The Long, Brutal History That Predicts Darren Wilson Will Get Off Scot Free

Predicting a particular outcome, such as the decision of the grand
jury in the Wilson case, only gets folks riled up. It does not
address the larger question, Is the System Broke? And if the answer
is "Yes!", then what are folks prepared to do about fixing it.
The hearing on whether or not Officer Wilson should be tried or
acquitted, can become a focal point, causing much shouting and
possible violence, and ultimately solving nothing at all, or it can be
seen as one incident in a system that needs to be rebuilt to favor All
the People, not merely the Ruling Class and their protected Sucklings.
We, the Real People...the Working Class, have enough power to take
apart a broken system and put it back together. Let's not spend that
energy on a single judgement, and wind up not solving anything at all.

Carl Jarvis
On 11/22/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> Jones writes: "It's an outcome that will appall many Americans, sparking
> outrage not only in Ferguson but throughout the country. And despite all of
> that, it's an outcome that will not surprise any black person, including
> yours truly."
>
> (photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
>
>
> ALSO SEE: In Ferguson the Arrests Have Begun
> ALSO SEE: Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson in Talks to Resign
> The Long, Brutal History That Predicts Darren Wilson Will Get Off Scot Free
> By Andrew Jerell Jones, The Intercept
> 21 November 14
>
> Darren Wilson will probably get let off.
> It's an outcome that will appall many Americans, sparking outrage not only
> in Ferguson but throughout the country. And despite all of that, it's an
> outcome that will not surprise any black person, including yours truly.
> Obviously, I hope that is not the case. I truly do hope that I am wrong and
> that Wilson is indicted by the Missouri grand jury now deciding his fate,
> which would mean he would at least face a trial and criminal charges over
> his killing of Mike Brown. But it's hard not to expect the worst after
> Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called in the National Guard before the
> decision
> officially came down.
> This isn't knee-jerk pessimism at work here. To the black community, a
> non-indictment for Brown would be predictable. It would be as predictable
> as
> the verdict in the trial over the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old
> Trayvon Martin, a verdict that acquitted defendant George Zimmerman,
> allowing him to continue doing stupid things. Or as predictable as the
> involuntary manslaughter verdict handed down in the shooting death of
> restrained, unarmed, 23-year-old Oscar Grant in Oakland. Or as predictable
> as the acquittal of police officers charged with killing unarmed Sean Bell
> in Queens, New York by firing 50 shots into his vehicle. As predictable as
> the acquittal of the police officers who fatally shot unarmed Amadou Diallo
> 19 times, killing him. As predictable as the acquittals in the infamous
> police beating of Rodney King. And so on, back to Emmett Till and before.
> And those are just the incidents the public knows about. For every Eric
> Garner choked and squeezed to death by the police or for every police
> officer caught on camera horribly shooting an innocent black man as he
> reaches for his license, there are thousands of racially tinged episodes of
> police brutality known only to the people involved, to the friends and
> families of the victims, and to pockets of the impacted communities.
> Sure, there have been encouraging signs that black lives are slowly
> becoming
> as important as white lives. For example, David Dunn, the 45-year-old white
> male who shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis at a Florida gas station
> in November 2012 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison
> with no parole. Some justice also was provided for the late Renisha
> McBride,
> a 19-year-old woman shot dead in November 2013 in Detroit by white
> homeowner
> Theodore Wafer after she knocked on his front porch for help after her car
> crashed. Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder this past August and
> was sentenced to prison for 17 to 32 years.
> But these rare moments of justice for black Americans are still
> overshadowed
> by moments where we are treated, at best, as second class citizens. A grand
> jury in Staten Island is still waiting to decide what to do with the
> officers who played a role in Garner's death, despite the clear video
> evidence showing they violated their own police department's protocol of no
> chokeholds. Meanwhile, in Florida, Marissa Alexander faces 60 years in
> prison for firing one shot from a gun at her abusive, estranged husband.
> Despite invoking the same controversial "Stand Your Ground" law that helped
> Zimmerman win acquittal, and despite having her initial conviction reversed
> on appeal, Alexander was denied a "Stand Your Ground" hearing hearing and
> faces fresh charges and three back-to-back 20-year sentences from Florida
> State Prosecutor Angela Corey.
