Recently, two alleged cases of police brutality have been hotly debated cases in the news. The first, and better-known case, involves Michael Brown and officer Darrin Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The second case includes Eric Garner and police officer Daniel Pantaleo in Staten Island. In both cases, the officers ended up killing the men. Despite the evidence presented to both juries, neither of the police officers was indicted for their crimes. This has created a lot of controversy and has led to many demonstrations nationwide.

The demonstrators have used both peaceful and violent forms of protesting. Many students at colleges and universities across the country have been involved in peaceful demonstrations. In the Michael Brown case, students at Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis, both near Ferguson, have participated in walkouts.  Also in St. Louis, five players for the St. Louis Rams raised their arms towards Ferguson in an attempt to use their leverage and status to draw attention towards the injustice they felt has been committed. Directly following the gestures made by the Rams players, the NFL wanted the Rams to suspend the five players involved. However, the players were not suspended because nothing illegal had been done and they were simply exercising their right to free speech.

Similarly, regarding the Eric Garner case, professional athletes also have used their television exposure to convey their opinion by wearing shirts with “I can’t breathe” written across the front. “I can’t breathe”, were the apparent last words spoken by Eric Garner before he died. These athletes and college students have all exercised one of their basic rights as American citizens. However, when demonstrators start acting violently, the message that they are trying to convey to the world is lost.

In Ferguson, Missouri violent riots broke out across the city. People were looting and setting fires to buildings, forcing many people to go out of business. These people are neighbors, some of which share the same opinion as them. However, this didn’t stop people from looting and robbing stores. In response to the violent protests, militarized police was sent in to the area. This generated even more controversy because they felt that this was unneeded and the government had gone too far. These rioters have caused people to lose focus in what these people are trying to say. They drew attention away from the police brutality and have made the spotlight focus onto the violence and negative headlines coming out of Ferguson.

More negative attention was drawn to the cases when two NYPD officers where shot and killed at point blank range while sitting in their car. The man responsible for this heinous crime, claimed to have killed them in retaliation for the death of Michael Brown. This was not the only case of people attempting to harm police officers. Angry protestors have tried to hit officers with their cars and one officer was attacked with a hatchet. Also, the two officers in the Brown and Garner cases have received threats and both were forced to resign in fear for their own lives. Although people have varying opinions, this does not entitle them to harm other human beings.

Both Garner and Brown were killed not in cold blood, but under very complicated circumstances. Michael Brown was killed after he had just robbed a convenience store, and according to officer Wilson’s testimony, had tried to grab the gun from the officers holster. In the Garner case, Garner was being arrested for selling “loosies”, or individual unwrapped cigarettes. Garner denied his involvement, but he was still arrested. During the arrest, he was put into a headlock, which is a technique standardly taught to police officers. Given the facts, most people are able to draw their own opinions on the cases. However, whatever their opinion, most people can unanimously agree that there was no need for violence. In these cases, the peaceful demonstrations were much more effective. Rioting, looting, and burning down entire buildings did nothing to sway the opinions of the jurors. What was done can not be undone, whether you agree with the verdict or you disagree, nothing within the power of humankind could have changed the outcome of either case.