The Ferguson police officer who had shot and killed an unarmed 18 year old black teenager in August was not indicted by a grand jury today. The white officer is not facing criminal charges for fatally shooting the 18 year old Michael Brown. The case has since become one of the most controversial ones in history, and Ferguson citizens are outraged by the judge’s decision not to indict the officer for murder.
The grand jury refused to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson who had fatally shot Michael Brown, under the suspicion of involvement in a robbery. Ferguson is now overwhelmed by chaos, as protesters are demanding justice, saying that Wilson is guilty of discrimination, going as far as saying that Ferguson police are notoriously discriminatory towards African-Americans. The protesters say that Darren Wilson had no real reason to fire a weapon at the unarmed teenager. A civil rights investigation is now underway to determine whether we are looking at a hate crime and a tendency towards these in Ferguson, Missouri.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said that the jurors spent enough time reviewing the witness’ statements as well as Wilson’s testimony. Wilson’s testimony has already been released to the public, along with a thousand pages of grand jury documents. McCulloch, in his declarations, omitted mentioning the fact that Michael Brown was unarmed at the time of the shooting, which raised suspicion among Ferguson protesters and all around the United States. Barack Obama came forward saying that citizens should remain calm and protest peacefully and emphasized the fact that the decision not to indict Wilson was made by a grand jury, under the rule of law.
The Ferguson police department is now part of a civil rights investigation. Witnesses and protesters say that Wilson had no reason to target Michael Brown or the friend he was with at the time. Even though Wilson said that he had felt threatened by the two teenage boys, Ferguson protesters are not accepting that as a good reason to draw again and shoot a person dead. The protests in Ferguson are getting increasingly violent and Ferguson police officers have already felt the need to launch tear gas among protesters. People in the streets are looting and destroying public property as well as vehicles, clearly displaying profuse anger towards the decision of the grand jury regarding Wilson. Most people still think justice has not been served and Wilson should be behind bars for a hate crime and unnecessary use of a firearm. The tragedy of Michael Brown’s death has prompted his family to address protesters in Ferguson and ask for peaceful protests instead of the violent outbreak that has taken over the city.