Stay safe everyone / no Ferguson indictment

God bless twelve very brave members of the Grand Jury for speaking their truth and not buckling under to the screaming mobs.

We can only pray for peace now.



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I pray for safety. Very scary situation.

We do have rule of law in america. I just dont understand why they just cant accept the verdict and protest peacefully instead of engaging in more behavior which is going to lead to someone else getting hurt. Trying o overturn police cars shooting come on. This was another horrible case but the officer was found to be doing his job. The kid was doing things against the law, he needed punished. Its. Shame it came to this though. He certainly didnt deserve to die but you cant go charging a cop and not expect him to defend himself. Sad all over the place

I kind of had a feeling that that was the way it was going to go. He was breaking the law... did he deserve to die? No... of course not. But he wasn't innocent in what happened, either.

Protestors are already creating havoc in downtown Oakland which is about 15 miles from here. I hope things don't escalate more than it already has. In Oakland or anywhere else in the U.S. But it seems to be inevitable.

I certainly don't condone the violence in the aftermath.  I think it was Martin Luther King who said that riots are a way for the unheard to be heard.  Doesn't make it right, but like protesting, some people think it lets them be heard - it is a doable message for them to send when they feel they have no other recourse.  

I think there is much of this story untold.  Many never told.  I think the police force in Ferguson did not do themselves any favors early on in their treatment of the situation and their regard for the tragedy in the city especially to non-white people.  

I think the punishment (being shot with the point of being killed) was overkill (excuse the pun) based on what we have heard.  But as I said, much is unheard.  Much will be unknown with one of the victims being dead.  

It's a tough, tough call.  That town/area has a long healing process and a lot of fixing to do to gain their community again.

I don't know many details of this case - haven't been following. But from what I understand, the young man tried to wrestle the cop's gun away from him. That will get you killed every time. Granted, shooting him six times was excessive but you never know what you'll do in that kind of situation and what was actually going on at the time.

Right decision by the jury in my opinion. I feel badly for all those involved. Lives will never be the same.

Rioting because of this?

I agree with you Susan.  Of course no one ever deserves to die but this young man tried to get the cops weapon from him, punched the cop in the face twice in the effort.  Of course hes going to be shot  by that officer.  Twelve people heard the evidence.  Im sure all twelve of them were wishing they could make an indictment to calm the streets but it seems fairly obvious that this was not police brutality this time.  The media doesnt help any by repeating he was shot in the back when the coroners report states plainly all shots were forward.

And Basket,  I dont ever remember Dr. King promoting or excusing riots.  Protests yes but not riots.  I could be wrong.

There were peaceful organized protests last night and sadly criminal just love that.  Its a great cover and excuse for looting and destruction.

The people of Ferguson claim they are such a small town that everyone knows everyone and the protestors for the most part are coming in on organized buses from other places.  Its been suggested that Al Sharpton is organizing the protests.  The protestors asked that the verdict be read at night so that the people of the town could get home and safe first.  Personally, I think it was a big mistake to concede to this request.  Why allow the mob to form in the dark of night when the verdict could have been read in the middle of a working day in daylight?   Why?   Because its harder to get e really good mob together during working hours and you might get caught hauling off your new color tv.  

I hope the police officer has already left town because he has a target on him now.  What a shame this all is.  At least pick a real victim to police violence before you destroy a whole town.  There certainly are many of them.

I also wasnt happy with Obama's statement that feeling anger was understandable.  i like Obama but I felt that let his personal feelings of injustice show.  I think there is plenty of reason for Black people to feel unjustly hassled by police officers but this just wasnt the one to defend.  Although I understand what he was trying to convey, I felt his saying that was like a sramp of approval on an 'angry' mob.  It wasnt understandable in my opinion to feel angry that this particular man wasnt indicted.  He did nothing wrong.  Frustrated might have been a better choice of words.


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King wasn't advocating or promoting riots. It was a statement of what the "unheard" feel. That for them (and according to them) riots are a way for the "quiet" - some people who feel they have a way to be heard - to be heard. He was not saying it was ok, but that that is what rioters feel.

Twitter was a buzz last night with people of all colors, ages, gender, etc. not happy with no indictment. To say that Obama's anger being a "stamp of approval" on rioting is ridiculous. Lots of people are angry. But not rioting. Feeling that the officer did or did not do "anything" wrong is an opinion. Obama showed respect for both the officer and the family of the man killed. At the beginning of the speech, he read the statement from Michael Brown's father asking for no more violence -AT THE BEGINNING, pretty much right off the bat. Maybe he was angry at the decision, maybe he was angry at the late decision, maybe ALOT of things. He certainly wasn't going to come on the screen smiling! More blame game. It's what America likes to do.

