Well the TV news said 12 shots, but I guess it was only 6:http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ions/19474907/

Officer Wilson's gun
http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/HT_fe...24_4x3_992.jpg

:haha: Fair point, I don't know how the jury voted, and I don't think for a moment it was as clear cut as people will make it out to be.
However, in a situation like this in which race is a fairly big issue, having a three quarter white jury is probably a bad decision, even if it is the composition of St Louis county. It's going to inevitably lead to accusations of foul play.

It is important to remember that the grand jury was not asked to determine what actually happened. They were asked to determine if a crime could be established based on certain definitions under the law. In the end, those two things may be the same thing, but it is incorrect to assume that they are identical. It is also a logical fallacy to look to the grand jury as an applicable authority on a question they have no expertise in and weren't specifically pursuing.

Also a good point. And there's going to be a lot of too-ing and fro-ing over the next few days as to whether there was a crime under those certain definitions. There's also going to be a lot of people taking this out of context, because really it's just the tip of the iceberg that has a lot of emotion below the water.
I do have to feel somewhat sorry for Officer Wilson though, he and his family are never going to be safe again, in a way it would have been easier for him to have gone to prison because at least there he would have some protection and the heat on his family might well have died down. Now he's going to be hunted no matter where in America he goes. :nope:

Aaand apparently Officer Wilson is going to be doing an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC tonight...

http://offspring.com/o/photos/2012.1...ooligan%5D.jpg

"But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard." -Martin Luther King Jr.

That's pretty much my opinion on the matter.

What's happening in Ferguson was the spark for a huge pile of flammable materials that have been collecting for a long time, it's hardly base cause.
A good post on Reddit that goes into a bit more detail then I'm capable of putting together myself right now.

In any case, they are just keeping up American Tradition.

Band of brothers?
 

Or just thugs looking for some action on both sides of the coin?
Two wrongs don't make any of it right.

If you've seen the photos of Mister Wilson's injuries you would probably come to the conclusion that they were not life threatening and did not warrant the use of lethal force.
We'll likely never know the mindset of this policeman when he decided to pull his pistol and pump this kid full of lead.

Rats you beat me to it.

It is just as offensive to presume that white people will always vote one way as it is to presume that black people will always vote one way.

Until we have evidence otherwise, we should presume that the Grand Jury made the decision they truly felt was appropriate. After all, the Grand Jury looked at far more evidence and listened to more testimony than we have.

Just because a group of people makes a decision one does not agree with, does NOT mean that the group is corrupt. :nope:

I heard on the radio this morning that the Grand Jury decision was unanimous.

I feel sorry for the poor shlubs that got drafted into grand jury duty. I wonder how the rules differ from state to state on grand jury service, requirements. In my grand jury service (around nine years ago), we only saw evidence from the DA, and he just had to show that a crime had been committed. The service was for one month and we were only used as needed. 90% was a complete waste of time:down:, then there's the other 10%. We had one DA withdraw his charges for a rape case, because there was a lack of evidence and he would have been made a fool of by any good defence attorney, because there were 6 different versions to the story, none of them consistent.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3S5S8YCIAAIvD-.jpg:large

lol Is this like the "B" squad for AI? They look like they are looking for a Starbucks or something.

That's fair enough. Can't exactly have been an easy case for the jurors to sit on. I can sympathise with that (especially since I've got my own service in January to look forward to).
But what I'm not saying is that it did happen in regards to whites voting in favour and blacks against, what I'm saying is that with that particular jury make-up and the ratio needed to make a decision, that externally it's going to be seen amongst many people in the manner in which I have already put forward which is just going to create more antagonism.

You must have missed this post Oberon.

I saw it...I don't think the people in Ferguson did. :03: Honestly though they could have gone for 8 white and 5 black. That would have prevented the 9 needed to pass and 9 white people on the jury. There would have been ways to do it, loopholes and the like.
It probably wouldn't have changed the outcome, but it would have been one less bit of ammunition for people to use against it.