Liberty Minute August 19 2014

It took several days for Ferguson, Missouri Police Chief Thomas Jackson to identify Darren Wilson as the officer who fatally shot Michael Brown. Jackson also released a report suggesting that Brown had committed a burglary just before the encounter. Jackson later admitted that Wilson was not trying to arrest Brown for that violent felony, but had accosted Brown for jaywalking.

Even if Brown had committed a crime, Wilson would not have been justified in shooting an unarmed, fleeing felon. Eyewitnesses claim that Brown was shot while facing Wilson with his hands up in a posture of surrender. That claim is supported by the findings of an autopsy. Wilson will probably contend that Brown had ?charged? him in a threatening way, and that the shooting was justified under the so-called ?reasonable officer? standard.

As a defendant in a court of law, Darren Wilson would -- and must -- be presumed innocent. As a state agent, he cannot be. Police officers are authorized to initiate violence and escalate it until the victim relents or is killed. Because of "qualified immunity" they can escape legal and civil consequences when their actions are proven to be morally wrong and legally dubious. This is why we shouldn?t give cops who kill the benefit of the doubt.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.