[Kicks self because the original version of this post got lost.]
Yes, it's worth noting that, in the end, only Darren Wilson got to testify in the case of the shooting of Michael Brown. Brown did not, and, of course, never will.
I haven't written much about my thoughts on the #Ferguson thang, especially the most recent developments. These pictures are pretty interesting, though, in a variety of ways.
First off, this was not some major thoroughfare or gritty urban street that Brown and his companion were walking down. It was what looks like a nice, normal, surburban avenue, fairly small.
Second, clearly there was a struggle in Wilson's vehicle. And there were gunshots inside of the vehicle. That, right there, was enough (under current jurisprudence) to get Wilson off the hook, rightly or wrongly, for anything that happened thereafter.
(I find Wilson's description, as now being recounted, to be overly-rehearsed, self-serving, and fully of elements that strain credulity. But the core issue of whether there was some initial struggle seems to be true. What happened after that is much more of a question.)
Third, despite "leaked" rumors immediately after the incident, Wilson (a strapping 6'4" cop) was not seriously or significantly injured in whatever struggle occurred. Yes, shots fired, but this was not a guy being outmatched and beaten to a pulp by a thug firing his gun as a last final resort.
Fourth, Michael Brown was over 150 feet, 50 yards, away from Wilson's vehicle at the time he was shot.
What has turned a dubious case (there have been far clearer cases of untenable but unprosecuted police violence) into such a major brouhaha has been less what actually happened between Wilson and Brown and more how the authorities in and around Ferguson (abetted by those elements in the community to turned violent) completely botched (from a PR and constituent-service standpoint) their handling of this. The visuals of how law enforcement handled things showed their end of the problem. The transparent fashion in which county prosecutor McCullough derailed any prospect of a grand jury indictment (and thus any public, adversarial discussion of the evidence) is the public face of perceived injustice in Ferguson.
The problem is not so much that Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown. The problem is that there's no sign there was any question that he'd get away with it, no matter whether he was in the right or the wrong.
Originally shared by +George Wiman:
In traffic accidents between semi trucks and automobiles, the auto driver is often found to be at fault. Who is telling the story? The semi driver, because the auto driver is dead. This commonplace may have some relevance to the #FergusonDecision.
16 interesting photos from the Ferguson grand jury files
A first look at official images of Darren Wilson’s killing of Michael Brown.
