I will attempt to keep this post brief and concise as possible. Following months of overt race baiting by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and other detritivores, the pre-planned riots in Missouri left 12 commercial buildings burned, several dead, and hundreds arrested. All this mayhem because a white policeman shot a black man who had robbed a convenience store of one box of cigarillos. Don't forget this suspect was engaging the officer physically and had been violently grabbing for the officer's gun prior to being shot to death. According to Grand Jury eye witness testimony, the suspect DID NOT have his hands up nor shout "Don't shoot!", however the court of public opinion has been tainted with this oft repeated lie.
As one layman interpreting the facts, Officer Darren Wilson was merely protecting his life when he fired into an attacking 292 pound Michael Brown. The Grand Jury was correct to not indict. But what about the "18 year old kid" not having a weapon? In self defense trials there is an issue of disparity of force. Disparity of force could be a man vs. woman, multiple attackers against one, or having complete freedom of movement and leverage against one who does not (on the ground or confined in vehicle). Officer Wilson most certainly lacked the range of motion to defend himself as he was in the driver's seat of the police car. Similar situation to George Zimmerman being flat on his back as Trayvon Martin controlled the fight, pummeling his head repeatedly and knocking him against a concrete sidewalk.
While these two cases aren't exactly identical, there are some key parallels I'd like to illustrate. If the totality of circumstances leaves you, a weaker individual, with an 'unarmed' strong man lunging towards you with clenched fists, not responding to your shouted instruction of "STOP, I will shoot!" then most jurisdictions will find you acted in self defense. A reasonable person wouldn't violently rush up on an armed policeman or private citizen. If the larger 'unarmed' party closed in to grappling distance, nine times of ten the 'unarmed' strong man kills you with your gun. Keep that in mind next time someone breathlessly whines, "Oh, but he was unarmed!". As an aside, 21 feet is the furthest a knife wielding attacker needs to be to rush in with a fatal strike. That is why my pistol range sessions start at seven yards.
The saddest part of this story is the church attended by Michael Brown's parents was amongst the burned out edifices. Also a minority owned bakery that had given free meals to protesters got torched during the anarchic spree. Why burn down the neighborhood when things don't go your way? I'll never understand the need for looting, rock throwing, burning police cars and other riotous behavior. This is America; why does our society and law enforcement tolerate such foolishness? Pants up. Don't loot!
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