There has been no end of coverage of the recent unrest in
Ferguson, MO after a black teenager, Mike Brown, was killed by a white police
officer. From the very first bit of media coverage the officer was vilified far
and wide as being a racist, who searched out the black teenager and killed him
simply because he was black[1].
In the community of Ferguson where the population is mostly black, this notion
ignited major race riots for days on end, involving forceful and dangerous
demonstrations causing there to be a greater police presence in Ferguson that used
forceful measures to keep the riots in hand. But why did this happen?
The officer’s
story was that Mike Brown and his friend were walking in the middle of the
street when the officer drove past and he told them to get on the sidewalk
because they were blocking traffic. Let us assume that the officer told them to
get out of the way just because they were black and he didn’t like them. Is it
an unreasonable request even assuming that motive? No. Police officers have the
ability and responsibility to direct traffic, and as most will agree, walking
in the street is not safe for any pedestrian or driver.
We can
only guess, and not prove his motives. However, we can judge the actions.
The
event escalated as Officer Wilson heard on the dispatch that a local store had
been robbed by two juveniles matching Mike Brown and his friend. So he got out
to arrest them on probable cause, and Brown assaulted the officer in his police
car, going to take Wilson’s gun from him. Mike Brown was 6’ 4” and weighed 292
pounds, so to the much smaller officer, he posed a significant threat.
Eventually the gun went off in the car, not injuring either of them, but Mike
Brown started running away. Duty bound, the officer, though beaten with various
injuries including a broken eye socket,[2]
got out to bring Brown under arrest again. Brown stopped running away and decided
to rush the officer, causing him to shoot him six times to bring him down.
If that
storyline is true, then the officer’s actions were not only justified, but
required. It does not matter what the officer felt about black people, because
whatever the motivation, he did the right thing every step of the way. If we
decide to start judging people as criminal or not based on the motivations they
possess, I know that I would be guilty of enormous crimes, myself.
I don’t
think the officer was a racist at all. But for the purpose of judging his
actions as legal or not, it doesn’t matter. He was right to do what he did,
however awful it is that he had to do it.
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