(Robert Lederman)

Here are some people who need to shut up:

Rudy Giuliani
Rudy, you had your day in the sun. You’re not running for president. Now go in peace and shut the hell up. I don’t care what you think about Ferguson. You are only fanning the flames, and it isn’t helping.

In his Meet the Press segment with  Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson on November 23, Giuliani said, “Ninety-three percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks.” He said this was the reason for a heavy police presence in Ferguson. Yes, most homicides are intraracial, committed by friends or acquaintances of the victim, while interracial crimes tend to be committed more frequently by strangers. As Professor Dyson pointed out, Giuliani’s statements lack context. Here are some facts:

“The 2013 FBI Uniform Crime Report, a compilation of annual crime statistics, also shows similar data: 83 percent of white victims were killed by white offenders; 90 percent of black victims were killed by black offenders . . . .”

83% vs. 90% isn’t much of a gap, so why is Giuliani harping on the black on black percentage?

“A ProPublica analysis of federal data from 2010 to 2012 found young black males were 21 times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts.” I would hope this bit of data would give Mr. Giuliani pause.

St. Louis Police Officers Association
The St. Louis Police Officers Association demands that the NFL punish the five Rams players who stood with their hands up in the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture before jogging onto the field for pregame instructions on Sunday. Seriously? Last I checked, the First Amendment is still viable.

It is “profoundly disappointed” with what it calls a “display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive and inflammatory.”

What I find tasteless and offensive is that Darren Wilson has no plans to apologize to Michael Brown’s parents for murdering their son, and states that he has a “clean conscience.” Even if Wilson felt his life was in danger and he had no recourse but to take a life, has he not one shred of remorse over killing another human being? I find it offensive that Michael Brown’s body was left unattended in the street four hours after the shooting. As far as “inflammatory,” does the St. Louis POA truly believe that five football players with their hands in the air are going to further “inflame” protests?

Who do you think needs to shut up?