Like many people here in the United States, I want to believe that our laws are just. People are charged for crimes they commit; they do their time, life goes on. Unfortunately that is not the case. I do not have any faith in our justice system. I no longer trust our government.

The fact that people are more concerned about riots in Ferguson, Mo., Oakland and elsewhere, than about the fact that this police officer just got away with murder in a country where black and brown bodies are seen as disposable, is truly disheartening. It shows how little regard people have for the lives of young people of color, how folks value property before human life.

For those saying it’s not about race: I strongly disagree about it not being about race. I’ve seen first-hand how differently my black friends are treated by police officers. The media demonizes kids and portrays them as thugs while white serial killers are portrayed as misguided and misunderstood.

Police have killed so many unarmed black men that society has become numb to it and we now accept it as normal. Then we get mad when the community acts out in response to injustice and a flawed system. It’s easy to say its not about race when you don’t experience these things; unfortunately, too many of us turn a blind eye to it because it doesn’t affect us directly.

The governed are only governed by consent. I no longer consent to be governed by a broken, corrupt and unjust system of oppressive laws and regulations. This is my declaration of independence. What the United States was built on. One has a moral obligation to break the law in protest when the laws are unjust.