It's an old newspaper adage: Dog bites man, that's no news; it happens all the time. But if a man bites a dog, that's news. And that's exactly what happened February 26, 2012.

According to the FBI crime statistics for 2013, there were 4,100 murders committed by whites against blacks. In that same year, there were 4,200 murders committed by blacks against whites. That's roughly the same. But if you adjust for the difference in racial population, then there were six times as many blacks who murdered whites compared to one murder committed by a white against a black.

In short, on February 26, 2012, it was a man-bites-dog story, an unusual event, a white murdering a black The press didn't wait for the court to decide if this was a murder or a homicide justified by self-defense. The media immediately assumed it was a cold-blooded murder of a black by a white. The incident was coast-to-coast news for months.

You remember the story. A typical headline read, Unarmed Black Teenager Shot By White. The white was George Zimmerman. He was immediately trialed in the press and in the streets and found guilty of murder. The mixed racial community of Sanford, Florida, where the nationally publicized shooting took place, was polarized and radicalized. It was whites and blacks against each other.

Finally, 16 months after the shooting came the first shocker. Two days before a grand jury was to release its finding, it was legally disbanded. Then, the second shocker. The trial jury acquitted George Zimmerman of murdering 17-year-old Travyon Martin. And then, the third shocker. The riots, violence, and looting, that were predicted to follow a not guilty verdict never materialized.

Now we're in the midst of another Zimmermanesque shooting.

Last August, a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed, black teenager in the racial mixed community of Ferguson, Missouri. A representative headline is eerily familiar: Unarmed Black Teenager Shot By White.

The residents of Ferguson were polarized and radicalized. Witnesses claim that Brown had his hands held high crying, “Hands up. Don't shoot,” before he was shot multiple times. Others say that Wilson fired in self-defense.

A grand jury convened to decide if Wilson should stand trial for murder. Now after deliberating for four months the grand jury is ready to give its verdict.

The autopsy of Brown's body, the medical examination of Wilson's injuries sustained in a struggle with the 6' 4”, 300-pound Brown, and the testimony of witnesses, all substantiate Wilson's account. This leads many to speculate that he will not be indicted for first-degree murder or any of five lesser charges.

Will the expected violence, looting, and riots follow?

Ferguson expects it will. Since Brown's death the city has been wracked by daily protests, riots, looting, and hundreds of arrests. Ferguson has spent $173,000 for teargas and smoke grenades, sting grenades that shoot out dozens of rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, and pepper balls. Add to that riot helmets, shields, batons, and plastic handcuffs to detain rioters.

The county police department is also gearing-up for trouble. It spent $325,000 for civil disobedience equipment and special riot training for 350 police officers.

Eventually, the fire of racial discontent will die but the ashes shall remain. In Ferguson and elsewhere, the “ashes” may prove to be more destructive than the fire. To wit: 1.) The tyranny of the mob threatens the rule of law. Officer Wilson has already been trialed in the streets and found guilty. 2.) Ferguson's Chief of Police Tomas Jackson has repeatedly and publicly apologized, but for what is unclear. He has unwittingly thrown a mantle of guilt over himself and the city's entire police department. Jackson may be forced to resign, a sacrificial lamb thrown to those who would hold law abiding whites and blacks hostage to violence and intimidation.  3.) Police officers everywhere may be tempted to turn a blind eye to crimes involving race; Who wants to be another Zimmerman or Wilson?

Today residents in Ferguson hold their breath. The grand jury is expected to give its verdict any day. The hope of whites and blacks alike is that this day will pass quietly into the night, as it did in Sanford one year ago.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA