Winnipeg musician says Ferguson riots no surprise

The head of the University of Manitoba Jazz program says what's going on inhis home town in Missouri disappoints him, but doesn't surprise him.

Steve Kirby, who isoriginally from St. Louis, where Ferguson is a suburb, saysgiven the history of police relations in the states, the fact police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted in the death of the black teenMichael Browndid not shock him.

• Ferguson shooting grand jury decides not to indict officer Darren Wilson

Kirby says police are told they can shoot if they feel threatened.

"They call those free shots. They've been calling that free shots forever because you know basically if you've got any excuse to shoot at somebody that's coloured you can take it and you can get away with it because the system is going to protect you," Kirby said.

"Darren Wilson had a free shot, and he took it and now the whole police force has an opportunity to take free shots at a whole neighbourhood of black people and that's what they're doing."

Kirby says he can understand howBrown must have been feeling.

"If I was standing there looking down the barrel of a gun and a hillbilly on the other side, I'd be fighting for my life too," Kirby said."Because he knows that that guy's got about as much brain as an amoeba and he's holding a weapon and he's been taught that person that he's aiming at is not human."

Kirby says he doesn't necessarily blame Wilson for his actions. He says that's what police have been taught for generations.

He doesn't know if anything good can come out of the protests and the rioting. He says nothing will change until the racial divide in the U.S.changes.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowmansays despite talk of Winnipeg beinga racially-divided city, it is nothing like Ferguson, Missouri.

Speaking to CBC News on Tuesday, Bowman said heis disappointed to see the violence erupting in Ferguson.

• Ferguson smoulders after Michael Brown grand jury decision sparks riots

"It's terrible to see what'shappening and any time you see destruction of property and the types of activities we're witnessing on the news right now it's something you don't want to see in any city," he said.

The racial divide in Winnipeg came into focus in a recent Probe Research poll.Of the 602 Winnipeg adults who were surveyed, 75 per cent acknowledged there is a divide between aboriginal and non-aboriginal citizens.

• Deep racial division exists in Winnipeg, poll finds

Bowman says the issues Winnipeg face areentirely different to what is happening in Ferguson.

"When you look at Winnipeg and you even look at the response Winnipeggers had to the tragedy and the terrible assault on Rinelle Harper, our community has come together," Bowman said.

Harper is a First Nationsteen who was brutally attacked in downtown Winnipeg earlier this month.

• Winnipeg girl, 16, in hospital after assault near downtown bridge

Bowman admits there is a lot of work to do when it comes to dealing with racial issues in Winnipeg, but he believes this is a community that works together.