Darren Wilson Loses Job and Protesters Win Thousands in Tear Gas Lawsuit – Justice? By Kevin Fobbs
Where does the nation go from here when a committed police officer can lose his job over a now proven lie and rioters can win thousands of dollars in a tear gas lawsuit? But according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this is exactly the case and it points to a total imbalance in how justice in Ferguson and in the United States is now being defined. U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson ordered the police to give future Ferguson protesters a tear gas warning and time to flee before they use the police tactic to disperse unruly protesters.
Meanwhile, former officer Darren Wilson has no U.S. Justice Department, or City of Ferguson public officials who are concerned about his welfare, economic security or even safety. Instead, the now unemployed law enforcement official has to sit and wonder as most of America why a federal judge could find justice awarding protesters any amount of money for not dispersing when police have ordered them to do so.
It appears that there are one set of rules which apply to police officers who are sworn to enforce the law and another set of rules which lawbreakers can use in order to defy the law and be awarded for it.
Judge Jackson issued a temporary restraining order on the police at a hearing on December 11th, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The order was made permanent in late march and will be supervised by the court through Jan. 1, 2018. It states in part that the police have to provide “reasonable” warning before deciding to use tear gas on an unruly group of protesters.
While St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, and Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson’s legal representatives signed off on the settlement terms, it appears that justice is still unbalanced. After all, what is considered “reasonable warning” and who defines it?
Alexis Templeton, Maureen Costello, Brittany Ferrell, Steve Hoffman, Nile McClain and Kira Hudson were plaintiffs in the lawsuit and agreed to dismiss their claim after receiving $2,500 from each police agency in legal costs, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
All three police agencies agreed to each pay $2,500 in legal costs. In exchange, plaintiffs Alexis Templeton, Maureen Costello, Brittany Ferrell, Steve Hoffman, Nile McClain and Kira Hudson agreed to dismiss their claim. Some liberal supporters may contend that the federal court order will not handcuff the police in order to prevent them from using tear gas to punish protesters who are exercising their constitutional right to protest.
Where is the agreement to pay Darren Wilson for his injuries as well as the injury to his career? Shouldn’t Wilson be able to collect from the family of Michael Brown for the unwarranted assault and injury caused by the dead young man against the police officer? What about collecting a million dollar settlement against Al Sharpton for instigating an unjustified national venomous attack upon the police officer? Justice seems to have taken a holiday when it comes to former officer Wilson’s rights.
End Story-
Kevin Fobbs began writing professionally in 1975 and has been published in the "New York Times," and written for the "Detroit News," "Michigan Chronicle,", “GOPUSA”, "Soul Source" magazine and "Writers Digest" magazine. As the former Community Concerns columnist for 12 years with The Detroit News, Fobbs covered community relations, family relations, domestic abuse, education, government policy, education, and dispute resolution issues. Fobbs was host of The Kevin Fobbs Show www.kevinfobbs.com. Recently he has been the Christian and Culture examiner for Ann Arbor Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-33782-Ann-Arbor-Christianity--Culture-Examiner, and Ann Arbor and Cleveland Conservative Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-cleveland/kevin-fobbs You can also follow Fobbs weekly on the Warrior Nation Show, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/conservativewarriors . It is conservative talk radio that brings you the latest news stories and tackles issues from around the globe, the web and in your neighborhood. Finding solutions to issues that are important to you is done every Thursday evening from 7-8pm with Julie Prince and Kevin Fobbs. Catch us on I-tunes and Blog Talk Radio.
(Darren Wilson Loses Job and Protesters Win Thousands in Tear Gas Lawsuit – photo credit – Twitter-meme)
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