Thoughts on Injustice

A friend of mine told me I have a voice now and that I should use it. He said I should write about the killing of black men in America by the police. I am a white British twenty year old man living in Switzerland, so my opinion on these issues is that of an outsider. However it just wouldn't be right if I didn't use this voice I now have to talk about something I have been sickened by. Three incidents in particular have caught my attention.

The first and most obvious is the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Lots of people have already voiced their opinions on this matter, it's been all over the news and the Ferguson protesters have been included on the shortlist for Time Magazine's Person of the Year. This incident really called attention to the institutional racism of the police in America. This was highlighted by a video of a policeman facing a crowd of protesters saying "Bring it, all you fucking animals." Matters were then made even worse when a grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson. Fuel is added to this fire when lawyers state they've never seen a prosecutor work so hard to exonerate a killer. Granted, the witness testimony is conflicting and there are many facts about the case that are still unclear. If only there was some kind of legal proceeding in which all the facts were gathered, cases were made on both sides and a verdict was reached (maybe call it a trial?). Some people like to point out that this is just one incident. Unfortunately, it isn't.

Eric Garner died in Staten Island, New York after a police officer named Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold for nineteen seconds. Once again a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer. What makes this case different to the Michael Brown shooting is that there are no conflicting eyewitness accounts. In fact there is a video of the incident. In the video Eric Garner can be heard saying "I can't breathe" eleven times. Even the coroner who examined Eric Garner's body ruled his death a homicide. It's simply insane just how no charges were brought against this officer. Some people point out that Eric Garner is doing something illegal. The heinous act of selling loose cigarettes being the illegal act. These same people will often neglect to mention that putting people in chokeholds is also illegal, even for police officers. I'll also point out that the man who filmed the incident was indicted by a grand jury on gun crimes, so it turns out grand juries do indict people from time to time.

The third incident that caught my attention was the shooting of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio. This incident sickens me the most for a simple reason. Eric Garner was 43 years old when he was killed. Michael Brown was 18 years old when he was shot. Tamir Rice was only 12 years old. He was playing with an airsoft gun when he was shot dead by Officer Timothy Loehmann. I say shot dead, when I should say that Tamir Rice was shot and left to die. I also feel compelled to point out that Officer Loehmann was previously a policeman in Independence, Ohio where he was deemed to be an emotionally unstable recruit and unfit for duty. Also it's worth noting that the person who called the police about Tamir Rice stated twice that the gun was probably fake.

Allow me to cast your minds back two years to the killing of Trayvon Martin. I never thought I'd say this, but at least George Zimmerman was put on trial. It looks like America is taking giant steps backwards. These three incidents all give the impression that the police in America value the lives of black Americans less than those of white Americans, because when was the last time anyone heard of a white American who was killed under any of these circumstances? The worst part is as a British guy in Switzerland, I know that those three cases are only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more cases I don't know about and that don't get the media attention. This sickens me, so I can't even begin to imagine how black Americans must feel living this.

Steven