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Reaction To Ferguson Grand Jury Decision Fanned By Social Media

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson came under fire online for remarks he made following the announcement for the St. Louis County grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the shooting of an unarmed teenager.

Johnson said the grand jury's finding that the indictments lacked probable cause is an injustice, and that it felt like it happened to somebody who lived in Sacramento.

The president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association gave a response expressing disappointment in Johnson's comments, saying in part, "The officer's actions have been examined in great detail and the evidence has been processed by experts multiple times."

It's just one example of the many heated exchanges that took place following Monday's announcement that officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Sacramento State professor Kevin Wehr says social media definitely contributed to the enormity of the response, and he says social media has become a trend on recent hot-button issues that can help to mobilize people and ideas.

"People express themselves and they share what's inside and then sometimes they want to take it back, because then people say 'You really feel that way?'" Wehr said.

He says that trend can also be frustrating.

"A lot of times it involves the repetition of rumor and innuendo and opinions that are not at all based on any kind of fact and that can lead to tragic consequences," he said. "Social media shows that people are ignorant, it shows that people are angry, it shows that people are compassionate. I would guess that most of what's being put out there is people just expressing how they feel, but no real answers for change."

Wehr says the access has turned the age-old conversation by the water cooler into a forum for millions to see, share and join in on.

"Relying on these disparate networks for information through social media becomes an alternative," he said. "Unfortunately its not an alternative that is necessarily verified."

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