I've had my share to say about the Michael Brown shooting and subsequent events since August but at least had the media to keep me informed, along with its biases and unbelievable susceptibility to error. So, to be fair and just as I learned about Obama by reading his autobiography, I decided to look at the Grand Jury material furnished by the Ferguson prosecutor concerning the panelists' failure to return an indictment against Darren Wilson, the policeman who killed Brown.
In possession of the facts regarding the shooting, the prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, could not in good faith bring charges against Wilson, whom he considered innocent of any crime. Realizing, apparently, that there would be a huge backlash in the absence of a charge, McCulloch wisely simply sent the matter to the Grand Jury, which had been appointed in May and was still in session, to hear all the evidence that could be gathered and return an indictment for a crime...or not.
Usually, a charge for the Grand Jury to consider will be handled in a day and an indictment returned or not, with the evidence presented kept secret, at least for a time. McCulloch wisely chose to make public the entire Grand Jury evidence, including three autopsies, a mega-number of witness testimonies and graphic pictures, every shred of the forensic evidence and all other statements—everything—available on the Internet so everyone could make an informed decision about what happened.
The promise that this three-month proceeding and decision would be published was kept immediately but did not deter the “protesters,” local and professional, from preparing a riot, complete with the looting/burning for two nights of businesses, cars, whatever. They had no intention of examining the evidence and were encouraged by the actions of both President Obama and Attorney General Holder, who had already pronounced their verdict without knowing the facts that Wilson was guilty.
Using the Internet, I didn't examine all the evidence gathered during the mega-hours of 25 Grand Jury sessions but enough to understand that the Grand Jury could have made no other decision. The forensic evidence alone would have been enough but the eye-witness testimonies actually sealed the matter. About the best corroborating accounts were those of a repairman right on top of the scene and another individual who was just out driving around and happened on the scene. The latter witness was apparently in the habit of keeping a journal and updated it meticulously almost immediately after arriving home, before the facts could be forgotten or blurred.
The accounts of these witnesses, one oral and the other written, could virtually have been interchanged because of their near-total similarity, with their greatest usefulness having to do with Brown's actions, especially the position of his arms and his incomprehensible charge at Wilson amid warnings to stop and actual gunfire. The autopsy report on Brown noted that he was under the influence of cannabis (marijuana) to the extent that he was “impaired,” which might explain his strange behavior, including his attack on Wilson in the patrol car. No one in his right mind would have tried that.
It's doubtful that Holder has examined this report and virtually certain that Obama has not taken the time. Instead, he traveled the day after the shooting, looting and riots in Ferguson to Chicago, the nation's homicide Nirvana, where blacks kill blacks routinely, though police seldom, if ever, do. Holder, using taxpayer money, is still trying to squeeze Wilson and the Ferguson police, using federal prosecutors and the FBI in the process.
In his rambling 20-minute speech on the night of the shooting, ironically aired on TV in split screen simultaneously showing him orating and Ferguson burning, Obama made it plain that the police-people in this country are to blame for trouble in locales of “color.” He would be better served to read the report.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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