Most of my readers know about the events following the death of Michael Brown, an 18 year old black man, shot by a white policeman on August 9 in our suburb of Ferguson. The metro area has been on low boil ever since. Some of the protests became violent and there were a lot arrests. Many have demanded that criminal charges be brought against the policeman, Darren Wilson.
That issue has been pending before an institution unique to American's criminal system, a grand jury. There have been fears of riots if Wilson is not indicted. The city is on edge. All area police are on duty. Hundreds of National Guard and FBI personnel have been brought it.
The decision was just announced at 8:25 PM our time. Wilson was not charged. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullough gave a detailed summary of the procedure and evidence on TV tonight. As I write this late Tuesday we do not know what will happen in and to St. Louis next.
I found the image above stenciled on a bus shelter. It illustrates the common chant of the protesters: hands up, don't shoot. All of us here might wonder if we should call the number below.
That issue has been pending before an institution unique to American's criminal system, a grand jury. There have been fears of riots if Wilson is not indicted. The city is on edge. All area police are on duty. Hundreds of National Guard and FBI personnel have been brought it.
The decision was just announced at 8:25 PM our time. Wilson was not charged. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullough gave a detailed summary of the procedure and evidence on TV tonight. As I write this late Tuesday we do not know what will happen in and to St. Louis next.
I found the image above stenciled on a bus shelter. It illustrates the common chant of the protesters: hands up, don't shoot. All of us here might wonder if we should call the number below.
11 comments:
I am looking at the unrest now, live on BBC, CNN and Sky News.
A real troublesome case. Something rotten in the state of Denmark. The dutch TV is full of it.
Tense times Bob.. Wonder how it will play out.
I'm thinking of you and your city this morning.
It got pretty violent...not in our neighborhood, I'm relieved to say. But I'm still worried about Collin having to go out tomorrow to go to work, waiting for a bus in the dark.
I was very concerned last night. There were demonstrations in front of the White House and on U street as well.
I've been listening to the news carefully. It sounds like things have turned violent once again. It's hard for me to hear the names of streets and neighborhoods that I know so well being described with damage and riots. You and my other friends in St. Louis are in my thoughts this morning.
It's made the news here as well. Very troublesome.
Listening to some of the news coverage over the past few days, I got the horrible feeling that the commentary, delivered by people I generally have thought to be considered in their language, well, it all seemed to be worded in a way that would incite trouble from both sides. This worries me - as if this country doesn't have enough issues to address, we seemed to be asking for trouble rather than intelligent conversation.
Such a tragedy with even more catastrophic consequences. Unfortunately, I think the media attention from the beginning has served to fan the flames of unrest. Television news serves to titillate and promote controversy...all sides of the political spectrum play to the emotions of the populace in order to "hook" the audience. I wish someone would come up with TV spots of interviews with the business owners and employees of the businesses damaged... To show the impact of such destructive actions... And play them in commercial segments of regular TV...the rioters generally aren't the sort to watch the news or documentarys after the fact...
It will be interesting to see how all this is recounted by someone who actually lives there - with first hand local knowledge - rather than media coverage by those who are getting paid.
I hope the situation is resolved quickly.
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