The worst part of the Michael Brown police-involved shooting was the waiting:
Waiting for his dead body to be removed from the street.
Waiting for his devastated parents to express their anguish.
Waiting for the authorities to identify Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson as the man who killed the 18-year-old.
Waiting for the anger that sent protesters rampaging through the streets of the St. Louis suburb to subside.
Waiting for the prosecutors to convene a grand jury.
Waiting for that grand jury to make a decision about whether Wilson would be indicted on any charges connected with Brown’s death.
Monday night was no different.
After waiting all weekend for the authorities to reveal the grand jury decision, protesters and supporters of the Brown family had to wait until nightfall to hear that decision.
There would be no indictment of the white police officer for the death of the unarmed black youth.
“Physical evidence does not change because of public pressure,” said Robert McCulloch, St. Louis County prosecutor, as he read a detailed report outlining the evidence reviewed by the grand jury.
McCulloch acknowledged that the “decision will not be accepted by some.”
“All decisions must be based on the physical evidence. . . . Anything less is not justice,” he said.
Although there have been other questionable police-involved shootings across the country, the Brown shooting was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Some protesters burned businesses and clashed with police officers in the St. Louis suburb. Last month, anti-police groups converged on Ferguson for the “National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality.”
If you believed Wilson recklessly took the unarmed teen’s life, the grand jury’s decision not to indict him was devastating.
