Things are Seldom What They Seem to be on the Surface.

by Robert Janicki 

The investigation into the homicide of Michael Brown at the hands of a
Ferguson, Missouri police officer is still undergoing collection of
evidence as we see and hear in the endless news cycles.  Anyone who
claims to know beyond a reasonable doubt what transpired on that
Saturday afternoon on August 9th, simply doesn't know what they are
talking about at this point in time.

The forensic evidence will be far more telling in the final determination of the propriety or lack thereof, of the behavior of the  police officer.  As each day goes bywe seem to be finding out more evidence of what might have happened on that fateful day. 

The best evidence in this investigation will be gathered by professional investigators, lab technicians and especially from the autopsy of Michael Brown. Forensic evidence isdispassionate.  It takes no sides.  It does not act upon emotion.  It is what it is.

We live in a country based upon the rule of law.  That's the
foundation of a constitutional republic.  The rule of law and its
application is meant to remove the emotion of the moment and to seek
justice in a calm, rational and dispassionate manner, free of the
heightened and raw emotion of the lynch mob.

And yet, we see Ferguson, filled with a lynch mob mentality.  They
want a police officer immediately arrested and convicted of what they
perceive as the crime of murder against a helpless 18 year old
teenager characterized as a "gentle giant" at 6'4" inches tall and 290
lbs.  Guilty until proven innocent is the watch word of the vigilante
mob mentality.   

By all reports to date, and these are preliminary and very sketchy at
best, there is contradictory evidence of whether the officer was aware
or unaware of the convenience store robbery involving Michael Brown.
 
There is much more here than has been reported to date.  It will take
time for the investigation to uncover all the missing data points to
connect the facts and from which to make a determination of whether a
crime has been committed or not or to what extent and circumstances
Micael Brown may have been responsible for contributing to his own
death.

Until all evidence is in we, and the lynch mob, have no idea of what
happened, other than from what Brown's companion, complicit in the
convenience store robbery, tells the media what happened.All eyewitness testimony is subject to scrutiny by considering the source of the testimony and their relationship to the individuals involved in the case.

Until the investigation is completed by the various parallel law
enforcement agencies investigating this homicide, community leaders in
Ferguson need to step up and take control of the narrative being
advanced by the protesters and redirect it to an understanding that
the rule of law must be followed through to its natural conclusion,
what ever that might be.  Any narrative less than this will only
contribute to the destruction of the social fabric that keeps us above
the rule by lynch mob.