If Michael Brown Robbed A Store, He Still Didn’t Deserve to Die

Mike Brown

 

Property is more important than People.

To believe Michael Brown’s killing was justified, you must believe the above statement. ?Earlier today, the Ferguson Chief of Police held a press conference where he revealed the name of the officer who killed Michael Brown, but also accused the victim of being in a “Strong Arm Robbery” earlier at a convenience store.

According to the report the police gave to the media, the incident occurred between 11:52 am their time, and 11:54 am. It says that Mr. Brown stole some mini cigars from a convenient store and is shown strong arming a worker. The video from the store has been released.

Many people are upset that reports on the actual shooting were not released sooner as well as Michael Brown’s autopsy report. Regardless of the alleged robbery in question, Michael Brown did not deserve to die.

It is crucial that we focus on the events immediately preceding the shooting, during it, and afterwards. All eyewitness testimony supports the theory that Officer Darren Wilson approached Michael and his friend Dorian, and told them to get off of the street. There has never been any mention of Mr. Wilson approaching them under the pretense that they were a robbery suspect and accomplice. Also, the story remains that Mr. Brown had surrendered and had his hands up at the that he was shot multiple times. ?I cannot fathom why there is need to shoot an unarmed teen who is surrendering?

The ?ways in which the Ferguson police seemed to have acted in the days following Mr. Brown’s death, have been cause for concern as well. The police chief blatantly said that an ambulance was involved, but people at the seen have videos and pictures of Michael’s body being loaded into a black SUV. The way they left his lifeless body laying on the street for a minimum of four hours, seemed to many to show that the police could care less about him as a person; rather, they treated him like a possum that had just been hit by a car on a hot summer day. The lack of details revealed about his wounds is also troubling for may people in Ferguson and nationwide. While all of these circumstances are mysterious, the witnesses testimonies are key and help show why Mr. Wilson did the wrong thing. It seems to be a great thing that the FBI and Justice Department are investigating this case independently.?

Many still refuse to believe that race has played a part, but there are many situations where “suspects” have done a lot worse than Brown allegedly did, and were actually armed at the time, and have walked away unharmed. Let us not forget that?James Holmes,?who shot up a theater in Aurora, CO, killing 12 and injuring 70 others, was detained by police. He was not killed. He was a murderer. Allegedly he surrendered to police though, and he continues to live till this day in jail awaiting trial.Yet, a black teenager, Michael Brown, was unarmed and at the MOST, stole some cigars and shoved a store worker. He was never detained though from all witness accounts, but?instead, received up to 10 shots from an officer’s bullet. We in this country need to stop taking the killing of another human being so lightly. There are people that seem to think any and everything can be justified. You talked back to a policeman? You should be shot. You stole from a store? Shot. What happened to the notion that killing someone is a VERY big deal? Shooting to kill should be reserved for only the most extreme circumstances. There is no information, at least that we have at this time, that shows Michael Brown was a threat to Officer Wilson’s life at the time he was executed.

So while the story of the robbery that happened beforehand is a nice distraction for the police, and may actually prove to be relevant in some capacity for the overall investigation, I do not see how any of this can prove that his horrible killing in broad daylight was justified. The alleged price of the cigars stolen according to MSNBC, was $48 and change. $48. Is that worth a?life?

Read more here, and also see the surveillance video of the alleged robbery.

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I was born on January 13, 1990. I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. I moved up north and attended the University of CT from 2008 to 2012. I currently also work at a law firm in Uptown Charlotte and have been helping with this organization entitled the National Independent Voter Coalition. My interests include: Politics (obviously), Basketball (playing and watching) and watching almost any sport, movies, reading, the law, human rights, entertainment, mostly Angelina Jolie and Beyonce. I am fun, caring, passionate, intelligent, and unique!