Columnist Backs Mayor Johnson’s Absurd Ferguson Comments

Marcos Breton, columnist for the Sacramento Bee, has defended Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s absurd comments on the Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict former officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. 

Breton says that Johnson is being punished for merely having the courage to speak out about race and justice. He adds that Johnson’s opinions are nuanced–“not as black and white” as others’ views.

Johnson, who watched the decision being delivered on a big screen together with hundreds of local leaders, had said: “This is just a sad day for America, in my opinion, when you think about injustice and all the things that have happened over the history of time. This one just doesn’t feel right.” 

Those hyperbolic remarks made clear that Johnson was taking sides against the police, not with the justice system itself, or the rights of the accused.

Breton portrays Johnson as a victim, the target of racist Facebook comments and so on. He applauds Johnson for his courage to “acknowledge” that Ferguson was about race: “To his credit, Johnson wants to have the discussion even if others don’t.” 

The difficulty is that few who claim they want a conversation about race, and taunt those “cowards” who may decline, are prepared to follow it where facts may lead–in this case, to exoneration.

Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.

Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak