By Alec Kohut
I cannot give a definite answer to whether Darren Wilson should or should not have been charged. I am not an attorney, and like most American’s my understanding of legal terms and concepts are too often gained through episodes of Law & Order.
However, as an American, I most certainly have the right, and the duty, to ask questions that will enable all of us to better understand how the Ferguson grand jury reached its decision not to indict Wilson.
I will examine these questions on Politics & Beer Radio tonight at 8 pm. The show can be found here: http://tobtr.com/...
Here are the question I would like answers for:
1) With what seems to be a mountain of conflicting testimony, how does the grand jury decide who to believe, and who not to believe. Is that not the duty of a trial jury?
2) Was Officer Wilson’s refusal to carry a taser negligent, in that he willingly decided NOT to carry a non-lethal option to deadly force?
3) Did Officer Wilson’s initial actions lead to an escalation of tension between he and Brown that eventually led to his use of deadly force?
4) Did Officer Wilson initiate the physical altercation that led to his belief that he needed to use deadly force?
5) How does a town of 67% African-Americans, and only 24% Whites have a grand jury of 9 Whites and only 3 African-Americans?
6) What was the actual vote of the grand jury, (9 of 12 had to vote in favor of indictment). Did four white jurors prevent even a charge of 2nd degree involuntary manslaughter, the lesser of five possible indictments?
There are larger questions that we as Americans must also consider, such as when it is very, very rare for grand juries to not return indictments, the one exception is police officers. They are the ONLY group that seems to have a immunity to indictment.
Unfortunately far, far too much attention will be paid to the social unrest and protests that led to violence, and far, far too little attention will be paid to the larger issues of: police attitudes towards minorities, the militarizing of the police, lack of African-American representation in ALL levels of government, and the lingering racism which defines American life.
Tune-in tonight and make your voice heard. 8 pm EST: http://tobtr.com/...