I have no idea whether the police shooting of Brown was justified. And I doubt anyone else does, either—except the officer in question. If the police officer in question had been wearing a video camera—I’ve also frequently endorsed putting cameras on all officers active with the public—we would almost certainly have good evidence one way or the other. But the limited evidence I’ve seen could support very different interpretations of what happened. Nixon’s observation that the officer shot Brown “in broad daylight” is ridiculous; daylight doesn’t make someone less aggressive—if Brown was indeed acting aggressively.
We already know that the officer in question shot Brown in the front, not the back—as was frequently claimed at the outset. We also know that Brown had almost certainly just finished robbing a local store and assaulting its employee—something that demonstrates that Brown was a violent man at least sometimes. Was he charging the officer at the time of the shooting or trying to surrender? I don’t know, and anyone who claims to know I regard with suspicion.
The presumption of innocence means the officer is presumed not to have acted criminally, unless the evidence convincingly shows otherwise. The fact that a bunch of people are angry (and that some of those people are smashing and looting stores and assaulting the police) is not a reason to upend a cornerstone of American justice.
Did you say prosecution, governor, or persecution?
Related:
- Was Michael Brown High on Marijuana, and Did It Matter?
- Michael Brown Shot in the Front, Not the Back
- Does Eye Witness Suggest Michael Brown Charged Police?
- Ferguson Rioters “Wanted to Injure Police”
- Accusations Fly about 2009 Ferguson Police Abuse
- Require Police to Wear Cameras
- Is Michael Brown a Robbery Suspect?
- Ferguson Unrest Raises Concerns about Militarized Police
- Two Conflicting Accounts of the Ferguson, Missouri Shooting