At approximately 9:20 EST on Monday night, the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, handed down its decision regarding the incident that transpired on August 9th when officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown after a physical altercation in which Brown violently assaulted officer Wilson.

The grand jury was provided with a significant amount of physical evidence and heard many hours of testimony from witnesses who were there as well as medical and forensic experts.  As everyone expected, there were mixed reactions from supporters on both sides of the incident.

As soon as the official statement was released, rioters and protesters took to the streets almost immediately. Whereas some people protested in a peaceful manner, there was no shortage of those who decided to pillage and destroy their community.

As Opposing Views reported, President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Brown’s parents and Wilson’s lawyers all released statements within an hour of the grand jury’s decision becoming public.

After the official statements were made, officer Darren Wilson released an open letter that was addressed to his supporters. You can read it below:

I would like to thank you all for standing up for me during this stressful time. Your support and dedication is amazing and it is still hard to believe that all of these people that I have never met are doing so much for me. I watched the CNN video we recorded at the rally on Saturday and it brought tears to my eyes.

All of you are simply amazing, and I don’t know how to thank you all enough. I wish I could attend meet you, hug you, and personally thank you for all of your continued support, however, due to my and my families safety I am unable to. Please don’t give this letter to any media or post it where they can see it. Relay the message of thanks to all and keep this letter private until the investigation is complete. 

I want you all to know that I do get updates on the amount of support. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see all of the comments made through social media, but overall messages are relayed to me. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and know that I would do the same for any of you.

Also please keep my family in blue in your hearts and prayers, they have all made a sacrifice to their own lives in order to work the excessive hours through the heat and rain to ensure that the riots and protests in Ferguson were as safe as they could be. 

Thank you,

P.O. Darren Wilson

H/T: Opposing Views