(outta here!)

Thank you for explaining the King comment.  

I know you and I dont often agree on things of this nature but thats what makkes America, America.  We get to say what we think...but what makes friendships is accepting what the other thinks with respect and restraint.  Calling my statement and reaction to Obama's words ridiculous is a bit rough.

But ok, you feel differently.

Let me sum it up

The suspected perpetrator was not even arrested...only approached and asked to walk over to the police officers car.  When he got there he twice slammed the door when the officer tried to get out of the car, twice punched the officer in the face and wrestled with him to take his weapon.  When the officer got out of the car, he ran.  When told to stop, he turned and charged at the officer.  The officer fired away from his head and chest and actually wounded the guy and this only angered him and he kept coming. Again the officer shot to wound but no, he kept coming.  Only at this time did he finally aim for the mans head and stop him.

All the evidence points to this.  Forensic evidence, recoeded evidence of three vollies of gunfire, eyewitness testimony.  Other testimony from eyewitness' was disproven by evidence or voluntarily admitted they only heard what they reported.  

A Grand Jury who would have loved to indict this guy and go home safe...listened to seventy hours of testimony and found no evidence of police brutality.  Of course not...Michael was the aggressor the whole time and he wasnt even being arrested..simply questioned.  

Where is it understandable to be angry at their decision?    Angry?   Its our justice system in action.  Angry?   That suggests that they got it wrong and one more case of a black teen being killed for nothing.  Please explain to me why ' anger is understandable '.  Then please explain to me how this makes a guy with a bottle in his hand feel the president thinks he should put it down.  Anger, according to the President of the United States......is understandable.

Sorry I dont agree.   Its not understandable...theres nothing to be angry about.  Sad yes, confused, frustrated, etc.  But in my opinion, ridiculous as it might be, I found the sentence to be ill advised...even inflammatory.  It doesnt matter how many people are just plain old angry anyway..its not for the leader of the country to say...I get it..its understandable.  The leader of the country should be saying all the other good things he said but in my opinion....not that one.   I like Obama and support much of what he does.  The rest of the speech was heartfelt and appropriate but sorry...I think he was dead wrong to suggest that anger was the appropriate response to the findings of the Grand Jury.



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No matter what the grand jury decided, there was going to be mob violence last night. I knew that months ago.

Today I saw Brown's stepfather jumping up & down on a vehicle last night screaming, "let's burn this ****** down" over and over again.

I feel sorry for the elderly people who can't afford to move away from that area, and are probably terrified to even step outside their door.

I heard that more than a dozen businesses were completely destroyed by violence, looting, and setting the establishments on fire. That simply makes no sense whatsoever.

Chicago has a group of protesters doing a sit-in at City Hall downtown over the Ferguson grand jury results. What does Chicago have to do with what happened in Ferguson?

I'm not as understanding or compassionate about all these clowns who want to destroy, harm, kill, loot, burn down buildings and set cars on fire. But, I knew it was going to happen. Now I wonder how long will this go on because this certainly wasn't a one-night demonstration of being upset.

I could say a lot more.........but I won't.

Joe....way down here in Atlanta, there were demonstrations, and business windows broken, etc. . And tho we are far away from Ferguson, I knew it would happen here also. Seems like these things are a ready made excuse, for violence, with no thought at all, of the businesses and/or home, of people who had nothing to do with the decision. We all knew this would happen.

Gamma, I watch CNN ever night to catch up on what's going on and they've been showing the demonstrations in every large city, including Atlanta.

Last night I watched as several people tried to rip down a cyclone fence so that they all could get on the interstate in Los Angeles. How very dangerous and stupid.

There have been demonstrations here in Chicago as well, but the group that's been marching around is small and seems to be comprised mostly of white people.

I was out running some errands today and it just seemed to me that everything was fine. I must admit I get very scared with all this racial crap.

The press sensationalized and analyzed it to death. That only keeps things stirred up. There have been a lot of verdicts that I disagreed with in the past, but I didn't riot over it. I think if people want to riot they should do it for worthy causes like when congress votes themselves pay raises, votes not to have to have Obamacare for their health insurance, and votes to give businesses huge tax breaks if they send their manufacturing overseas. These are reasons to riot in my estimation. LOL

The media certainly does keep fanning the flames....no doubt about that. Some commentators and celebrities do too. I was repulsed by Nancy Grance the other night with how she kept showing the photo of Officer Wilson and saying his injuries didn't look too bad. Keep those opinions to yourself because you weren't there and you weren't attacked! It's so annoying.

I also read that Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell were making inflamed comments Tuesday on The View. I hate when people keep it going and going and going.