The Ferguson shooting has stirred a lot of controversy, such as violent protests that took place after the incident. The controversy has even extended to our campus. 

There have been mixed feelings about the Moment of Silence hosted by the Southeastern Sociological Association, honoring the death of Michael Brown, who was shot to death by Darren Wilson, a police officer. The main purpose of the event was to show support for the Brown family as well as bring awareness to this injustice. 

Some feel this event shouldn’t have taken place. The only reason for people to feel uncomfortable I can think of is if these people do not believe the black-and-white story presented by the media in Brown’s favor. 

I have to admit the contradictory stories and details of what happened to Michael Brown that night are hard to muddle through, but for a second, let’s not think about the racial differences between Brown and the police officer. Let’s think about the bigger picture. This was a human being. Someone with a life. Someone who was just beginning his journey. His life was taken by a man with a gun. Even worse, this man was part of the police force, someone the public should be able to trust. 

Brown was shot six times: twice in the head and four times in the right arm. First off, I find it hard to believe the police officer couldn’t “detain” him with one of those shots in the arm if Brown was really causing him trouble. I can only imagine how much it would hurt to get shot. It’s unlikely I would charge at someone if they were to shoot me. I doubt Brown would’ve been able to.

Second, why the multiple shots? The officer shot someone who was unarmed six times. What is even more disconcerting is even though Brown was a suspect of a robbery that took place before the shooting, the officer completely disregarded the justice system. There is still such a thing as “innocent until proven guilty.” Unfortunately, Brown’s name has been smeared with allegations of robbery without ever being able to tell his side of the story. 

I understand people want to believe the justice system is perfect, that our police never make mistakes, but they are only human. They make mistakes. They make wrong decisions. It’s our job as the public to hold them to it and say, “This isn’t right.” 

The event had every right to be on campus. I think we should bring awareness to what happened. This wasn’t the first time this has happened, and if we don’t do anything about it, it won’t be the last.