Darren Wilson Resigns From Ferguson Police Department Just Days After Not Being Indicted By Grand Jury, Read His Letter Here
All eyes around the country were on the highly anticipated Grand Jury decision last week that came down from the Ferguson shooting in August. The decision was made official that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted for the shooting death of Michael Brown.
As riots and protests have taken to the streets across the U.S. in the days since that decision, it was announced that officer Darren Wilson had resigned from the Ferguson Police Department on Saturday (Nov 29).
His resignation letter has gone public and reads: "I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process."
This story has become a nationwide feature on news and media outlets with supporters on both sides. The President himself spoke on the grant jury's decision after it became official.
Here is some of what President Obama had to say during his speech, "Either way it was going to be the subject of intense disagreement. We need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make. There are Americans who agree with it, and there are Americans who are deeply disappointed - even angry. It's an understandable reaction."
He continued, "We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades. I have witnessed that in my own life, and to deny that progress, I think is to deny America's capacity for change. But what is also true is that there are still problems - and communities of color aren't just making these problems up. Separating that from this particular decision, there are issues in which the law too often feels as if it is being applied in a discriminatory fashion."
It seemed pretty clear that Darren Wilson would not be able to work as a police officer in that area again. His face would be too recognizable. But it will be interesting to see what he decides to do next. He probably already has people lining up for a book deal.