THE FERGUSON DISASTER
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
November 30, 2014
NewsWithViews.com
It's not that there hasn't been enough written about the disaster in Ferguson but there has been little written about what is really happening. What took place was an example of what is wrong in America. Michael Brown was a youth that for some reason believed that he had the right to do whatever he wanted to do. He was a 18 year old that was 6-foot-3 and weighing in at almost 300 pounds. He used marijuana and had grown up in a tough neighborhood. Neither of those usually leads to much good.
Just before the incident with the police he was involved in a strong arm robbery stealing cigarillos from a convenience store. At 6-foot-3 and close to 300 pounds he simply pushed the store owner aside when he tried to stop him. It is highly unlikely that this was the first time Michael Brown had done something of this nature. As he left the store he was walking down the middle of the street that officer Darren Wilson was driving down responding to the call of the robbery. When Officer Wilson encountered Brown in the street it was his intention to draw him to the car and buy so time for backup to arrive which he had called for. In his testimony to the grand jury he stated: "I knew I had already called for backup and I knew they were already in the area for the stealing that was originally reported. So I thought if I can buy 30 seconds of time, that was my original goal when I tried to get him to come to the car. If I could buy 30 seconds of time, someone else will be here, we can make the arrest, nothing happens, we are all good. And it didn't happen that way."
This is a neighborhood that was known for its drug violence, gangs and gun violence. Wilson told the grand jury: "There's a lot of gangs that reside or associate with that area. There's a lot of violence in that area, there's a lot of gun activity, drug activity, it is just not a very well-liked community. That community doesn't like the police." From this we can see why Brown reacted as he did towards Officer Wilson.
This is where the line was drawn and Brown was the one that drew it. He punched Officer Wilson in the face twice. That alone is assaulting a police officer. If Brown had any common sense or dare I say, proper upbringing, he would not have done that. Now don't write me emails and blabber on about the environment he grew up in.
Quite frankly had his parents brought him up properly his 'environment' would not have played a role in this at all. I grew up in places that were not elite but my parents made sure that I knew right from wrong and I stayed away from the 'seedy' groups for the most part.
Wilson told the grand jury: "Brown punched him in the face when the officer drove back to him.
Wilson said he tried to get out of his cruiser but Brown slammed the door shut twice and hit him with his fist.
"I felt that another of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse ... I've already taken two to the face and I didn't think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right," Wilson said."
At this point you have to ask 'What was Brown doing that gives you the idea that he was going to cooperate with the police?' After the altercation with Officer Wilson in the car and Brown was shot in the hand Brown walked away but Officer Wilson called to him because he was going to arrest Brown. This is when thing went from bad to worse. As Officer Wilson told the grand Jury: "Wilson testified he shot at Brown on the street when Brown turned on him.
"As he is coming towards me, I tell, keep telling him to get on the ground, he doesn't. I shoot a series of shots. I don't know how many I shot, I just know I shot it," he said.
"I know I missed a couple, I don't know how many, but I know I hit him at least once because I saw his body kind of jerk," he said.
Wilson testified that Brown did not slow down.
"At this point I start backpedaling and again, I tell him get on the ground, get on the ground, he doesn't. I shoot another round of shots," he said.
"Again, I don't recall how many hit him every time. I know at least once because he flinched again. At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I'm shooting at him.
"And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn't even there, I wasn't even anything in his way."
He told the jurors he thought Brown was going to tackle him.
"Just coming straight at me like he was going to run right through me. And when he gets about that 8 to 10 feet away, I look down, I remember looking at my sites and firing, all I see is his head and that's what I shot.
"I don't know how many, I know at least once because I saw the last one go into him. And then when it went into him, the demeanor on his face went blank, the aggression was gone, it was gone, I mean, I knew he stopped, the threat was stopped.
"When he fell, he fell on his face."
Any police officer would have done the same thing and rightfully so. Brown was not cooperating, had acted violently and was in the process of beginning another attack on the officer. To add to the probable threat Brown stuck his hands under his shirt into his waistband when he began his run at the officer: "Brown put his hand under his shirt into his waistband when he ran at Wilson, Wilson told the grand jury.
"He turns, and when he looked at me, he made like a grunting, like aggravated sound and he starts, he turns and he's coming back towards me," Wilson said.
"His first step is coming towards me, he kind of does like a stutter step to start running. When he does that, his left hand goes in a fist and goes to his side, his right one goes under his shirt in his waistband and he starts running at me."
I am sorry but these are not the actions of a 'gentle giant'. These are actions of a seasoned criminal. Even the attorney for the family stated that "Brown may have made mistakes but did not deserve to die.
"He was just looking forward to getting on with his life," said his grandmother, Desuirea Harris. "He was on his way." Really? On his way? Robbing a convenience store? Beating up a police officer? It isn't anything that any sane person can accept. Don't get me wrong, I do feel for the parents, but these actions are not actions of a 'gentle giant'. There is more than one person to blame and from the officers testimony and eyewitnesses the officer did what he had to do.
The riots that followed showed us just how self-centered some people are. The guy that was robbed is now afraid for his life and numerous buildings and businesses were destroyed that had nothing to do with the shooting. Why these rioters feel that everybody else has to pay for something that even they didn't have any part of.
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Our society no longer expects personal responsibility from anybody. It seems that whatever is wrong it is somebody else's fault. Colleges in America today teach that all of the world's problems are the fault of America's capitalism. The insanity behind that is mind numbing. Where are the values that our Founders lived by? How did we lose them? Why do we think that we can have a great nation yet ignore the principles that made us great?
One of the biggest problems today is the massive welfare state we have. Food stamps, Aid to Dependent Children, and all the other entitlements that rewards fatherless homes. Morals are laughed at and even condemned. Promiscuity is encouraged. I read the other day that Planned Parenthood's programs in schools are designed to create 3-5 abortions per girl in the schools. If we continue on this path America won't last 10 years. When will we say enough is enough?
� 2014 Roger Anghis - All Rights Reserved
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Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.
President of The Damascus Project, TheDamascusProject.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching pastors and lay people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-37 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.
Web site: BuildingTheTruth.org
E-Mail: editor@restorefreespeech.org
