Some Facts About The Eric Garner Case

Politicians, TV pundits and many black Americans are talking about the Eric Garner incident in New York and complaining about the "racist cops" who "killed Eric Garner" over some loose cigarettes. But are they correct about what happened?

Store owners (mostly minorities according to reports) contacted the police about Garner selling loose cigarettes outside their stores and preventing customers from entering. It was not the first time Garner had been accused of that very thing. At the time of the incident Garner was on bail for illegally selling cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession and false impersonation.

Police responded to the scene and attempted to place Garner under arrest. Some say he should not have been arrested for such a minor crime but again, he was on bail for the same thing, having been arrested only a short time before for the same crime. How many people get out of jail and get caught committing the same crime without getting arrested again? The police had no choice in this case.

Garner refused to be arrested. He pulled away every time police attempted to gain control of his hands. It was a stupid mistake on his part. Regardless of your guilt or innocence, in this country if a police officer says you're under arrest you do not have a choice in the matter. One way or another you're going go jail. Unfortunately for Eric Garner, he chose the wrong way.

Eric Garner was six feet four inches tall and weighed 350 pounds. If you've never had the experience of using force on someone that big (as I have) you have no idea what it's like, nor do you have any idea what is involved. The officer who put his arm around Garner's neck did the best thing he could do. He got Garner from behind, got him off balance and made it easier to get him on the ground. He did not use a "chokehold" as the media and others like to say. During the struggle, Garner said "I can't breathe" 11 times. You cannot speak if someone has you in a true chokehold. A chokehold cuts off respiration as well as cutting circulation through the carotid arteries and renders the person unconscious within about 20 seconds. Garner was alive and breathing when he was placed in the ambulance.

Another fact that the media likes to leave out is that Eric Garner suffered a fatal heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He suffered from a number of health problems including heart disease, severe asthma, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea - all of which contributed to his death. The coroner said that neck compression and chest compression (while on the ground) also contributed to his death. It was a combination of things that ultimately led to his cardiac arrest. But since he was alive when he was placed in the ambulance the police didn't kill him.

An African-American police sergeant was on the scene at the time of the attempted arrest and was in charge of the entire thing. She is visible in the video. Not once did she intervene or tell the officers they were doing anything wrong. She observed the hold that Officer Pantaleo had on Garner and did not do or say anything to correct him.

For the officer to have been charged with murder there had to have been intent. There is no evidence that the officer intended to do anything other than take Eric Garner into custody. Just like Darren Wilson didn't set out to kill Michael Brown, Officer Daniel Pantaleo didn't set out to cause the death of Eric Garner. There was no murder. And since "chokeholds" are against police department policy but not illegal in the state of New York, Pantaleo's actions did not violate the law. That's important.

The president of the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, said: "It was clear that the officer's intention was to do nothing more than take Mr. Garner into custody as instructed, and that he used the takedown technique that he learned in the academy when Mr. Garner refused."

Eric Garner's death was a tragedy. But contrary to what is being said by many, Garner's death was not caused by illegal acts nor was it caused by racism. Even Garner's daughter told a reporter that her father's death was not caused by racism. Yet President Obama, Eric Holder, Bill De Blasio and many others continue to say it was.

Norm Pattis, a respected Connecticut civil rights attorney and author of two books, “Taking Back the Courts” and “Juries and Justice," said it best. "The death of Eric Garner is not an example of racial injustice. It’s a tragic consequence of a man who refused to take his grievance to a courtroom where it could be sorted out without violence. He paid for that mistake with his life. That does not make him a martyr."

"How Do You Spell Racism? NYPD!!"

That's what people were saying last night during the protests in New York City. Thanks to Mayor Bill De Blasio, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder and even President Obama, the uninformed public in New York and other cities believe that Eric Garner was killed by racist cops.

It's so easy for some people to believe a lie rather than the truth. It happened in Ferguson, Missouri - to the point of violence and destruction. People chose to believe the main stream media, Sharpton, Holder and Obama rather than the truth and the result was complete chaos. Not that those people caused the protesters to riot, loot and burn - but they didn't discourage it in a meaningful way. In fact, their comments about the incident only fueled the rage and violence. If they had not turned the Michael Brown shooting into a racial incident (for which there is absolutely no evidence to support that view) the violence would have been far less. Many of the protesters are decrying the racism they believe caused the incidents in Ferguson and Staten Island - but neither incident shows the slightest inkling that race was the cause. That has been manufactured by those named above.

Let's take a look at some inconvenient facts.

