Shaking my head over Ferguson

As I watched the events unfold last week in Ferguson I couldn't help to just shake my head in disgust. I have shaken my head so much that I think I need to wear a halo for a while.

I have to admit that I thought the police officer in Ferguson, Darren Wilson, might get indicted by the grand jury. A police officer shooting an unarmed man to me seemed excessive.

But I have never been a police officer. And I have never had my life threatened. If I ever were in a life-threatening situation, I would probably do anything possible to get out of said situation. So I can't say what the right action would have been on that August day.

Angry protestors wanted justice and they convened a grand jury. That grand jury heard days and days of testimony and decided not to indict Wilson. For me, due process was granted and all was done.

I knew that wasn't to be though as I watched St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch announce the grand jury's decision. What I saw was an arrogant man who obviously needs a speech writer. While I agree with some of what he said, by blaming social media, he did himself and his office no favors with his tone and the way he presented the evidence. I was left shaking my head, knowing that he did nothing to diffuse the situation.

And then what do I see next? The inevitable. People running down the streets, setting fire to cars and buildings, looting businesses and screaming at police. It was nothing but idiots doing stupid things and I was again left shaking my head.

I can understand being angry at the decision. I was angry when terrible lawyers allowed O.J. Simpson to get away with murder. But I didn't use it as an excuse to burn buildings or to loot my local grocery store. I'm intelligent enough to know that doing that will change nothing, except get me in trouble, too. Unfortunately some people in Ferguson aren't that intelligent.

Those idiots were concerned with one thing -- causing trouble. It had nothing to do with racism. Nothing to do with justice. Nothing to do with Michael Brown. Only stupid people seeing how much chaos they create.

The media didn't help matters either. As I watched the days leading up to the decision I would hear media reports and read reporters' post on Twitter that left me shaking my head. As a reporter you can subtly slant your story one way or another and there was plenty of that with Ferguson. In some cases it wasn't even subtle.

What people have to remember is that most of the media wanted to see chaos. The more chaos, the bigger the story. Nobody wants to read a story of a peaceful protest. The longer the chaos lasts, the more the reporters will be on the front page of their paper or the lead story on their news show. Throw in that many reporters haven't exactly been treated well by law enforcement at Ferguson and you have gasoline on a fire.

Maybe that is why people continue to protest, which also leaves me shaking my head. People wanted justice. A grand jury was convened and justice was delivered. But because it wasn't the decision people wanted, they now continue to protest at shopping malls and wherever they think people will be. Why?

I have no problem with protests. It is the right of Americans to hold peaceful protests. If you aren't happy with the decision, then protest. But days and days and days of protests seem to me to be overkill. I'm sure each person out there protesting read the nearly 5,000-page grand jury report as to why Wilson wasn't indicted. I'm sure they reviewed the document and want to discuss the faults they found within the document with all the people who are just trying to get a deal on a television or that iPad they always wanted.

Then I get on social media and see the comments on there and I continue to shake my head. The racism that is spewing is outrageous some of it even from my friends. As I read one stupid comment after another it just makes me shake my head that people don't realize their words are just as destructive as those lighting buildings on fire.

I feel like we as a country are going backward. I feel like this whole situation could have been handled better by everyone involved. It makes me think -- what if Brown hadn't stolen those cigars? It just leaves me shaking my head.