Reverberations from the grand jury’s no indictment of Officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed an unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 9 echoed in hundreds of communities this week. For two days and nights, the outrage from the decision was witnessed from coast to coast, and in New York City Tuesday evening, thousands marched in Manhattan, blocking traffic on FDR Drive, in the Queens Midtown Tunnel, and on the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges.
Unsurprisingly, the verdict incensed a number of progressive members of the New York City Council, and several members of the Council BLAC (Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus) walked out of a scheduled meeting, expressing how disturbed they were about the decision. The decision particularly infuriated Councilwoman Inez Barron, who represents the 42nd District in Brooklyn and who was among those who walked out. “It is a reflection of the institutionalized system of racism that permeates the American political, social and economic systems,” she said. “It shows the deep intertwined symbiotic relationship between the police and the prosecution that denies Black people justice.”
Barron, in an email, stated that as Andy King, co-chair of BLAC, rose and began to read, “The grand jury process is broken, and it should be indicted,” said attorney Benjamin Crump, representing the family of Michael Brown during a press conference Tuesday afternoon from Ferguson, Mo. He took strong exception to the way Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor, handled the grand jury process and questioned his “symbiotic relationship to the local police.” As for the evidence the grand jury deliberated on in reaching its decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown, he termed it a “data dump… with no possibility of cross examination of Officer Brown, whose injuries were not consistent with the physical evidence.”
The press conference was hosted by the National Action Network, and its president, the Rev. Al Sharpton, also had some pointed comments about the grand jury’s decision. “I have never seen a prosecutor hold a press conference … to convict the victim,” he said. “He methodically discredited the deceased and the witnesses. That’s why we wanted the feds to step in and protect the rights of Michael Brown.”
“The decision may have broken our hearts, but not our backs,” Sharpton continued. “And Michael Brown’s legacy will be remembered for new legislation and a new level of police accountability.”
Interestingly, CNN cut away when Sharpton stepped to the podium to speak, and it was necessary to see his presentation on MSNBC, where his show, “PoliticsNation,” is aired. There was a brief altercation that MSNBC chose not to cover, involving a blogger with an agenda of questions for Sharpton on another matter. To witness the incident, it was necessary to switch to Al Jazeera America.
Upon his return to the podium after the blogger was removed, Sharpton explained the situation and repeated his announcement about a meeting in the near future with a number of civil rights organizations to map out a plan for further action on police and community relations.
“We may have lost a round, but the fight is not over,” he concluded.