#michaelbrownshooting

Today in my Model United Nations meeting, we got into a discussion about the Michael Brown murder. Now, considering that we are a bunch of 7th and 8th graders sitting in a History classroom talking about the world’s problems and representing countries, I wasn’t surprised when this was brought up, though this crime was committed in the United States. For those of you who are either foreign or just haven’t heard, the basic (hopefully unbiased) story is this (everyone who has heard can skip this):Michael Brown was at least suspected of stealing from a liquor/convenience store with an accomplice, and a cop arrived on the scene and asked him to put his hands in the air. This is where it gets tricky because outside of the store, there were no security cameras, and thus the only accounts of the killing are those that witnessed it. By this time there is no mention of an accomplice, and so it is assumed that he ran off. The facts of what happened: the cop ended up punched in the face, the gun discharged and grazed Michael Brown, and the aftermath included Michael Brown getting shot 12 times. Depending on who you believe, the cop (Brown punched him and a scuffle ensued for the gun, it discharged and grazed Brown, who then walked away, was asked to put his hands in the air, then almost rushed the cop twice, then sometime after, the cop was provoked and shot him 12 times) or the witnesses (Brown put his hands in the air and was shot 12 times), it was either a justified killing or unjustified. Now that you know the facts, know this: Michael Brown was black and the cop was white. That is the reason for all the attention, and why it is being protested so much, as people of color feel it was a racist decision for the cop to be acquitted. I have discussed my views on this in an earlier post, so if you want to know them, look on my blog. I warn you, it is a bit heated.

Back to the point. Now, as we were discussing this (it was a bit off-topic), and our points of view, my friend expresses her disagreement as this: “No, Michael Brown was jaywalking and that cop shot him.” My other friends and I were shocked and a little horrified. When we disagreed, she insisted that she was right. We were unable to go further as, again, we were off-topic, and our organizer wished to keep our meetings a bias and hate free zone, considering all that surrounds this case, and that we could discuss it at a later meeting. Plus there we people almost to the point of fisticuffs.