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The dividing line comes now to this, the rioters question the system and say it is not fair, and the establishment questions the individual and their actions. Was the death of Michael Brown justified? The Grand Jury has decided that it was. That is the course of justice in our Nation. Not the media circus and definitely not the mob.
Officer Wilson was within the law when he fired the fatal shot. There is no question because twelve good people have answered it. There should be no need for violence, but it has already started. Peaceful assembly means that you are within the rules. The protesters are not within the rules and chants of, “fuck the police” show nothing productive will be gained.
Throwing objects at the police is violence that gains the protesters nothing. The police respond with tear gas and the situation escalates. The protesters don’t want justice. They are a mindless mob and they destroy for no better reason other than they can. Stores looted, cars vandalized, confrontation, and shots fired. There is nothing about justice in this protest.
Does anyone really believe that corruption and jury tampering took place in a high profile case? That was tried before the media, again, before it was tried by jury? Don’t blame the judicial system if you believe the media. The truth is there for all.
The claim now is that the system is against the people of Ferguson and ultimately against blacks in general. Some voices have stated tonight that they did not believe there would be an indictment, not because justice would prevail, but because there would never be justice.
There can be no solution without acceptance of responsibility. There can be no peace without acceptance that justice has been served. To say less is to belittle the system. I saw the footage of the people in the streets of Ferguson waiving the American Flag upside down as a symbol of distress. Is America really at fault?
Is there a problem with two sets of justice in America? It appears as if some people want two systems. They want one that allows them to behave however they wish while constraining the very authority that they reach to when they feel fear from each other.
The people claim that the police commit violence against them as if their actions are blameless. They claim that Michael Brown was innocent. Darren Wilson was not innocent. No one ever said he was. But he was not guilty of a crime either. Yes he took a life, but according to the grand jury, he did so within the law.
That is what justice is.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/13/5994305/michael-brown-case-investigation-legal-police-kill-force-murder
http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/5017882-Use-of-force-Defining-objectively-reasonable-force/
Leonard O. Benton is retired from active duty military service with 24 years and two combat deployments to Iraq. He left the Regular Army after 10 years and became a National Guard Recruiter for his first tour in the AGR program followed by over 10 years in Operations as Force Protection, CBRN and three years as C-IED. He has an Associates degree and is currently working on his Bachelor’s. He is an amateur metal smith and when he is not working or writing he can often be found in his shop pounding away in the attempt to transform a lump of metal into an icon of beauty or function. His years of operational planning, threat analysis, and a deeply cynical view of our imperfect world leads him to focus on world events and cultural beliefs that tend to cause the most friction and chaos in the world around us. He is a libertarian and he believes in personal freedoms and accountability. The Havok Journal gave him an outlet to express the things he sees wrong in the world and the opportunity to once again provide advice on how to fix it. Leonard can be contacted a leftoftheboom@yahoo.com.
