How do we heal after the Ferguson grand jury decision?

What kills me is they keep harping on the "they left his body laying for FOUR HOURS" to inflame the rhetoric. Well guess what? As soon as Brown was shot, that road became a crime scene and could not be disturbed until ALL evidence was recorded and the coroner releases the body. That sometimes can take 4 hours to do. What is even more disturbing is that these were LAWYERS saying this who know this...... <smh>

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca I disagree with your comment (but get where you were going). The ONLY person who can speak to Michael Brown's state of mind is deceased. What Officer Wilson can attest to is the actions of Michael Brown. And what everyone in the country needs to remember is this: Nowhere in America is it allowable for anyone to assault a police officer. ANY law enforcement officer is 100% allowed to defend themselves from violence, with force if necessary, and if necessary, deadly force.
This situation is terrible, and a great many are making it racial. If it were I, jumping into the car, and whipping that officer's ass, he would be justified in taking whatever actions were necessary to defend himself against my overwhelming assault.
Before anyone gets their panties in a wad, I am not taking a stance on right/wrong, I am simply stating that an assaulted officer can defend himself.
I am also stating that none of us will ever know what really happened, we were not there. I do however think that the real expert opinions are currently being posted on Facebook for everyone to see.

Very true CMSgt James Nolan I stand corrected. That's kind of where I was going and you restate it very nicely. Thanks!

I wonder what the community reaction to this would have been if the officer was wired up and the video and audio clearly showed Brown was the aggressor. I ask because the store video shows Brown assault a store clerk a few minutes prior so we already know he was a violent person or in a violent state at the time. Yet the media and the family don't pick up the story from the robbery, its from the point he is shot. I guess we're supposed to just overlook he assaulted someone.
One reporter on CNN said the officer should have allowed Brown to run away after he attacked the officer because he stole cigars and who cares about a few cigars. Again they choose to overlook he assaulted the store clerk and the officer for those cigars.

The family is trying to wash away the stain of the crime with misdirection,
The media is trying to inflate a story without any thought off the consequences,
and the story should be the officer lacked a non lethal alternative like a Taser to stop Michael Brown and had to go straight to his gun.

This isn't about race, this is about a lack of proper equipment,(camera & taser) and the need to better protect our officers.

Sgt Jay Jones You are showing your true self with the above writing. Simply want someone else to be hurt because they are white. Why didn't you mention Alan West, Alan Keyes, Ben Carson, Condoleezza Rice, Herman Cain and I could go on all day. They all espouse the same beliefs and ideals the big difference between those I just listed and the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson is that no one from the group I named have ever refereed to New York City as "Hymie Town" or called gays "Faggot Punk" on TV. There are no disgusting stories like the Tawana Brawley. Here is another great quote from your hero Al Sharpton "White folks was [sic] in caves while we were building empires…. We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and those Greek homos ever got around to it." That is just full of love for other peoples huh.

Don't hold back tell us how much you hate whites. Do you hate Americans Indians too? I half so you can hate me twice. lol.

Thanks for the down vote because you disagree with me. Should I do that to you for your blatant racism?

BTW I'm say what no one else has the balls to say to you.

Cpl Wagner, you assessment of me is far from accurate. I only mention the three individuals, because they are the most vocal and have the largest audiences. I know there are African Americans as those you mentioned who do not support President Obama. I also know Al Sharpton is ABSOLUTELY NO HERO OF MINE!!! I think he is a jerk just like I think the three individuals I mentioned in my previous post are jerks as well. I deplore anyone who preaches or teaches hatred. They truly violate my Christian beliefs. I am a Conservative Democrat. I believe in that marriage should be between a man and a woman. However, I can not tell two grown adults how to live their lives. That is up to God to judge them, not me. I don't believe in abortions. It has nothing to do with a woman's right to chose, but instead it is for the protection of human life which I believe occurs at the moment of conception. I believe the best welfare system is a job were a man or woman could be paid enough to support their family and not in poverty. I believe in the free enterprise system with just enough government oversight to prevent unbridled greed. You would think with my base core family values I would make a good Republican. However the issue I have with the Republican party is I don't see compassion for those less fortunate. I also see racism, now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every Republican is a racists, but some of the more overt racism I have witness or experience in my lifetime was generated by individuals who carried the Republican label. Now, for the Democrats, I do not support any kind of lifestyle. I believe in marriage between a man and woman. I do not support their position that government giveaways is the best way to fight poverty. All this does is encourage individuals to stay in their position where they can continue to receive government assistance. I believe if you do the crime, than you do the time. I definitely do not support the privatization of our prisons. Then it becomes a business whose primary concern is to ensure they have customers. Their customers are prisoners. So, people are given prison sentences to ensure the prisons stay full without any attempt to rehabilitate them. The only thing I can say about the Democratic party is they demonstrate more compassion for the less fortunate. I use to say that the Democrats need "common sense" and the Republicans needed a "heart"! I was sitting in Mass (yes, I'm Catholic), and I was listening to the priest bring his homily and hit me like a ton of bricks. The Democrats need the "Ten Commandments" (the Thou Shalt Not's) and the Republican need the Beatitudes (the Blessed are's). So, when you accuse me of being anything other than a God fearing man who loves his country and his fellow man, you completely miss the boat on assessing my value as a man.

