New poster = outsider = not worth hearing, in many cases.
I wonât even side with @teapot on this topic, regarding Darren Wilsonâs disposition. Rather than say Darrin Wilson deserves death, I say that Mike Brown does not deserve to be dead.
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We shall have to agree to disagree. I think the perspective revealed by Twilight and Thot in their replies helps me know where they are coming from.
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I think that regardless of specifics, Wilson genuinely feared for his life. According to the law, that means he had legal justification for the shooting.
That said, somebody that afraid of an unarmed teenager should not have been entrusted with a badge and gun in the first place. The systemic problems run deeper than basic cause=>effect, and I see the shooting as more akin to criminal negligence than manslaughter.
Not that it makes any difference to the family. Dead is dead however it happens, but sometimes Itâs easier to cope with a solid cause to blame.
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So, the more fearful I am, the more justified I am in taking another persons life?
I think the law is in error here. Fear should not be justification for taking another life. That would make neurotics the most dangerous people on earth.
No, genuine fear doesnât mean he was justified. If a racist old lady is genuinely fearful of every black male who asks her a question in the street, she doesnât have legal justification for shooting them. Not only must the person have genuine subjective fear, but that fear must be objectively reasonable.
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Iâm not saying itâs right- Just that itâs what the law establishes as justification. Iâd also prefer a more objective standard.
And herein lies the issue -âTo bring federal civil rights charges, the Justice Department would have needed to prove that Officer Wilson had intended to violate Mr. Brownâs rights when he had opened fire and that he had done so willfully â meaning he knew that it was wrong to fire, but did so anyway.â Does anyone really believe that Darren Wilson did not believe that Michael Brown did not have âcivilâ rights, just like any other white guy? And of course, in the minds of far too many citizens and law enforcement personnel, all young black and brown men deserve to be exterminated, unlike young white males, because killing an unarmed young white males would be wrong. There is a sleight of hand, non-mystery in the foregoing quote, and as such is invalid!
Please donât: policemen could shoot us without repercussions.
My point is that the law does apply an âobjectively reasonable fearâ standard.
The question is essentially whether Wilson intended to violate Brownâs rights because he was black. Which is not to say that he didnât think Brown didnât have rights, but that he intended to selectively deprive him of his rights because he was black.
So you are advocating judging an individual officer, Darren Wilson, on the basis of some statistical or visceral impressions about police? If you can judge an an individual officer that way, can the police judge individual black youth that way?
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