Police investigating if Michael Brown's stepfather intended to incite riot

[branford]

65. Somehow thousands of victims' families express grief every day

without even coming close to meeting the legal standards of inciting a riot, no less on video. The stepfather did quite a bit more that just "express grief."

In any event, not only have I already stated that I very much doubt the stepfather will actually be prosecuted, I do not think any prosecution would be necessary or productive. That does not mean I condone the remarks or believe a prosecution couldn't result in a supportable guilty verdict. In fact, many of the staunchest opponents of the Ferguson P.D. I've seen on television believe the comments were definitely not appropriate, but similarly believe extenuating circumstances counsel against a prosecution.

Simply, one crime does not excuse another. Most people are fully capable of believing both that Wilson should have been indicted and gone to trial and simultaneously are able to acknowledge that the stepfather's comments well exceeded what is considered acceptable even for a grieving relative and transgressed into territory that could easily be considered illegal.