As every night in Ferguson, MO brings scenes of demonstrations and conflicts in the streets, one key piece to the puzzle remains outstanding: will a grand jury charge the police officer responsible for the shooting of Michael Brown with voluntary manslaughter or a higher charge? The grand jury convenes tomorrow to consider evidence and testimony.
While there are clearly people among the demonstrators that aren't there to demand answers but rather with their own violent agenda, the large majority demonstrating are Ferguson residents who are frustrated at the failure of authorities to give Brown and the police officer due process of law. Mark Sumner at Daily Kos has summarized the questions that the local police should be answering, e.g. are the whereabouts of Officer Wilson known and is he a flight risk, was a crime scene investigation carried out, etc. The local prosecutor, Bob McCulloch, appears to lack the trust of the Ferguson community, given a long record of neglect of the community and his most recent election in which he resorted to racial dog whistles, and his delay in bringing evidence before a grand jury has only inflamed the situation.
BONUS: CNN's Jake "Tippy" Tapper is someone we've had differences with in the past, but he does a nice job of demonstrating the overreaction of local police last night (apologies for the embedded advertisement):
