Rioting and Looting is Not Justice

It was expected.  Preparations were being made for it, and after the grand jury decision to not indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson it happened – rioting, looting and mayhem.

Victor Maggio videoed some of what he called and “orgy of insanity.”

In the video above (HT to Jim Hoft) a lady in the background said the Papa John’s manager (starting at 1:10) was crazy for risking her life to defend her store and says NOTHING about how crazy it is for the person trying to destroy the window.

Even if the grand jury decision was unjust, and I don’t believe it was looking at the evidence, rioting and looting is not justice.

It’s thuggery, plain and simple, regardless of one’s race, ethnicity or socio-economic class.  This is an inappropriate response whether you are an angry black resident of Ferguson or a white drunk Iowa State University student rioting during the Veisha.

Exactly who are they trying to get back at?  Store owners in their own community?

David Harisanyi at The Federalist pointed out that for many on the left and in the media (redundant I know) this decision was going to scream racism.

For many in the media, the Ferguson grand jury’s decision was going to confirm the existence of deep American injustice one way or another. If it found there was insufficient evidence for an indictment against Darren Wilson, it would mean that the American justice system was corrupt, unjust, and rife with racism. If the grand jury decided to move forward with an indictment, it could only mean that American law enforcement was corrupt, unjust, and rife with racism.

Even if many of your grievances are legitimate, “justice” doesn’t exist to soothe your anger. In the end, there wasn’t probable cause to file charges against Wilson. And after all the intense coverage and build-up the predictable happened. Even taking a cursory look at the grand jury evidence, the details of Brown’s death were far more complex than what we heard when the incident first broke over the summer. Lawyers will, no doubt, analyze every morsel of evidence in the coming days. But if Wilson’s testimony is corroborated by forensic evidence, and much of it seems to be, it seems unlikely that any jury would be able to convict him.

Again, even if it didn’t, the response by some in the community is wildly inappropriate.  Here is an example of what their response should look like – peaceful.  We can respect a peaceful demonstration.  Those angry about this decision have a constitutional right to assemble and protest peacefully.  They don’t have a constitutional right to break windows and burn stores down.  I understand concerns that blacks have about incidents like these.  I do as well.  I was also concerned by the original police response to earlier protests, and I understand the police is not always right.  They should be held accountable when they cross the line.

What I don’t understand is Michael Brown’s step-father screaming “burn this bitch down” after the grand jury decision was announced.  If there was any moral high ground here it’s gone, gone, gone.

What a sad display of human depravity.