We all know now about the tragic events that have unfolded over the past several days: The death of an unarmed, innocent African-American man at the hands of the police. The apparent unwillingness to publically identify the shooter. The protests. The hammer-handed, militaristic response of the police, resulting in the denial of first-amendment rights.
There is clearly the bad behavior on the surface, but how - on earth - did we get to this place.
There are questions that need to be answered.
The city of Ferguson has a population that is 67% African-American, but if you go to their website, the Mayor and all but one (possibly two - one has a photo missing) of the City Council members are clearly not African-American. How does that happen in this day and age? Are there issues of lack of participation across the majority of the community? Is voting prevented or blocked? Perhaps the way the cities' wards are constructed dilutes two-thirds of the voters from empowerment?
This representational disparity is really glaring when you look at the fact that the representatives of larger geographies in the area, including the county executive, several state representatives, and even the congressman are all African-American.
Mayor James Knowles III, in quite the defensive interview on MSNBC, claimed that there was difficulty because of one apartment rental complex where he said there were too many "transients." What does that mean, and how does that excuse the behavior of the police?
If the majority of the cities' citizens are almost non-represented, then one has to ask about the local police department and any illegal policies based on race or ethnicity. Why? Well, the mayor claims there are two African Americans on the police force with over 50 members total. Either somebody is flagrantly stupid, or there is something corrupt going on.
One more about the local police: What law gives them the right to withhold the name of a suspect in a crime that is not a minor? Who is investigating the investigation of this policeman - because something is clearly rotten there? What are they covering up?
We are now learning - via MSNBC - how the police have gotten this military equipment: From the Pentagon, and thanks to both the battle against crack cocaine in the 1990's and the response to the 9/11 attacks. These were 10 and 20 years ago, yet we have not seen anything quite like this in the US since then. So why now? The power this gives the law enforcement has clearly been abused in Ferguson. Who told them to deploy it? Who told them it was legal to tell reporters they can't record, take their equipment or arrest them (it isn't)? Who declared the curfew - if not the city government? Who is in charge of a non-military with military equipment?
All of these questions need to be answered. Yes, a young man's life has been lost, and the appropriate arrest and prosecution of the shooter needs to happen - on every legal and jurisdictional level (local, state and federal). But if we don't dig deeper into these questions, we are setting up Ferguson - and possibly other communities for similar tragedies in the future.