Sgt Jay Jones you are quite correct that there are people on the other side of the issue who are fanning the flames on the issues that involve is situation and others. The sad thing of it is, that Mr. Beck, Mr. Hannity, and Mr. Limbaugh aren't the ones people are quoting and miss quoting all over the internet and various Social Media sites. Yes, the only way to heal from this is for the media to stop giving it all the attention that it has. As the back forth debating has shown, that everyone bias has close their mind to one man guilt. When people are suppose to be innocent until proven guilty. We need to quit the Monday Morning Quarterbacking, and people need to show more respect to Police Officers. They are only human too, and they are making live and death decisions, that include their own survival at times. If we can't understand that basic fear, overrides best training, even those in the military, then we haven't learned anything in the last several 1000 years.

No there not a lot of things that I would agree with that happen. Yet, even if Police force in community is being bit strict in community. It still doesn't justify a segment of the community to go out to riot and loot through out the community. Who businesses are they burning down and destroying. I bet many of them, are minority own, and struggling to stay afloat too. If they and when they are rebuilt, the same community will have outcry, due to the rise in pricing. What about all the people out of work now, due to the business destroyed too. It goes lot deeper, and the insurance payments in the area will raise too. All because one group of people felt justified to get their point across, because they didn't see no other options, after being led to believe it was the right thing to do.

Cpl. Wagner, after reading your post concerning the effects of a "Down" vote I attempted to remove it. I'm new here and I'm just figuring out all of the nuisances. So for the down vote I do apologize. I don't want anyone to lose points because I may not agree with everything they post.

The whole thing is sad but it got worse and the chance of good and positive change coming from this gets slimmer as we attack each other. Mayors from states away demanding that we not accept this decision and then wonder why there are riots. There are peaceful methods as the sixities proved, and I did not see violence for the woman's right to vote or homosexuals to marry or serve openly in the military. Yet these all happened. We are taking steps backwards in society.

Great response!

One more question to add: How many of the rioters were outside agitators who wanted to smash & burn as opposed to locals? At least 2 people arrested were from the Oklahoma City area.

Not a scientific measurement, but multiply that times all the metro areas in the USA & that may be a clue as the number of agitators who traveled to Ferguson to stir up violence & burn local stores. Think about this.

Afterward the outside agitators go home all happy & ‘full of themselves’ that they really created a big event. To what end?

The reality is that the locals now must drive 40 miles to get a pizza or a part for their car because local businesses have been destroyed – but nothing has changed.

Except you there are no local stores or services.

Good job guys – you served the community well.

What exactly is "shoot to stop"??????????? Seriously??? You go for center mast, and keep shooting until the threat has been neutralized!

PO1 Tracy Dreyer,
If you have ever taken a concealed carry course or been around law enforcement the term used is shoot to stop. You can thank lawyers for that, the kind that will sue you for everything that you own if you found in a court of law to have responded with excessive force. If you keep shooting a man after he is down you can be charged with murder. If you happen to be in Texas the odds are in your favor, if you are in California in a liberal area you are likely going to prison for murder. If you use deadly as a member of the public to defend your self or your family there is a good chance that you will be arrested until the police can conduct an investigation. If you are a police officer there will be an investigation as well. If you are found to be justified in the use of deadly force there is a chance that you will have idiots surrounding you home pretesting and yelling at all hours of the night; nevertheless, I would choose to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

I do not make up the laws but we have to obey them, lest we be the same as the violent thugs in the streets. If you are in the Uniform of the United States Military that is another mater, shoot to kill and drive on.