Fact number 1: Eric Garner was not "killed by racist cops." Eric Garner had been arrested more than once for selling cigarettes on the street. He was out of jail on bail after being arrested for that very crime. (The strict cigarette laws were put in place by Mayor De Blasio.) A local store owner notified police that Garner was in front of his store selling cigarettes again. Police approached Garner and he got belligerent. He refused to be arrested. Each time the police attempted to secure his hands he pulled away. Officer Pantaleo grabbed Garner (who was about 6'4" and weighed about 350 pounds) around the neck and he and other officers took him down. Besides his size, Garner had numerous medical problems including heart disease and high blood pressure.

A video posted by MSNBC indicates that Garner was breathing when paramedics arrived. A paramedic checked his pulse and the officers put Garner on a gurney. There was no indication from the paramedic that Garner was dead at that time and the people reporting on it, although their comments are derogatory of the police and EMS, say that Garner was alive and had a heart attack on the way to the hospital. So much for him being killed by racist cops.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/the-eric-garner-tape-you-might-not-have-seen-367458371838

Fact number 2: While protesters in the streets of New York chant about the racist NYPD, they are completely misguided. In 2012, the New York Police Department was comprised of 41% white officers, with black Americans accounting for 28%, Hispanics comprising 24%, and Asians 6%.  (Blacks currently make up about 26% of the population of the city, Hispanics about 28% and Asians 12%.) In that same year in June, 51% of the 607 graduates from the police academy were minorities.

No police department is going to exactly match their city's demographics as far as staffing goes. The truth is that New York City has one of the most diverse police forces in the nation. The people who are calling the NYPD racist are completely uninformed. But that's nothing new in the mob mentality. The people protesting the shooting of Michael Brown completely ignore the facts of the case, from their rants about blacks being hunted down by police to their ridiculous chant of "Hands up - don't shoot." If Michael Brown had put his hands up and surrendered he'd be alive today. The same goes for Eric Garner. He did not wan to go back to jail so he refused to be arrested. His choice led to his death.

Some people in this country have become so blinded by the idea that racism prevails over everything, driven by lying politicians and the main stream media, that they simply ignore the truth. This point is made obvious by the people protesting the Michael Brown shooting and the Eric Garner incident, as well as the shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland last week. Rice was brandishing a toy gun that looked like an authentic 9mm pistol and he attempted to pull it out when confronted by the police officer. Although some media outlets ignore those facts, the officer had no reason to believe the gun wasn't real and he shot Rice, who later died.

I feel sorry for Tamir Rice and for his family. His death was a terrible tragedy - but it was brought on by his actions. People in the park where he was called the police and reported a person with a gun. Apparently they told the dispatcher that the gun might be a toy but that information was not relayed to the police officer.

It's facts like these that are ignored both by the main stream media and by people whose agenda demands that they ignore the truth. The headline on the liberal media outlet was "12 Year Old Black Boy With Toy Gun Shot By White Cop." Some of them never mentioned the fact that the gun looked authentic and that the orange barrel extension (that denotes it to be a toy) had been removed so there was no way to tell it wasn't real. And they made sure they put the skin colors of both people in the headline because racism sells air time and newspapers.

There is plenty of money and power to be gained by pushing a racist agenda. Just ask Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. They've made good livings doing just that.

Liberal Politicians Ignore Facts - Throw Police Under The Bus

Yesterday afternoon I listened to New York Mayor Bill De Blasio's public comments following the decision of the Staten Island grand jury not to indict the "chokehold" officer in the case of Eric Garner's death. Without making a direct statement, Mayor De Blasio said that the cause of Eric Garner's death was racist police officers.

The medical examiner in the case said the official cause of death was "neck compression from the chokehold, along with “the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police”. Contributing factors included bronchial asthma, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertensive cardiovascular disease." He ruled the death a homicide.

There are varying definitions of homicide. If you Google the word you will get the definition of "the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; murder." Merriam Webster defines homicide as "a killing of one human being by another." The legal definition of the word seems to agree with the Merriam Webster definition. Cornell University's legal department defines it as "...when one human being causes the death of another. Not all homicide is murder, as some killings are manslaughter, and some are lawful, such as when justified by an affirmative defense, like insanity or self-defense."

I have to say I personally would hesitate to call insanity "an affirmative defense."