> Too many different stories of police brutality against black victims end
> the
> same way, with acquittals or lenient sentences for the cops. That's why
> most
> people in the black community have no faith Wilson will ever face trial.
> Maybe we're wrong, but history points to us being unfortunately right. And
> that prediction, if and when proven correct, won't be one we'll celebrate.
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not
> valid.
>
> (photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
> https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/21/feel-darren-wilson-will-get-sc
> ot-free/https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/21/feel-darren-wilson-wil
> l-get-scot-free/
> ALSO SEE: In Ferguson the Arrests Have Begun
> ALSO SEE: Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson in Talks to Resign
> The Long, Brutal History That Predicts Darren Wilson Will Get Off Scot Free
> By Andrew Jerell Jones, The Intercept
> 21 November 14
> arren Wilson will probably get let off.
> It's an outcome that will appall many Americans, sparking outrage not only
> in Ferguson but throughout the country. And despite all of that, it's an
> outcome that will not surprise any black person, including yours truly.
> Obviously, I hope that is not the case. I truly do hope that I am wrong and
> that Wilson is indicted by the Missouri grand jury now deciding his fate,
> which would mean he would at least face a trial and criminal charges over
> his killing of Mike Brown. But it's hard not to expect the worst after
> Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called in the National Guard before the
> decision
> officially came down.
> This isn't knee-jerk pessimism at work here. To the black community, a
> non-indictment for Brown would be predictable. It would be as predictable
> as
> the verdict in the trial over the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old
> Trayvon Martin, a verdict that acquitted defendant George Zimmerman,
> allowing him to continue doing stupid things. Or as predictable as the
> involuntary manslaughter verdict handed down in the shooting death of
> restrained, unarmed, 23-year-old Oscar Grant in Oakland. Or as predictable
> as the acquittal of police officers charged with killing unarmed Sean Bell
> in Queens, New York by firing 50 shots into his vehicle. As predictable as
> the acquittal of the police officers who fatally shot unarmed Amadou Diallo
> 19 times, killing him. As predictable as the acquittals in the infamous
> police beating of Rodney King. And so on, back to Emmett Till and before.
> And those are just the incidents the public knows about. For every Eric
> Garner choked and squeezed to death by the police or for every police
> officer caught on camera horribly shooting an innocent black man as he
> reaches for his license, there are thousands of racially tinged episodes of
> police brutality known only to the people involved, to the friends and
> families of the victims, and to pockets of the impacted communities.
> Sure, there have been encouraging signs that black lives are slowly
> becoming
> as important as white lives. For example, David Dunn, the 45-year-old white
> male who shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis at a Florida gas station
> in November 2012 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison
> with no parole. Some justice also was provided for the late Renisha
> McBride,
> a 19-year-old woman shot dead in November 2013 in Detroit by white
> homeowner
> Theodore Wafer after she knocked on his front porch for help after her car
> crashed. Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder this past August and
> was sentenced to prison for 17 to 32 years.
> But these rare moments of justice for black Americans are still
> overshadowed
> by moments where we are treated, at best, as second class citizens. A grand
> jury in Staten Island is still waiting to decide what to do with the
> officers who played a role in Garner's death, despite the clear video
> evidence showing they violated their own police department's protocol of no
> chokeholds. Meanwhile, in Florida, Marissa Alexander faces 60 years in
> prison for firing one shot from a gun at her abusive, estranged husband.
> Despite invoking the same controversial "Stand Your Ground" law that helped
> Zimmerman win acquittal, and despite having her initial conviction reversed
> on appeal, Alexander was denied a "Stand Your Ground" hearing hearing and
> faces fresh charges and three back-to-back 20-year sentences from Florida
> State Prosecutor Angela Corey.
> Too many different stories of police brutality against black victims end
> the
> same way, with acquittals or lenient sentences for the cops. That's why
> most
> people in the black community have no faith Wilson will ever face trial.
> Maybe we're wrong, but history points to us being unfortunately right. And
> that prediction, if and when proven correct, won't be one we'll celebrate.
>
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