Whomever first said endings mark new beginnings probably did not have Darren Wilson in mind. Before the Grand Jury even announced their ruling on whether to try the Ferguson, MO police officer for murdering Michael Brown, Wilson began moving on with his life. Alas, Brown can never have that option.
Last Thursday, CNN mentioned they’d heard Wilson planned to resign — not because he thinks he did anything wrong, of course — so he could “ease pressure and protect his fellow officers.” On Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter discovered Wilson’s meetings with various journalists hoping to score his first post-verdict interview. Wilson gets to pick from NBC News’s Matt Lauer, ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, CBS News’s Scott Pelley, plus CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon, and he’ll probably pick the one that gives the most sympathetic treatment for the most money.
Then, the New York Times dropped a bombshell on Monday: Wilson had secretly married fellow Ferguson Police Officer Barbara Spradling a month ago! And they’ve got the marriage license to prove it:
Darren Wilson’s marriage license photo: New York Times.
According to the New York Times:
Records show that Officer Wilson, 28, and Officer Spradling, 37, were married on Oct. 24. One of the two witnesses at the ceremony was Greg Kloeppel, one of Officer Wilson’s lawyers. Christopher B. Graville, a municipal judge in Oakland, Mo., performed the ceremony.
It’s just as well, since they were already living in sin anyway in a house they bought in the nearby suburb of Crestwood. But of course the neighbors haven’t seen hide nor hair of them since Wilson shot Brown on August 8th. And the Daily Mail even has photos of Wilson and his lucky bride.
Photos of Wilson and Spradling via the Daily Mail.
Naturally, the folks on Twitter have lots to say. First there’s that matter of the $400,000 Wilson reportedly took in from donations to the CaringBridge account his supporters set up for him.
Oh, and Wilson’s been drawing his salary this whole time, even though he’s suspended from the police force, and he’ll probably score a hefty chunk of change from whomever lands his interview. And his lawyer’s probably shopping a book deal even as we speak.
Gawker offers a sarcastic congratulations:
Some suspect Wilson got married so his fellow officer can plead the Fifth Amendment if he goes to trial:
Many feel resentful that Wilson can get married and have a happy life and that Michael Brown will never have the chance.
… And some wonder why Wilson has time to get married but no time to testify in all those other cases he was involved in and which got dismissed.
Featured photo: CaringBridge via the Daily Mail.
my co-worker’s step-aunt makes $79 hourly on the computer … She has been out of work for 5 months but last month her pay check was $13400 just working on the computer for a few hours…..http://✩.ws/earner
Thus is not journalism. It is opinion, and a predetermi ed one at that. It is a fact of lufe that survivvors of any fatal conflict get to continue with their life while the losers do not. In this piece Elizabeth Parker assumes that she knows Wilson’s intent for his actions, and further assumes that his intent is sinister. Her article takes the unsupportable position that Wilson is pure evil and nothing else. She also would have us beliwve that the major news networks are in the habit of purchasing news. If that were true, why then do they cover stories that do not support their obvious political leanings? Why don’t they simply buy the news they wish to tell? Why does this writer ask no questions? Instead she assumes facts not in evidence anywhere other than in her own mind. This article is nothing more than the writer’s own outward ventilation of disgust. When learning the craft of writing, weren’t you told that to write in this stye weakens any argument you wish to present, and thoroughly dilutes any point you are trying to make. This is all for the simple reason that it makes the entire article look like it is not written by a writer with a rational mind. Sloppy work. Even for a novice