by Tommy Lee Jenkins, III
A sad event transpired in Ferguson, Missouri. An 18-year-old black youth was gunned down in the streets like a rabid dog while minding his own business at the discretion of a White police officer. The police officer was able to level unfounded charges posthumously against the slain youth and avoided arrest and jail time for what essentially amounts to murder. The youth was not under arrest. He had not been read his rights. He had not undergone a trial by a judge or a jury of his peers. That Black youth's name was Michael Brown and Michael Brown is dead. He can no longer speak for himself. He will never be arrested. He will never be charged with anything. He will never have a day in court. The White police officer who murdered him, is free to roam the streets and kill again.
There is a sad event transpiring in Ferguson, Missouri. Tragic as the vicious slaying of Michael Brown may be, his death was merely the beginning in a cornucopia of missteps and mistakes that the Ferguson police are perpetrating.
1. Crowds are ordered to disperse even though it is every American's Constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
2. People are being arrested and detained without any formal charges and having done nothing in violation of the law. This is in violation of the Fourth Amendment as a citizen's actual person is being seized and placed into custody, unreasonably.
There are serious violations being committed in Ferguson, Missouri. When asked whether or not he was going to call in the National Guard to "handle" the crowds, Police Chief Thomas Jackson responded that he would not call in the National Guard and some speculate that it is due to the blatant Constitutional violations that have been committed in Ferguson, MO.
This issue is slowly becoming less and less about race and more and more about the rights we have as American citizens, the Constitution of the United States of America, and what, if any, powers the police have. The police have essentially overstepped their authority. Who do we, as American citizens, go to next?
A sad event transpired in Ferguson, Missouri. An 18-year-old black youth was gunned down in the streets like a rabid dog while minding his own business at the discretion of a White police officer. The police officer was able to level unfounded charges posthumously against the slain youth and avoided arrest and jail time for what essentially amounts to murder. The youth was not under arrest. He had not been read his rights. He had not undergone a trial by a judge or a jury of his peers. That Black youth's name was Michael Brown and Michael Brown is dead. He can no longer speak for himself. He will never be arrested. He will never be charged with anything. He will never have a day in court. The White police officer who murdered him, is free to roam the streets and kill again.
There is a sad event transpiring in Ferguson, Missouri. Tragic as the vicious slaying of Michael Brown may be, his death was merely the beginning in a cornucopia of missteps and mistakes that the Ferguson police are perpetrating.
1. Crowds are ordered to disperse even though it is every American's Constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
2. People are being arrested and detained without any formal charges and having done nothing in violation of the law. This is in violation of the Fourth Amendment as a citizen's actual person is being seized and placed into custody, unreasonably.
There are serious violations being committed in Ferguson, Missouri. When asked whether or not he was going to call in the National Guard to "handle" the crowds, Police Chief Thomas Jackson responded that he would not call in the National Guard and some speculate that it is due to the blatant Constitutional violations that have been committed in Ferguson, MO.
This issue is slowly becoming less and less about race and more and more about the rights we have as American citizens, the Constitution of the United States of America, and what, if any, powers the police have. The police have essentially overstepped their authority. Who do we, as American citizens, go to next?
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