Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds
Very cool, VEGANGELICA. I like how you addressed both sides of the issue--something a lot of people don't.  |
Thank you, Pet_Sounds, for giving your feedback!
I'm glad it seemed that I was trying to address both sides of the issue, because I was definitely trying to do that.
Before writing the lyrics, I read about the Justice Department's finding that the Ferguson Police Department was routinely violating the constitutional rights of its black citizens, so this helped produce pent-up anger and resentment toward the police:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us...-ferguson.html
I also read the police officer Darren Wilson's account of what happened when Michael Brown reached through his window and punched the officer several times, grabbing his gun, and refusing to back away when warned, such that Wilson pulled the trigger, with only one shot firing because the gun misfired several other times (apparently due to Michael Brown's hand being on top of it).
One can read what happened next...and several witnesses corroborate the account. I conclude that it is completely understandable that Wilson shot Brown several times and eventually fired a final, lethal shot after Brown charged him and did not stop.
The Ferguson Grand Jury released all its documents to the public, I suspect to try to help people understand better the reason they did not indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown:
Documents from the Ferguson grand jury
^ Reading the witness accounts is fascinating, because sometimes they differ wildly, probably because of witnesses' different vantage points and different preconceptions and interpretations of events. They were all brave to come forward and be witnesses, because some were being threatened by unknown members of the public.
Hopefully some good will come out of the whole mess: ideally, the police will stop arresting black people preferentially; members of the public will not accost police; police will carry more tasers and have video cameras to record arrests; and the public will wait to get all the information before jumping to conclusions and rioting.