So even if the coroner's conclusion was correct legally, was the cause of death of Eric Garner murder? The grand jury didn't think so. I've seen the video. At some point during his struggle with police Mr. Garner began saying "I can't breathe. I can't breathe." He said it eleven times. I spent 22 years working in federal prisons and participated in countless use of force situations. Over the years I heard several inmates make that same statement when a use of force team was holding them down on the floor during a struggle in which the inmate resisted being restrained. One thing I learned during those incidents is that when a man says he can't breathe - he's breathing. If you can't breathe you can't talk.

The media is throwing around the word "chokehold." A chokehold, if executed properly, compresses not only the trachea but the carotid arteries, causing unconsciousness within about 15 - 20 seconds. That did not happen to Mr. Garner. The officer who put his arm around Garner's neck to bring him down did so for 20 - 30 seconds, until Garner was prone on the ground, then released his neck hold and held Garner's head on the ground - a technique that greatly reduces a suspects ability to resist. Other officers were on top of Garner attempting to apply handcuffs when Garner stopped breathing. The point is that Garner was still breathing when the officer released his hold on Garner's neck.

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio made a statement yesterday afternoon concerning the verdict and basically through police nationwide under the bus. His remarks, without coming right out and stating it plainly, indicated that he believes police are systematically killing black Americans just because they are black. He talked about the centuries old problem the US has with racism - as if there is some evidence that Eric Garner was attacked by police because he was black. He mentioned 12 year old Tamir Rice, the boy killed by police in Cleveland, as have other liberal idiots, but he and the others always fail to mention that the kid was in possession of a very realistic pellet gun that looked exactly like a real 9mm pistol.

It seems liberal politicians nationwide have simply written off law enforcement officers as racist murderers of black people. Even though the evidence in the Michael Brown case, the Rice case and the Garner case showed the police did nothing wrong or illegal, these politicians are condemning the police for their actions, some calling for prosecution of police before any facts are known just because the dead suspect is black. Some even going as far as raising their hands on the floor of the House of Representatives the other day. It's quite shameful.

President Obama has promised to focus on the problem of "racist cops" following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson case. He has yet to say once that Michael Brown had any responsibility whatsoever in the incident that cost him his life.  And of course, Eric Holder has vowed not only to try to bring civil rights charges against Darren Wilson in Missouri and Daniel Pantaleo in New York. Holder, against all of the evidence, has decided these two police officers violated the civil rights of the suspects even though they have been cleared of wrongdoing by the grand jury. Not to worry though - he promised the same thing against George Zimmerman. But he couldn't find any evidence despite his nationwide campaign.

Interestingly, during the peaceful protests last night some of the protesters were chanting "Hands up - don't shoot," as if Eric Garner had been shot by police. The attorney for the Garner family said that when he watched the video he didn't see Eric Garner resisting arrest - he was Garner put his hands up in surrender. Did I watch the same video as the lawyer and the protesters? Is there another one I haven't seen yet?

Or do some people simply ignore the facts in order to push their own agenda? I think we all know the answer to that question.

We Now Have Elected Racism In Washington

This is my third post today and I do it only because I'm angry! I just read an article that makes my blood boil and I have to get it out.

Remember years ago when George Wallace was running for President? Remember when David Duke was running for President? Remember how the nation rejected them and denounced them because they were very open and outspoken racists?

How times have changed. It seems we now knowingly elect outspoken racists to political office.

The article I read was about members of the Congressional Black Caucus raising their hands in the "Hands up - Don't shoot" mantra of the Ferguson protesters - last evening on the House floor. Their demonstration was said to have been "a rallying cry of people all across America who are fed up with police violence,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said as he took the floor. “In community, after community, after community, fed up with police violence in Ferguson, in Brooklyn, in Cleveland, in Oakland, in cities and counties and rural communities all across America.”

He added that "people are fed up with injustice, a broken criminal justice system and continuing to see young, unarmed African-American men killed as a result of a gunshot fired by a law enforcement officer.”

Their actions completely disregard the findings of the grand jury in Ferguson last week - that Michael Brown attacked Officer Darren Wilson and Wilson was justified in shooting Michael Brown in self-defense. I would say maybe they are ignorant about the facts of the case but I don't believe that for a minute. No, their ignorance is self-imposed. They choose to ignore facts because facts don't always fit into their agenda. They also choose to ignore the facts of black genocide in our inner-cities because those facts are too inconvenient for their racially driven campaign.

