Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani really gets heated when the topic of Ferguson comes up. In the last few weeks he has popped up on various news programs, insisting that while this case took on racial overtones early on, the problem actually starts with what is wrong within the community itself. Giuliani insisted on Fox News Sunday that Darren Wilson's shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown never should have made it in front of a grand jury in the first place.
"I don't see how this case normally would even have been brought to a grand jury. This is the kind of case — had it not had the racial overtones and the national publicity — where a prosecutor would have come to the conclusion that there is not enough evidence to present to the grand jury. [U.S.] Attorney General [Eric] Holder's gonna have to take a case in which a jury couldn't find probable cause to indict, and he's gonna have to try to find probable cause in front of a federal grand jury. It's an impossible case to present to a grand jury," said Giuliani.
He also held firm to the notion that it is the community's job to get itself together and to work to bring the violence down among themselves. While it is the local police department's job to protect the peace, if people were treating each other humanely in the first place, then situations like Ferguson would rarely occur.
"I think just as much, if not more, responsibility is on the black community to reduce the reason why the police officers are assigned in such large numbers to the black community. It's because blacks commit murder eight times more per capita than any other group in our society. If I'd put all my police on Park Avenue instead of Harlem, thousands more blacks would have died during my time in office," explained Giuliani.
What are your thoughts on his no-nonsense, unapologetic stance on how this case is turning into a racial issue is ultimately what made it so noteworthy? Do you think that the former mayor has made some unpleasant yet valid points, or is he just trying to pour more gasoline on an already unpredictable fire? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
