We have all been touched by the events in Ferguson, and many have been polarized.  On this Thanksgiving holiday, we at LPR want to remind everyone to be cautious about jumping to conclusions based on limited or incorrect information from others.  We believe that NFL football player Benjamin Watson said it best in his recent Facebook post.  Here are some excerpts:

Courtesy of Jeffrey Beall

At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:

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I’M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.

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I’M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.

I’M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn’t there so I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.

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I’M INTROSPECTIVE, because sometimes I want to take “our” side without looking at the facts in situations like these. . . .

LPR applauds Mr. Watson for so brilliantly putting into words what the public needs to hear.  Reality is not always what is reported, it is not always what it seems, and it may never be known.  On this Thanksgiving, we at LPR are thankful to Mr. Watson in the wake of the tragic Ferguson events.