It's interesting that Jeffries mentioned Cleveland, where a 12 year old black boy was shot by a police officer just last week. That 12 year old boy wasn't unarmed. He was carrying a pellet pistol that was an exact replica of a real 9mm pistol. It even had the orange ring (which identified it as a toy) removed. The gun looked real and the boy was flashing it around, which is why the police were called in the first place. When the officer arrived and confronted the boy the child turned and reached for the pistol in his belt. That's when the officer fired at him. He might have been an innocent 12 year old kid playing with a toy gun but to a police officer, and to the people that called 911 about him, he was an armed suspect.

The people who follow and support the "Hands up - Don't shoot" mantra are blindly and intentionally following something that never happened. Mike Brown's hands were not up. He was not executed. He was shot while trying to assault a police officer and do great bodily harm. Those who make him a martyr or a hero are misleading themselves and others. And it's sickening that it's being done by our political officials.

"I Can Do What I Want But Future Presidents Cannot"

Remember the 24 times since 2010 that President Obama said he is not a king, he is not an emperor, and he doesn't have the authority as President to halt deportations? Remember how he said that over and over, in many different ways and in many different forums? Remember how just two weeks ago he did it anyway?

In what passes as a fairly good interview by George Stephanopoulos two weeks ago President Obama basically denied he ever said he couldn't halt deportations. Stephanopoulos reminded the President of what he said before: "I'm out of administrative flexibility," and the President's response was "Well, that’s not true, if you look George, I often times was asked: ‘Can you just halt deportations?’ And I said, ‘No I can’t do that.’

In a fairly unusual move for Stephanopoulos, he challenged President Obama.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, but I have it right here–

OBAMA: Go ahead–

STEPHANOPOULOS: On a Google Hangout, you were asked specifically, “‘What can you do to prevent families from being broken apart’ and you said, ‘I’m not an emperor, I am out of administrative flexibility.’”

A stammering Obama responded: I–I–George, what is absolutely true is that we couldn’t solve the entire problem and still can’t solve the entire problem. But what we can do is to prioritize felons, criminals, recent arrivals, folks who are coming right at the border, and acknowledge that if somebody’s been here for over five years, they may have an American child or a legal permanent resident child, it doesn’t make sense for us to prioritize them when we know that we need more resources-

Surprisingly, Stephanopoulos pressed on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But do you have the right to make that decision on your own?

OBAMA: Absolutely. If you look, every president – Democrat and Republican – over decades has done the same thing as I mentioned in my remarks today. George H. W. Bush, about 40% of the undocumented persons, at the time, were provided a similar kind of relief as a consequence of executive action.

Stephanopoulos still wasn't finished.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you know the response of both Reagan – but in that case, there were bipartisan bills passed, they were acting after the bills were passed, not because Congress did not act.

OBAMA: Well George, I’m not sure that argues in favor. If Congress acted specifically and left something out and then a President goes ahead right afterwards and does more than Congress agreed to, it’s actually not different. It’s similar. The fact is is that we exercise prosecutorial discretion all the time. And, you know, the primary response that I have to Speaker Boehner and others is go ahead and pass legislation. They don’t need me to act. In fact, I encourage them to act but in the meantime what we’ve got to make sure of is, number one that our borders are secure and what I’m doing is going to allow us to put more resources there, number two it’s going to allow us to focus on the people that we really want out. Number three, what it allows us to do is to say to folks who have been here for a while, register, we’re gonna submit — you’re going to submit to a criminal background check and you’re going to pay taxes. Why we would prefer a system in which they’re in the shadows, potentially taking advantage of living here but not contributing makes no sense.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you respond to the argument, a future president comes in, wants lower taxes. Doesn’t happen. Congress won’t do it – he says I’m not going to prosecute those who don’t pay capital gains tax.

OBAMA: Well, the truth of the matter is, George, that the reason that we have to do prosecutorial discretion in immigration is that we know we are not even close to being able to deal with the folks who have been here a long time. The vast majority of folks understand that they need to pay taxes, and when we conduct an audit, for example, we are selecting those folks who are most likely to be cheating. We’re not going after millions and millions of people who everybody knows are here and were taking advantage of low wages as they’re mowing lawns or cleaning out bedpans, and looking the other way – but then you got politicians suddenly going out there saying, suggesting somehow that we should be deporting all of them. Everybody knows, including Republicans, that we’re not going to deport 11 million people.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don’t think it’d be legitimate for a future president to make that argument?

OBAMA: With respect to taxes? Absolutely not.

President Obama told George Stephanopoulos and the world that he has prosecutorial discretion to do what he wants when he wants to but future Presidents do not. Obama and the Democrats are digging a hole they'll have problems getting out of one day. Remember when Harry Reid implemented the nuclear option in the Senate? I wonder how he'll like it when the Republicans take over in January and use it against him and the President?

