Ferguson: US erupts in anger over clean chit to cop
26 Nov 2014 12:20 AM GMT
Rioting and looting began in Ferguson, where racial tension has been boiling for days, even as the prosecutor Bob McCulloch was still reading the grand jury decision in an event that was telecast live across the country. Brown's family, friends, supporters, and civil liberties activists were listening to the broadcast the moment McCulloch announced the grand jury had decided 'no probable cause exists to file any charge against officer Wilson,' his mother Lesley McSpadden burst into tears and the gathering began raging in anger.
In a lengthy preamble evidently aimed at softening the blow, McCulloch said the jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 separate days and heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and other experts on blood, toxicology and firearms before arriving at their decision. He stressed that jurors were 'the only people who heard every witness ... and every piece of evidence,' and while blaming the media for the heightened attention to the proceedings, he maintained that the 'decision was made by physical evidence and not the public outcry.' Even in their grief, the Brown family soon issued a statement calling for peace and calm as angry young black men began rampaging through the streets.
'We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions. While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen,' they said.
They asked people to join them in their campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets of America wears a body camera so that their actions could be monitored. 'We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.' Indeed, demonstrators gathered in public squares coast to coast from California to NY in mostly peaceful protests while others vented on social media in one of the most racially charged nights in US history. Gun shots and tear gas exploded in Ferguson where law enforcement authorities were amassed in strength. Â Â Â
In a lengthy preamble evidently aimed at softening the blow, McCulloch said the jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 separate days and heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and other experts on blood, toxicology and firearms before arriving at their decision. He stressed that jurors were 'the only people who heard every witness ... and every piece of evidence,' and while blaming the media for the heightened attention to the proceedings, he maintained that the 'decision was made by physical evidence and not the public outcry.' Even in their grief, the Brown family soon issued a statement calling for peace and calm as angry young black men began rampaging through the streets.
'We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions. While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen,' they said.
They asked people to join them in their campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets of America wears a body camera so that their actions could be monitored. 'We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.' Indeed, demonstrators gathered in public squares coast to coast from California to NY in mostly peaceful protests while others vented on social media in one of the most racially charged nights in US history. Gun shots and tear gas exploded in Ferguson where law enforcement authorities were amassed in strength. Â Â Â
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