With behavior like that, the cops in #Ferguson are not the good guys.
I’m not saying that they’re the bad guys, but it’s pretty clear that they should be ashamed of their actions.
Isn’t Micheal Brown the third unarmed black kid this week to get killed by police? I mean, WTF.
OccupyWallStreet now has a cogent reason to be.
Where did Occupy go?
[quote=“BackToYouJim, post:4, topic:38995, full:true”]
OccupyWallStreet now has a cogent reason to be.
Where did Occupy go?
[/quote]Nowhere. Occupy went nowhere. Because they, like the rest of the non-Black, non-LGBT, activist left, rejected organization in favor of New Left style anti-authoritarian uselessness.
Because it hasn’t been posted anywhere that I can find on BB, and it is directly relevant to the behavior of the police:
On Sunday night, after earlier peaceful protests, the Quik Trip where Michael Brown was shot was looted and burned to the ground. Neighboring stores were also looted.
This is why the police are running around so aggressively armed in Ferguson. They’ve already had looting and one place has already been totally destroyed. I do believe their numbers and force are overkill, and will only escalate the situation. So, I am not agreeing with the decision to show such force in a town that is rightfully angry - I’m just letting people know that there has been violence and unpredictability since the shooting.
EDIT: BEFORE YOU REPLY TO THIS POST: read this other responses first - I honestly DON’T approve of the police presence - seriously! I’m only providing information that really is a part of this story and hadn’t been included anywhere on this site.
I’ve found it frustrating in most the larger news organizations have focused primarily on the looting and there’s been a surprising number of articles where at some point they say “it is currently unknown if he was affiliated with any gangs” Why does that get added to an article nearly every time a cop shoots a black kid. You never see the news article mention the cop and then say “it is currently unknown if the cop is affiliated with any hate groups or has a history of violence”. It comes across as an attempt at character assassination and to paint the dead kid in as bad a light as they can to try and tilt public opinion.
It’s not the police presence that is the problem, it’s the nature of the presence…a platoon of wannabe Rambos with drawn guns pointed at unarmed people in broad daylight. It’s obvious that they can’t wait to get to use their toys. The sniper guy apparently using his scope as binoculars. How would those “peace officers” like it if someone was watching their families through a scope? Oh, THAT’D be terrorism. Americans literally do not have rights anymore when faced with police.
I hate to say it, but when these militarized assholes get shot in drug raids, I have to remind myself that they had families, because my first reaction is something about a goose and a gander.
The National Guard should be sent in to protect the protesters from the police.
Please continue separating all into US v THEM. It works every time.
And I seem to remember a large contingent of Black America being against gay marriage … but that is none of my business.
100% agree. militarization of the police? is a bad thing ™
it encourages escalation not? peaceful agreement of terms.
When someone points a firearm at me? I assume they are about to use it. BAD BAD all around bad.
As a civilian, if I point a firearm, I kinda know I am gonna get killed. Firearm safety rules? apply to everyone. this is bad all bad
I realize you didn’t reply to me, but hope you understand that I wasn’t trying to unnecessarily focus on the looting. It just hasn’t been mentioned here at all (even though it happened on Sunday), and it does matter when you consider how law enforcement will (or even if they will) behave.
I said nothing about the guy who was shot.
You didn’t even need to point that out to me. I already said:
Welcome to America.
Yep. This kind of deployment would be appropriate at night if there were tons of rowdy people running around and looting happening. But here they can SEE the people around them. Acting like it’s Tikrit is going to end badly.
Because the cops suggest it to justify their actions.
Hey, I am not criticizing your observation that there has been looting, or looting is bad. However I think the line of reasoning that went from “potential police homicide” to “burning down a store that has insurance” to “riot police arresting and aiming guns at peaceful protesters” is quite alarming. Yes, there are a-holes that will take advantage of a terrible situation like this, but the force has been overwhelmingly applied not to the hooligans, but to the peaceful protestors.
As an aside, the phrase "West Florissant Avenue in a permitted march. " made me really sad. Permitted march? Really? Is right to assemble so fragile it has to be permitted by the people you are protesting?
-edit-
Catgrin, I think the internet is sometimes just too good at removing nuance from a likely nuanced opinion (like yours). I hope my reply doesn’t sound like an attack, simply a comment on how messed up the situation is.
is it none of your business because that’s them and not us? i mean, was that your point? i don’t really get it.
Oh totally, sorry if it seemed that was aimed at you. We are utterly in agreement. The looting requires a strong police presence to stop, or it’s going to precipitate a lot more violence. It’s just that it seems much less aimed at stopping looting than intimidation. Easy to be unclear on comment threads.
[quote=“BackToYouJim, post:10, topic:38995”]
Please continue separating all into US v THEM. It works every time.
[/quote]There was no “Vs.” in that statement. Just pointing out that half the left has embraced a sort of activism that works, and half has embraced a method that doesn’t work. Black and gay folks are nearly the only parts of the left that have gotten anything done in America for decades. And it’s because we do top down, hierarchical, well organized work.
Occupy could, and should have accomplished good things. They didn’t though, because they reject that sort of organization.
The strong police presence should be protecting the peaceful protesters from the rioters and looters. The collective punishment and presumption of guilt is what started this whole mess and what continues to escalate it.
The police force should have professional, uniformed officers as their public face. Keep the riot police on standby, not pointing guns and putting everyone on edge.
