There has always
been police brutality specifically aimed against African Americans, but it
seems that in the past few years there have been several more cases reported.
It is unarguable that policemen have been exhausting their power, which in many
cases has resulted in the deaths of many black lives. Recently in class we have
learned about the Michael Brown case, which deserves some focus on because this
case is quite different from many other police brutality cases. On August 9,
2014 Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man from Ferguson, Missouri was shot
and killed by Darren Wilson, a 28-year-old white Ferguson police officer.
To preface this incident, I think it
is important to know some background information about what occurred on that
day. Prior to being approached by Wilson, Brown robbed a convenient store. If
you watch the encounter that he had with the owner of the store, you can see
that when the owner approaches Brown, Michael shoves the man and then proceeds
toward him in a way to show intimidation. This video not only displays Brown’s anger,
but it also shows how big he really is. Later, when officer Wilson initially
approaches Brown, he tells him and his friend to walk on the sidewalk, but
Brown approaches the patrolman’s window. There are many different stories about
what happens next, but for my analysis I would use the report that the
department of justice released. Apparently, Brown began to get aggressive with
Wilson, punching him twice in the face and attempting to reach for his gun.
During this incident in Wilson’s car, Brown was shot in the finger. Their
interaction continues where supposedly Brown runs away from Wilson, only to
turn around and charge after the policemen. This is when Wilson fired multiple
shots, which resulted in Browns death. Darren Wilson was not indicted for
killing Michael Brown.
It is interesting that Wilson was
not charged, because he felt that his life was in danger. Brown was 6 foot 5
weighing 290 pounds, while Wilson was 6 foot 4 weighing 210 pounds, so there was
a large difference in body structure. From the evidence above, if I were in the
same situation, I would also feel as if my life were threatened; however, I do
not believe that this gives freedom to shoot and kill a person. Policemen are
supposed to protect all citizens of this country, and I feel as if Wilson
should have used another method of restraining Brown. Perhaps Wilson could have
radioed backup, or instead of chasing after him he could have gotten in his car
and kept an eye on him to avoid further confliction. Because of this, I think
that policemen need better training in dealing with situations that cause them
trepidation.
Michael
Brown was an unarmed black man, but his actions went against what people are
supposed to do when approached by a cop. I am in no means stating that Michael
deserved to get killed or was “asking” to get himself killed, but assaulting an
officer and reaching for his gun are absolutely unacceptable. In this
situation, we can only base our conclusions on evidence, witness accounts, and
Darren Wilson’s statement, which is problematic because we are missing crucial
evidence; Michael Brown’s testimony. After reading several witness accounts,
Wilson’s account, and the autopsy of Brown, I do not think that Wilson
willfully shot Brown, and that he truly was in fear for his life. In the DOJ
report it was stated, “Given that Wilson’s account is
corroborated by physical evidence and that his perception of a threat posed by
Brown is corroborated by other eyewitnesses, to include aspects of the
testimony of Witness 101, there is no credible evidence that Wilson willfully
shot Brown as he was attempting to surrender or was otherwise not posing a
threat” (page 86). In the officer’s place, if a stronger man attacked me and reached for my gun, and then
preceded to charge me, I too would be mortally afraid.
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/doj_report_on_shooting_of_michael_brown_1.pdf
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