Ferguson, Missouri have you ever heard of it? Neither had most until last week. That is until Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.

Those are the facts as I have read them that are undisputed. I say that, because everything after that is in question. Here is another fact, there are only a few people that in fact know the truth, the police officer and Michael Brown. Pretty much everything else is hearsay and speculator.

Since the news broke about the shooting, a lot of things have happened:

• Outside organizations have gotten involved to voice their concern and also in my opinion push their agenda.
• There have been riots and destruction to private property.
• The police department has released the name of the office.
• The Governor has objected to the Police Department releasing video of an alleged robbery. (I say alleged because again, the facts have not come out in the case.)
• The Police Department looks more like a military tactical unit, though probably without the military training.

Here are the problems as I see it:

• Too many outside organizations with their own agendas have gotten involved.
• There have been riots and destruction and have all but said that the police officer was guilty, without a trial.
• The Governor interjected into a city level case, even though the FBI has gotten involved.
• The Police Department went militarized into the streets.
• The media in several cases has all but ruled that the police officer was guilty, again without a trial.
• Social Media  has run ramped with accusations, photos, sound bites, etc.

At the end of the day, I know this much to be true. A young man is dead and for that, I am sorry that his parents have to go through burring their child. I also know that a police officer, who has a family, is dealing with the fact that he shot and killed someone. And at the end of the day, it isn’t our place to decide what happened. We have a court of law that does that. But, in the last several years (Google George Zimmerman and several other cases) the media tries the individual on tv and in print and social media, before all the facts are ever heard in a court of law.

Now, I have a lot of other thoughts and feelings on this case, but I will keep those to myself, as they serve no purpose on this blog. But tonight, I pray for those in Ferguson, Missouri. I pray for the soul of Michael Brown. I pray for his family and friends that tonight are suffering and are hurt. I pray for the police officer. I pray for those that will be effected by this tragedy, i.e. potential jurors, co-workers of the police officer, etc. This will not simply go away. No matter what happens in this case, whether the officer is charged and found guilty or found innocent, it does not matter. There are no winners tonight in the town of Ferguson, Missouri.