One definition of tyranny is "arbitrary use of power or control." It seems President Obama has now met the definition of tyranny. Can impeachment be far behind?

You can read the entire transcript of the interview here: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/11/full-interview-transcript-president-obama-on-this-week/

Should Michael Brown Be A Classroom Topic?

Yesterday I posted a Huffington Post article on Facebook. The article, titled "Five Ways To Teach About Michael Brown And Ferguson In The New School Year," was one person's opinion on how the story of Michael Brown can and should be taught in our schools. The article, written by Christopher Emdin, a professor of science and education, was written before all of the facts were known and well before the grand jury exonerated Darren Wilson in the shooting. It talked about different ways teachers should bring up the subject and proceed in teaching students about the incident.

The Five suggested teaching points were as follows:

1. Ask students what they know, and what they want to know.
2. Help students make connections.
3. Ask students to write letters.
4. Create a classroom memorial.
5. Carry the theme for the rest of the year.

Remember - this article was written just weeks after the shooting and well before the facts of the case were known.

The five teaching points on their own are somewhat controversial but it's the narrative that comes after each listed point that is the real problem. I'll break it down one by one.

1. Ask students what they know, and what they want to know.

It is suggested that teachers ask their students what they know (or what they have heard) about the Michael Brown case. 

"Once this question has been posed and students begin to respond, they can fill out a simple chart. On this chart students can write down what they know about Michael Brown and Ferguson, and what they want to know. The teacher can then utilize the information on the chart to assess what students have gathered over the last few weeks and plan a future lesson that helps students unearth the facts, fiction, and mistruths in media coverage of the events in Ferguson. The teacher can bring in news stories from different media outlets and work with students on understanding how and why there are so many different angles to how the story is being covered."

OK, that's fair enough - if you really thing talking about an ongoing investigation of which your knowledge is only what you have heard on TV. Asking them what they want to know is good - as long as they get honest information and not speculation.

2. Help students make connections.

The article says teachers should help students connect the Michael Brown shooting to "similar cases that have emerged in recent history." Gee, I wonder which cases those can be?

"It is important for young people to learn how to make connections between the Michael Brown shooting and similar cases that have emerged in recent history. While a discussion of the Michael Brown shooting and the current events in Ferguson are powerful, conversations about Michael Brown with a consideration of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Renisha Mcbride, and other cases that involve similar scenarios place the events in Ferguson in proper context. After introducing these cases, the teacher can ask students what connections, if any, exist across these cases and allow students to discuss the connections that they make."

Since two of those three people were shot by civilians and not police, and the third was not shot at all, the only possible connection the teacher could help the students make is that the dead people were all black. That's not a difficult connection to make but in doing so would not the teacher be turning the case into a racial issue without all of the facts?

3. Ask students to write letters.

"One of the chief ways to engage youth in the first few weeks of school and also develop their sociopolitical awareness is to give them an assignment to write letters to all those who are involved in the shooting. This includes politicians, police officers, the families of victims of the violence, and even the deceased. Having students write letters early in the school year gives them a task that helps them engage as soon as school begins. The teacher can ask students to write different letters to different people involved in the shooting and riots and frame the letters differently based on the person they are writing to."

Once again not a bad idea... except what will the the content of the letters? Will they be asking questions to learn the truth about what happened or will they be asking what's going to be done to prevent white cops from killing innocent, unarmed black men? The content and context of each letter is important so the students can learn the truth about what happened. And the main stream media has distorted the facts of the case from day one. Notice the instructions to the teacher say nothing about obtaining the truth.

4. Create a classroom memorial.

Of all the suggestions, this one is the most disturbing. 

"During the first few weeks of classes, students can create a memorial to Michael Brown on a classroom bulletin board. This activity involves having students use whatever they feel skilled in to create something that would honor Michael Brown and other people who have been victims of police and other violence. ... Students can use this opportunity to create a counternarrative to negative stories and images about Ferguson and Michael Brown..."

The facts about the shooting had not been made public when this article was written. We knew very little about Michael Brown - his criminal history, the details of the actual incident, or the officer's side of the story. All we knew was what a few witnesses had said on TV and those witnesses were completely discredited later in the grand jury hearing. The article wants students to turn Michael Brown into some kind of hero when the truth about the case proved he was not only no hero but a criminal and a victim of his own bad choices. 

