The problem in Ferguson is s NOT officer Wilson or the grand jury. The problem in Ferguson is occupation.
Every occupying army goes through the same problems. British soldiers, Israeli soldiers, as well as America’s occupying armies have always had these problems. Soldiers or police officers given the job of controlling an oppressed population will always break the rules. Even if these soldiers are wonderful folks, they are not saints and the jobs they have to do require judgments few civilians can comprehend.
Remember My Lai? How many of us remember three U.S. soldiers who tried to halt the massacre and rescue the hiding civilians ? These guys were denounced as traitors by several U.S. Congressmen. It took thirty years before the patriots were recognized and decorated.
How many African-Americans remember that it was Colin Powell who had the PR job of covering up the My Lai massacre? General Powell was in the Army. His job was not the civil rights of Vietnamese villagers, his job was not protecting American soldiers, his job was carrying out the war the best way he could. Should General Powell have been tried instead of Lieutenant Calley ?
The court-martial in 1970 charged 14 officers, including the American commanding officer, Major General 
Samuel W. Koster. Most of the charges were later dropped. Brigade commander COL Henderson was the only high ranking commanding officer who stood trial on charges relating to the cover-up of the My Lai massacre; he was acquitted. Lt. Calley’s immediate commanding officer was also acquitted of all charges. Several months after his acquittal, however, Captain Medina admitted that he had suppressed evidence and had lied about the number of civilian deaths.[
So who was punished .. who became the scape goat? General Koster lost his position as the Superintendent of West Point. His deputy, Brigadier Young, received a letter of censure. General Powell was never tried since he was just taking 9rders from General Koster. The token victim of the trial was Lieutenant Calley. The Lieutenant was sentenced to life in prison on March 29, 1971 for premeditated murder of not fewer than twenty people.
Van Johnson and Don Lemon fight over who is at blame .. the community or the media.
The problem is Ferguson is not the cops, it is the occupation. As long as places like Ferguson, Boston’s Dorchester, LA’s Compton, or any other African-American community sees itself a separate from and occupied by the general society Mike Brown’s story will be repeated.
Putting cameras on the cops will not solve the problem. We already record the drone strikes our military makes on terrorists living in communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia. The cop on the beat does not have the security of an armchair pilot flying a drone over Pakistan.
Where else in America do we occupy our own people? My mind goes back to the Civil War. “We” occupied the South. Once again there were atrocities. The United States government has also, obviously, occupied Native Americans. Atrocities occurred there too.
I honestly do not see the alternative. The soldiers, police officers, and any others having this horrible job need to be able to make judgments beyond the comprehension of an American public raised on Dirty Harry movies.
from Mike James on Facebook
Two thoughts re: the Brown grand jury decision:
– there’s no way, given contradictory witness testimony, forensic evidence showing a struggle inside the officer’s car, that a grand jury would indict. The evidence wasn’t there, though I’d agree there’s an argument for introducing and testing that evidence at trial.
– as a small protest crowd outside our Seattle window marches up Seneca shouting “Hands up, don’t shoot!,” in Ferguson itself the night is full of the sadly familiar – police cars burned, family businesses torched, tear gas, rocks and bottles in the air, and looting – all the wrong messages again, and all of it counter to a plea from Michael Brown’s own family:
“We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.
Let’s not just make noise, let’s make a difference.”
“Let’s make a difference” is the message we need to hear – throwing rocks and torching family businesses, violence, can only drown it out.