The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. Under the Missouri law, any citizen has the right to use deadly force against another if they have reasonable belief that it is absolutely necessary. This is the big topic debated among United States citizens all over the country.
Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson were walking down the middle of the street when Officer Wilson drove up and told them to move to the sidewalk. An altercation continued with Brown and Wilson struggling through the window of the police vehicle until Wilson’s gun was fired. Brown and Johnson then fled in different directions with Wilson in pursuit of Brown, firing several more times. In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve rounds. Brown was hit by seven and the last was probably the most fatal. Witness reports differ on whether or not Brown had his hands raised and whether he was moving toward Wilson when the final shots were fired. “He shot my friend in the back. Then my friend turned around with his hands up, but the police officer continued to shoot him, like an animal. It was very hard to watch,” says Johnson. Even though this is a report from a witness, authorities question whether or not it is the truth, especially when all of the physical evidence says otherwise.
For lack of better terms, hell has since been raised in Ferguson. Many question whether Wilson was actually in danger or if he shot Brown out of racist intent. A huge social media protest, “Hands Up Walkout,” is an attempt to shine light on the theory that Brown had his hands up when Wilson shot him. One of the biggest examples of this happened Sunday, November 30 during the St. Louis Rams football game. While running out for the game, a few African-American players on the team came out with their hands up in protest against Wilson’s release, which took place on November 24, 2014.
Fortunately, the grand jury did not have to rely on such statements, though some in the media seemed to. What the grand jury had, that the rest of us did not have until the grand jury’s decision was announced, was a set of physical facts that told a story that was independent of what anybody said. These facts included the autopsy results, Michael Brown’s DNA on the door of the police car and on the policeman’s gun, photographs of the bruised and swollen face of policeman Darren Wilson, and the pattern of blood stains on the street where Brown was shot.
After the jury decided not to convict Wilson, an explosion of emotion erupted in Ferguson, Missouri. Buildings have been burnt down, many innocent people have been hurt, and people feel threatened. Protesting goes from Ferguson to Springfield, Illinois, all the way to Georgia.
Legally, Wilson could return to the Ferguson Police Department, but as one might assume, that is not very likely. Information has not yet been released on what Darren Wilson has to say about being released from the criminal charges that were against him, but one could infer that he is happy to be free and that it was proven that he did not murder Michael Brown but simply used deadly force because he felt as if he had to. Rioting and protesting has not yet settled down, but it eventually will. This event will definitely go down in history, along with many other racial issues our country has gone through in past years, but we as a country can only hope that these events cease to exist altogether.