St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced Monday night that Ferguson (Mo.) Police Officer Darren Wilson has not been indicted in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
With that, the long and agonizing wait that began shortly after the clock struck noon on Aug. 9 ended.
That afternoon, the lives of Darren Wilson and Michael Brown were forever locked together in the struggle between race and class, between crime and punishment, between right and wrong.
On that summer afternoon, when Officer Wilson confronted Brown, who’d been accused of stealing a box of cigars from a local store, Wilson took on the role of judge, jury and executioner.
Just 61 seconds after he happened upon the young man, Brown’s bullet-riddled body lay dead in the street. It would remain there for four and a half hours.
There are those who say Brown earned his fate through his actions. They say he should never have stolen cigars, or walked in the street.
They say that Officer Wilson’s version of events — where Brown supposedly rushed at the officer and left him fearing for his life — justifies Wilson’s actions.
But there are also those who say otherwise.
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Photo: Solidarity with Mike Brown. Hands up don’t shoot. Protest against police brutality. August, 2014. Click here to see the original photo by Debra Sweet/ Flickr Creative Commons
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com. Click here to learn more about Solomon
