HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT LIE WAS VALID ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT HAPPEN

HANDS UP, DON’T SHOOT LIE WAS VALID ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT HAPPEN

By Domenick J. Maglio, PhD. Traditional Realist

Attorney General Eric Holder spoke to an audience at the Ferguson Community College during the height of the Michael Brown riots. He told them he was stopped on the New Jersey turnpike and how he was humiliated and very angry. “I understand the mistrust. I am the Attorney General of the US and I am also a black man.” Through sharing this experience as a black man he seemed to empathize with the lawlessness of the riots.

On March 3^rd, the Department of Justice finally released a report unequivocally stating that there was no evidence that police officer, Darryl Wilson did anything illegal in his encounter with Michael Brown. The narrative of Mister Brown putting his hands up and being shot by the police officer was demonstrated to be false by a mountain of scientific evidence. “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” did not happen.

In the same statement announcing the results of his investigation Holder suggested the media and America recognized that “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” was a fraud. Neither the media nor the American people thought that this narrative was unreasonable. The majority of the media was painting a narrative that it was just another example of over zealous policemen committing a brutal act of killing an unarmed 18-year old “youngster.” The other part of the equation was Americans divided between the police officers are racist pigs and let’s not jump to conclusions before the evidence is in. There was and still is no consensus about the issue.

Holder continued in his statement, “It remains not only valid – but essential – to question how such a strong alternative version of events was able to take hold so swiftly, and be accepted so readily.” The answer to this question is this narrative was shoved down our throats. He must be living in an alternative universe not to know this propaganda would influence the perception and feelings of special interest groups.

The media, his progressive cohorts and Holder did everything to question the grand jury’s refusal to indict Officer Wilson. When the top law enforcer in the land does not clearly endorse the Grand Jury decision, it undermines the verdict. In the middle of the preliminary investigation the DOJ sent a formal delegation to Mr. Brown’s funeral. This gave the appearance that Mr. Brown was already considered a victim by the White House. 

Race baiter, Al Sharpton, said, “ no indictment was an absolute blow” and added, “the fight is not over.”  Governor Dixon of Missouri called Mr. Brown a victim before there was any evidence to support this. The St. Louis Rams football team came on the field with their hands up. The democrat Black Caucus representatives one after another raised their hands on the House floor while speaking of this incident. Basketball star, LeBron James wore a shirt saying, “Hands up, don’t shoot” which was spread throughout the media.  These statements fanned the flames of the riot.

Three days after the DOJ report was released stating that Officer Wilson was not guilty, President Obama made this statement on March 6^th, “We may never know what happened,” in Ferguson. This double talk raises doubt about the verdict that his DOJ concluded. We definitively know that Mr. Brown did not have his hands up when he was shot.

This swift shift from the facts found during the judicial process to feelings and perceptions of the unfair verdict is an attempt to justify the social chaos. The “hands up, don’t shoot” was a campaign to make the officer guilty before he had due process.  Normally the consequence of ginning up racial prejudice against law enforcement ignites violence.

The executive branch did not repudiate the prejudging of this officer. This was in violation of our sacred principle that a man is innocent until proven guilty. Neither did the administration challenge the narrative, “hands up” that spread through the country. The lack of leadership in supporting the legal process encouraged this phenomenon. It became a racial movement. The refuting of this rush to judgment could have been an important step to calm the riots and save the community.

These missed opportunities by the federal government to correct the record shows the power of the government and the state run media to influence the thinking of the American public. It is unconscionable for Eric Holder to question how such a strong version was able to take hold so swiftly and be accepted so readily. The Grand Jury’s decision should not have been questioned by the head of the DOJ but supported.

Eric Holder never did and probably never will apologize on behalf of the American people to Officer Wilson and the business community. These people’s livelihoods were destroyed while the police did nothing to stop it. There was no social justice for Officer Wilson, who had to leave the community to protect himself and his family nor the business people who have to start all over again.

This federal government’s disrespect for due process is dangerous. Intervening with its powerful influence on uninformed citizens is reckless and should frighten any freedom loving American. It is not “valid or essential” for the federal government to tip the scales of justice regarding the administration’s personal perceptions and feelings. Our nation is founded on the rule of law not on the whims of any ruling class elites.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.