Let law work

The out-of-town groups protesting on and around campus about the noose-hanging issue need to direct their efforts elsewhere.

The Detroit chapter of the National Committee for Community Empowerment is one such group that Monday was putting pressure on the wrong areas in response to four nooses found hanging in the Engineering and Technology Building on Nov. 12.

NCCE members went Monday to speak with Isabella County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Burdick – but not before alerting all local media – in hopes of finding out from him why charges had not been filed against a male CMU student who had admitted to police he was responsible for the incident.

The group of protesters, which also included Detroit junior and Students Against Discrimination President Kierre Majors, met with Burdick and left disappointed, declaring that the incident “wasn’t a priority” for Burdick and the local authorities, and that a national protest would be organized for Dec. 7.

This all happened before Burdick even received the report from CMU Police detailing the results of the investigation.

It seems members of the NCCE would know that a prosecutor can’t bring charges against a suspect until the police have finished their investigation.

And it seems the purpose of the trip to Burdick’s office wasn’t for the benefit of people upset about the case, but for the benefit of those in the news media there to cover it.

The bottom line is that people up in arms over the noose situation need to let the law do its job. The police and FBI investigation has been completed, after more than 80 people were interviewed.

Burdick currently is reviewing the case file to determine what charges, if any, he is able to bring against the student who hung the nooses.

Until time has passed, these groups protesting the authorities doing their jobs should turn toward working on the environment at CMU – another area the NCCE mentioned before speaking to Burdick.

Groups should use events to educate students about the seriousness of what is taking place at CMU. They should work to make this a campus in which nooses, whether meant as Halloween pranks or ethnic intimidation, are not tolerated by anyone, regardless of whether a Detroit organization visits campus or not.

Wait until authorities have done something wrong to attack them. Wait until a reasonable amount of time has passed that action should have been taken, now that the investigation is completed.

Wait until there is something to fight about before starting a fight.