( CNN ) -- The grand jury has made its decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown last August in Ferguson , Missouri . But another verdict became clear last night , too . The decision by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch to announce the decision at 8:30 p.m. CT was foolish and dangerous . Here 's the thing about that time of night : it 's dark . Anyone -- anyone ! -- should have known that the decision in the Brown case would have been controversial . A decision not to indict , which was always possible , even likely , would have been sure to attract protests , even violence . Crowd control is always more difficult in the dark . The grand jury 's deliberations concluded around lunchtime on Monday . It would have been simple to make the announcement while it was still daytime . Still , McCulloch said that he would not announce the grand jury 's decision until 8 p.m. CT. Read Wilson 's grand jury testimony . At a news conference in the late afternoon , Gov . Jay Nixon was asked about this nighttime announcement . In an answer that was consistent with his generally clueless performance throughout this crisis , Nixon said the decision to announce the decision at night was made solely by McCulloch . In other words , do n't ask him ! He 's only the governor ! Complete coverage of what 's happening in Ferguson . McCulloch started his announcement late , and he was not finished until around 9 p.m. , local time . His tone was icy and divisive . His sympathy for the Brown family was perfunctory . He seemed more angry at the news media than about the death of a young man . Are protests taking place near you ? The predictable reaction ensued . Protests began , some of them violent . Police responded with tear gas . Fires burned . Cars were destroyed . Gunshots were heard . The full scale of the damage was difficult to assess last night . The ultimate verdict on the grand jury 's decision is up to history at this point . But the verdict on McCulloch opting to announce the decision at night is clear -- and devastating . Protests spread far beyond Ferguson .
Jeffrey Toobin says prosecutor 's choice to announce grand jury decision at night was clueless . He says deliberations ended at lunchtime , announcing at night was needlessly provocative . Crowd control harder at night . Plus McCulloch 's tone was icy , insensitive , divisive , he says . Toobin : Violence ensued . Verdict on McCulloch 's decision on timing is clear , devastating .