Darren Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Force over the weekend following the grand jury decision not to indict him for killing unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Wilson cited security concerns for his decision and will stop getting paid immediately. The poor guy will also not receive a severance package.
All is not lost for Darren Wilson of course, this is America, a land where you can capitalize on the smallest of triumphs and the greatest of tragedies. Wilson won’t be able to work as a cop in Ferguson anymore (or anywhere else I hope), but where a door is closed, a palace gate is opened. By the time the dust settles, America will have made him a millionaire.
Almost immediately after Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, donations started pouring in from across the country for his defence, a defence that is no longer needed. The amount far surpasses the money that was raised for Michael Brown’s family.
With Facebook pages like “We Are Darren Wilson,” “I Support Officer Wilson” and “Support Darren Wilson,” Wilson’s backers have raised over $500,000 for the now former police officer. According to the anonymous woman who reportedly started these pro-Darren Wilson Facebook pages, $500,000 was just a “conservative” estimate. She also told the Daily Mail that when all is said and done, that number may easily jump into the seven figures.
A former GoFundMe account backed by Wilson supporters raised more than $235,000 before closing its donations in early September, likely due to complaints. A separate fundraising page on GoFundMe, was run by the police charity organization “Shield of Hope” and had raised nearly $200,000 before being shut sown.
As if the fundraising wasn’t enough, Darren Wilson reportedly received a hefty payout for his interview on ABC news. According to the website “Got News”, ABC and NBC were entangled in a bidding war over the interview, but ABC won out because of the enormous price they were was willing to pay.
Got News reported that Wilson received a “mid-to-high” six-figure fee for the interview. In other words, another $500,000 give or take. The dollar amount is still unconfirmed, but knowing the media in this country, it seems likely.
The interview by the way, which was carried out by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, waswidely criticized for asking Wilson soft ball questions and for not pressuring his side of the story. The soft interview was no doubt part of the deal.
If you add it all up (don’t forget to include the full salary he received while on leave), it appears that Darren Wilson can retire tomorrow. I doubt any of this was in Wilson’s mind on that fateful night in August, it’s just a by-product of a racist/capitalist America, a sold-out media and a rigged justice system.
This is also just the beginning. Just wait for the book deals and movie rights to come rolling in. Darren Wilson may have escaped justice for now and gotten rich doing it, but I doubt there will come a day when he finds peace, whether from the public or in his mind.