SHOULD NOT KEEP SHOWING THERE IGNORANCE , DO NOT HELP THEM REBUILD , PUT THE NATIONAL GRAD THERE AND THEY CAN SHOW THEM THE WAY HOOLIGANS GET TREATED , i’M SORRY FOR THE YOUNG MAN THAT DID THIS TO THE OFFICER BUT HE WAS DOING HIS JOB I’M PRAYING FOR EVERYONE TO COME TO A PEACEFUL resolution .
Rather Right or Wrong. Racism still rears it’s ugly head, like the Republicans are doing to Obama like John Boehner. Police Brutality against people of color will remain th same and all the police have to do is tell that they were afraid for their lives and everyone will believe them. That’s very sad in my opinion.
i have to agree with you Nonie.For one thing he was seen leaving the police station with no mark on him at . then he gets to the hospital and he has some, second to shot that many times means you shot him to kill him,third i hope he knows no matter where he goes he will never be truly safe .the law failed once again.just like the Zimmerman case because after he was found not guilty the true monster came out and the whole world saw his true colors.things like this have been happening for over 100 years where no justice is ever served when things like this happen.that DA and all is rambling and calling all the witnesses on his side liars told me right there that the grand jury only heard what he wanted them to hear and he needs to leave that job as he is not on the side to seek justice , and yes hopefully the feds and the civil courts stand up and give him life in prison where this murderer belongs
The evidence was presented and spoke for itself. When a police officer tells you to do something…you do it. Especially in a situation like this. Why did M. Brown struggle with the Officer through the window of the police vehicle? That’s asking for trouble. Respect the law, respect authority. Don’t steal. And when a Police Officer tells you to get out of the road- do it. Or if they tell you to stop- Stop!!! A senseless incident. Waste of time, money and life. People are killed everyday. Including police officers. Enough with this. The jury has spoken.
Once again, a criminal teenager defies the laws and attempts to take an officers gun. I would have shot him the second he tried to take my gun. Color is not the issue. These punk kids have no respect for the community, the law or police officers. Of course you’re going to get shot. I don’t care what color you are. All these rioters and looters should be facing down the barrel of a gun from the shop owners for that matter. It’s disgusting.
If you are being beat up by a big black man that is trying to get your gun, of course you’re going to use deadly force. The big black man has already broken the law and if he gets the gun your the dead man first.
The officer did not know without a doubt if it was even the kid that done the robbery, he was assuming. To me, I think it should have been handled differently than it was, all we have is his story, no one can speak for that child and who knows what he actually said to Michael Brown. If Mr. Wilson was in fact in fear for his life, he had called for back up, why did he not just wait until it arrived rather than killing an unarmed child? People need to put themselves in the child’s parent’s place for just a second, what would u do or how would u feel if an officer was bashing your son or your daughter and that child was killed?? No one knows what was said during all this, I for one don’t agree with the decision that was made. His parents paid the ultimate price, their son’s life and my heart goes out to them. There is no excuse for killing an unarmed CHILD and the,grand jury knew from the beginning the officer would not be indicted, most of the time they aren’t, all cops are not honest and they do abuse their authority we have all seen it too many times!
I think the Ferguson police helped Darren Wilson giving him evidence so he could concoct his story to match. Something does not sound right and he does not sound credible! BTW I am white!
How many more has to die ? Cops need not put themselves in a position to murder unarmed citizens,.
Michael Brown was a HUGE THUG!! You saw how he pushed away the clerk in the store that was trying to stop him from stealing the box of cigars! He was a big, cocky jerk that tried to mess with a policeman, who feared for his life! Yes, I wish he’d shown more remorse, but I still think he did what he had to do. The grand jury was given ALL of the evidence, and made the correct decision!
Sharon–I’d be afraid to be a WHITE PERSON in Ferguson! Kim–that CHILD??? THAT CHILD WAS 6’4″ AND 280!! Did you see how THAT CHILD
handled the store clerk?