We who live in Maine should watch out. We too could be shot and killed by police, even if we’re unarmed.
Michael Brown was unarmed when killed by Darren Wilson, a Ferguson, Mo., police officer. And Wilson is not going to be prosecuted — not for murder, not even for involuntary manslaughter. That’s because, in Missouri and maybe in Maine, a police officer is not held responsible for killing another person if the officer “reasonably believed that he (sic) or others were in serious danger.” That’s according to the report of the grand jury that declined to prosecute Wilson.
So, if we give a police officer a menacing look, we might get shot.
If I get into a verbal exchange with an officer, and that officer believes he or she is “in serious danger,” the officer might be able to shoot or kill me with no punishment.
It’s no wonder African-Americans, in Missouri and around the country, are legitimately angry about the decision not to prosecute Wilson. They, especially, will continue to be victims of police shootings and killings, because of the racism that has poisoned our country for 400 years.
It’s time to protest the special treatment that gives police officers the legal right to kill and the racism that causes so many African-Americans to be victims of police shootings.
Larry Dansinger
Monroe
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