Editorial: The empire strikes back — against progressive prosecutors and cops
What do we actually know about the death of Michael Brown? What do we know about the shooting of his mother in Ferguson, Mo. and the subsequent shooting of his brother, Cameron?
We know that the police officers involved in that shooting had the option to pull their weapons or not. They chose not to. In Ferguson, the police were ordered to back off, but they refused. They were ordered to leave, but they blocked roads. They refused. The police said they would leave, but they did not. They fired again and struck young Michael Brown, who fell to the ground, bleeding, dying shortly thereafter as a result of his wounds.
Cops shot at Michael Brown’s family. They shot at his mom while it was still dark in their home. They shot at his brother, Cameron.
The police officers involved in that shooting had the option to pull their weapons or not. They chose not to.
There is nothing, nothing, we could possibly know about the death of Michael Brown that would lead us to believe that the police officers involved in the shooting were doing the right thing. In fact, to believe that, we would have to ignore years of police shootings of unarmed Black people in the years since the death of Brown, and ignore the countless, devastating, deaths of Black people at the hands of the police. We would have to ignore the history of police violence against Black people and the history of police racism and violence. We would have to ignore the growing epidemic of police killings, or any of numerous other issues the Black community faces every day. We would have to ignore the history of police brutality and the history of police violence against Black people.
Instead and in spite of all this reality, the police killed Michael Brown. And then they killed his mom. And then they killed his brother. And then they shot at other people and injured them. And then they shot Michael Brown again and again.
And this is the new normal in the United States.