Andy Kimball
Opinion Columnist
If you have read any major news publication in the last month, then you have heard of the situation in Ferguson regarding the shooting of Mike Brown and the many protests around the country.
On Aug. 9, Brown was in some sort of altercation with Officer Darren Wilson and was shot and killed. Wilson who is currently hiding in private because he isn’t getting nearly as much support as Brown did over the situation and has essentially a target on his back from some protestors.
Wilson’s name as the shooter was released by the Ferguson Police Department at the same time a video of brown robbing a convenient store, and shoving a clerk out of the way.
Since the incident protests have occurred in Missouri and across the whole country, and protestors have meant well for the most part, but some looters who took advantage of the situation and constructed riots.
Protesters held signs saying, “No justice, no peace”, “Killer Cops Have to Go!” and Brown’s stepfather Louis Head held a sign that read “Ferguson Police just Executed my Unarmed Son.”
The details of the altercation are unknown however, and at this point, no one who has been protesting or investigating really knows what happened, and there are many different accounts from witnesses.
40 FBI officers are investigating possible civil rights violations, and hopefully at some point a conclusion will be reached for the case, and we will find out what happened.
Wilson, innocent or guilty, will have his life changed forever and will have a negative perception from many different people wherever he goes, and I think that that is unfair.
While the police’s severe mishandlings of the Ferguson protests haven’t helped Wilson’s image, he is still innocent until proven guilty, and more people should recognize that.
It is only human to jump to conclusions after a very controversial situation, and this situation definitely qualifies. It is especially hard in a situation that deals with the touchy subject of race.
In this case, I have trust in the government, and I won’t take sides until there is a resolution in the situation.
I think that the general public should wait for a resolution to the investigation and a trial, if needed, as well.
