After several months of convening, a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Tensions erupted on the ground in Ferguson and in major cities around the country in the wake of the grand jury’s decision. And users have already posted over 1,000 comments on msnbc.com, responding to Monday night’s decision.
This is the msnbc.com community’s take on the latest news out of Ferguson.
Related: Ferguson picks up the pieces after no indictment for Darren Wilson
Robin Morales: Shame on people who think what happened was justice. If it was your child how would you feel then. Never say it would not happen to your child. Think as a human with a heart and not about how you feel about a race. There was excessive force and that cop is free. I am white and have strong views on race however the boy did not need to be shot in the head twice. My heart reaches out to the family. I believe if people look beyond race, you can honestly see that many shots fired at a single person who was unarmed is so wrong in so many ways.
Agrarian Justice: If you are eligible to serve on a jury please serve. We complain about verdicts but we make a game of not serving on juries. I have been guilty in the past … never again. Also it is time that we focus on local elections. Most small towns are controlled by a few people. I have found out that several powerful non-elected people in my town do not live here! Those people were appointed by elected officials and as a result we have some very strange zoning laws.
I am talking to people about removing some local elected officials in 2015. I have talked to several people who tell me that it cannot be done; that people do not show up on election day.
rjvance1: Was justice served? Living in L.A. I watch both the Rodney King and O.J. trials, each with very different results. The key element was the public’s ability to view, hear, and question openly all the evidence. We may not always agree with the result, but when viewed in the light of day, we at least have a better understanding. Does a grand jury serve the public’s interest?
Mmtd: The people on the grand jury are just like you, me and everyone else posting on the board. They heard the evidence and came to their independent decision. Nobody hear knows anything about this matter when compared to what the grand jury heard.
Related: In Ferguson, a failure of leadership
pjp-1630581: There is only one good outcome that can come from this. We need a national voter registration drive. Why the African [American] community, the Hispanic community and the Democratic Party leaders are not standing up and leading this effort is a failure on their part. Ferguson is a microcosm of our country. Our government officials are not representative of the people. Our elected officials are totally disconnected from people’s day to day lives. A huge voter turn out in the next election could change this. Time for our community leaders and religious leaders to get the word out and register to vote. In addition, they need to give voters all the right information as to what they will need on election day to vote even if they are registered. New voter restrictions can be overcome by all potential voters knowing what is required to cast their ballots. Here is a chance to turn a negative into a positive. Time for the leaders to step up. Register and vote in the next election.
Khaliid Smoot: Nothing good can come of any of this. Not the jury’s decision, not the people’s protesting. Revolutions start when the government stops protecting it’s people to retaliate. Considering the latter of the two is all the we can see happening in the absence of any peaceful address from Ferguson officials and police, it is only productive to assume that the other places in the country right now that are peacefully protesting, can only do so for so much longer. When communication is taken out of the picture,al you have is a government sick of it’s people, and a people sick of it’s government.
And now, what a violent sight. All you hear or see is one side attacking the other. No matter the issue, that is not how democracy is supposed to be.
(Responses were edited for clarity)
Share your own thoughts in the comments.
MS NOW staff