(In all fairness to Mr. Emdin, President Obama did the very same thing when he sent a White House delegation to the funeral of Michael Brown before knowing the facts of the case. President Obama turned Brown into a heroic victim instead of waiting for the truth. That truth turned out be that Michael Brown was a criminal and assaulted a police officer - possibly with the intent to kill him.)

5. Carry the theme for the rest of the year.

"Once the teacher has engaged in the activities identified above, a theme has been established, and expectations have been set. Students realize early in the school year that this class goes beyond meaningless assignments like writing and talking about what they did over the summer. Without you mentioning your expectations or giving rules, students begin to see the classroom as a space where the teaching affects real life, and where assignments have meaning. At this point the teacher has to continue to maintain a high level of rigor and support students as they become more active learners."

OK - I'm good with continuing the discussion as things develop. But I can't help but wonder what Mr. Emdin will suggest the teachers talk about now that the facts are out and the grand jury has made its decision. Does he want the truth to be told - that Darren Wilson did what he had to do to protect his own life and that Michael Brown was not a hero to be memorialized? Or, since he made all of these suggestions before the facts were known, will he want teachers to decry the grand jury decision and maintain Brown's hero status - basically siding with the protesters against the truth? 

I'm waiting on his article about where to proceed from here...

Will The Damage Of Ferguson Be Permanent?

In the aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting and the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for it, have race relations in the United States been permanently damaged? From all outward appearances it would seem so.

In my opinion, the Michael Brown shooting has been the most racially divisive incident in America since the Rodney King incident. People are divided, mostly (but not completely) along racial lines, about the shooting and about the grand jury decision. Those who see the shooting as either a racist incident (of which there is absolutely no evidence other than the victim being black and the police officer white) or an excessive use of force by a police officer completely disregard the evidence and facts that have been presented. Those who see only the criminal activity of Michael Brown and feel that he deserved to die ignore the human side of the incident - the fact that an 18 year old kid is now dead because of the poor choices he made. And of course there are the racists on the white side that believe Brown deserved to die simply because he was black.

Many black people see only the racial aspect of the case. Prominent black Americans from the President of the United States and the Attorney General, to black celebrities, to black activist leaders (which now includes the Attorney General), and now even pro football players are making this about race rather than fact. The now-well-known "hands up, don't shoot" mantra that has been the core of the protest in Ferguson has been proved by forensic evidence to be a complete fabrication. Indeed, Michael Brown was proved, by forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony, to have been "charging the officer like a football player," which explains why Officer Wilson shot him as well as explaining perfectly the injuries sustained by Brown.

Still, those who want to make this a racial issue refuse to accept the evidence because it doesn't fit their agenda. The protests aren't about Michael Brown but about anger, racial hatred and division. How can they be about Brown? Everything the protesters said about the incident turned out to be untrue. And burning down businesses doesn't exactly honor Michael Brown's memory.

In a rather distasteful show of ignorance "solidarity with the protesters," five black players on the Saint Louis Rams yesterday came out of the locker room and paused with their hands up in honor of a man who would most likely have killed Darren Wilson if Wilson had not killed him first. Their display clearly shows either a lack of understanding of the facts (translated as ignorance) or a deliberate disregard for the facts in order to push a racist agenda, which is worse.

President Obama is meeting today with "young civil rights leaders to discuss the challenges posed by by mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color."

Several weeks ago he met with the protest organizers to encourage them to continue what they were doing. I wonder if the "young civil rights leaders" he's meeting with today are those very ones?

Eric Holder went to Ferguson to meet with the Brown family, the black police captain who was in charge of allowing the protests to go unchecked scaling down the police response to the protests, and to meet with protest organizers and with race baiters Jackson and Sharpton. I'm honestly surprised Holder and Obama haven't held a press conference and started it out by holding their hands up.

As the protests continue and spread to other cities across the nation, many people of all ethnicities are getting fed up. Blacks and whites alike are condemning the destruction of property and the violence as not only unjustified but only making things worse. Blacks are threatening violence against whites in record numbers. Louis Farrakhan has threatened that the Nation of Islam will tear the nation apart over this incident.

So can the damage be reversed? It seems not - at least not right away. In the black community there is so much anger and hatred over the Brown case and such animosity toward white/black relations in general that I fear it will take decades to subside. The majority of whites in this country want peaceful and constructive relationships with their black American brothers and sisters. They also want justice for all. But they want that justice to be meted out by truth and evidence rather than emotion. And sadly, it seems we have a long way to go before everyone in the country feels the same way.