By James Wilson
The Justice Department issues its long awaited report – and the New York Times reports it – in the death of Michael Brown at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson. Even Eric Holder’s biased Justice Department reaches the resounding conclusion that Wilson acted with admirable restraint, in self-defense, to defend his life against a murderous onslaught. Let us now count the cost.
Tens of thousands of Americans – of all colors and tribes – rushed to judgment in the wake of last summer’s shootin; the fruit is not pretty. Riots rocked multiple cities. Many businesses were looted and burned. The victims were people of all colors and tribes; rioters demanded payback from anyone caught in their path. Many were injured and at least one killed after four Denver police officers were mowed down while protecting a thousand teens who cut school to march in protest. It became a cultural norm for people to raise their hands and chant, “Hands up; don’t shoot.” The Brown family is still pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of their “innocent” son. Darren Wilson will never again work as a police officer; he is challenged to find a safe place for himself and his family.
Reality is Brown was anything but innocent. Witnesses who testified to Brown’s innocence were not credible, the report states, “Some of those accounts are inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence; some of those accounts are materially inconsistent with that (sic) witnesses’ own prior statements with no explanation.” In other words some witnesses were either dishonest or confused.
Brown’s family is anything but innocent –they incited the rioting then and today with statements like, “Burn this bitch down.” Such rhetoric is not protected speech; it is criminal conduct. The speakers – including Al Sharpton – should be prosecuted. Our collective horror should be overwhelming when we realize how mob rule extended from the streets to the White House; Eric Holder and President Obama gave sympathy to the rioters and other criminal elements just as they did in the Trayvon Martin case. People believed what they wanted to believe; they said and did what they wanted to say and do, based on the lie they believed. Many of us paid dearly.
Perhaps our nation of laws-not-men paid the highest price. In all the rhetoric flowing like molten lava between left and right I have heard precious few words of sympathy for the innocent police, business persons, and citizens-on-the-sidewalk who lost so much because so many cared so little for truth. Now two Ferguson police officers have been gunned down in new protests…of what? Nothing but the truth they do not want to hear.
Now wait a minute – say some. The Justice Department found a pattern of racism in the Ferguson Police Department even while admitting Darren Wilson acted no part in it. What was that pattern?
Investigators found city officials had sent what they called racist e-mails on their government accounts; the New York Times describes two. One depicted the president as a chimpanzee; another included a photo of topless black women captioned, “Michelle Obama’s high school reunion.” These may indeed be racially motivated; they may express only the authors’ contempt for those who treat them contemptuously. What is not demonstrated in the Times’ piece is any link between attitude and behavior by city officials. Should they be disciplined – perhaps fired – for misusing their government e-mail accounts? Absolutely. But if this is the best evidence of pervasive racism in a traumatized police department it is pathetic. This published paraphrase is better evidence of government determination to justify mobs and condemn cops.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles easily reaches that conclusion. In weeks of note-taking Justice made no effort to verify reports, gave accused officers no chance to speak, and reported incidents in neighboring cities according to Knowles. They included as racially motivated the black student arrest at school for assaulting his black (and pregnant) principal on campus.
The Old Testament prophets knew what they were saying when they said, “Touch not my anointed,” except on the (truthful) testimony of eyewitnesses. They knew even better when they condemned false testimony across the board. And Jesus knew it best when He said, “Let he who is without sin amongst you cast the first stone,” followed by “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
God’s call for repentance is equal opportunity; no one is sin-free. Repentance in context includes telling the truth, facing the truth without changing the subject, and acting on truth instead of pandering to mob rage based on untruth. A good way to evaluate leadership is to administer this three-point test.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships and The Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
