On Police Brutality

On August 9, 2014, an unarmed man was shot six times in the town of Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting gained national attention when reporters started covering the ensuing riots that rocked the suburb. Police officers threw tear gas and smoke and fired rubber bullets into the crowd. To this day, people are still protesting the shooting in Ferguson, calling it racist and unjust.And I do agree, police abuse is a major problem in the United States, especially when it involves race. The prevailing notion for a police officer is to shoot first, ask questions later. This has lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent people, especially minorities such as blacks. Even when a shooting is not involved, police seem to be becoming increasingly happy to violate the rights of the citizens they have sworn to protect. They have tried to silence the freedom of speech and protest (such as the Ferguson police department’s "five second rule," which forced protesters to not stay in one place for more than five seconds) and have partaken in unwarranted search and seizure (such as a recent case where a seven-year-old girl was shot during a raid on the neighboring house). This kind of abuse is unacceptable, and needs to stop.However, when it comes to Michael Brown, ironically, the evidence does not point to police abuse. Besides the fact that he had recently robbed a convenience store (which, admittedly, the officer did not realize at the time he stopped Brown), the autopsy reveals that he was shot in the forehead, suggesting he was running at the officer when he was shot. The FBI investigation also revealed that there was blood found on the interior of the car, on the gun, and on the uniform of Darren Wilson (the officer who fired the shots).The evidence lines up with Wilson’s version of the events, which says that Brown assaulted him in his police car, then charged back at him after trying to run away. Police officers carry weapons so that they are able to defend themselves. In this case, it seems that the shooting was truly one of self-defense. And yet, the riots in Ferguson were mind-blowingly violent. While I condemn the abusive actions of the police in containing the riots, the riots themselves were illegal and unjustified acts of violence that should not have taken place.That being said, I do not support sitting by idly while innocent men and women are slaughtered by the people that are supposed to be protecting them. On the contrary, I believe that there should be more protest when it comes to police brutality. Something needs to be done, as this can not continue. But these protests need to be done with justice as the primary force behind them. We need to protest racial brutality cases without losing sight of justice and without destroying the property and threatening the safety of other innocent citizens. If we choose to ignore justice and react blindly, then we are just as bad as the abusers we are protesting.