Police shooting of unarmed teen leads to protests and Riot

[GirlySports]

wow Obama looks old.

[photon]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

wow Obama looks old.

I always wonder if presidents look to age super fast because of the stress, or if they're typically at an age where all men age that fast.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Totally off topic, but the aging of an American president is always interesting to watch. 100% I'd chalk it up to the stress and total lack of a proper sleep at any point. The guys that do two terms tend to age 20-25 years.

[GirlySports]

i think it's the stress, if you look at your own dad he didn't age that fast at that age.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

That, in and of itself, is a messed up priority.

If I kill someone at work, I don't go talk to WorkSafe about it first.

I understand the necessity to shield police officers from reprisal and street justice, but if we're going to start saying shooting someone is first a work related matter and a criminal matter second, that's one ####ED UP standard.

Honestly, say it out loud, "But these murder cases that involve cops are usually treated as work incidents".

That's something I'd read in the onion.

I never said it was right, simply stating what usually happens when these occur. If I get positively identified as shooting someone I'll get arrested immediately, but police officers get put on leave and an investigation occurs.

That's the reality.

I already said earlier in that post that I think he should be in jail. Hopefully once they determine its a wrongful killing he will be convicted unlike Zimmerman was. Jeeze.

[Arya Stark]

Originally Posted by photon

I always wonder if presidents look to age super fast because of the stress, or if they're typically at an age where all men age that fast.

I would like to know the context of the pictures. Was he wearing makeup in the first pic for a magazine? Was the second pic snapped with a camera phone and had no editing?

To me, the first pic looks photo shopped. I can tell from the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.

[Itse]

Heavy modern military gear looks and feels pretty awesome if you're not used to it. You feel like a tank and I think most people get a pretty hefty adrenaline rush just from walking around in it. Wearing it to face an angry crowd is just asking for trouble.

This is something many activists have pointed out for years; that the more gear you give to the police, the more prone they are to also start behaving in threatening ways and escalate the situation.

(It's actually quite scary to see how much a persons whole behavior can change just because he's dressed up in a certain way.)

Giving all that gear to police without proper experience and training is a perfect way to get the police start acting violently and threaten people, even if they weren't inclined to do so before.

Even the US military, (not exactly known for it's gentle touch), knows better than to do what the police in Ferguson were doing.

The Veterans on Ferguson page has some good quotes on the topic.

James Skylar Gerrond @JimmySky
In the USAF, we did crowd control and riot training every year.
Lesson 1: Your mere presence has the potential to escalate the situation.

jeffclement @jeffclement
A few people have pointed it out, but our ROE regarding who we could point weapons at in Afghanistan was more restrictive than cops in MO.

Phillip Carter @inteldump
FWIW I led foot patrols in downtown Baquba, #Iraq in 2005-06 w/less firepower than #Ferguson PD (excl fire spt) @CaptainAwwsum @AthertonKD

[Senator Clay Davis]

The big loser here by far is the St. Louis County PD. They look ridiculously bad when as soon as the state police and FBI show up without the militaristic approach, everything changes.

"All they did was look at us and shoot tear gas," said Pedro Smith, 41, who has participated in the nightly protests. "This is totally different. Now we're being treated with respect."

But the latest protests had a light, almost jubilant atmosphere among the racially mixed crowd, more akin to a parade or block party. The streets were filled with music, free food and even laughter. When darkness fell — the point at which previous protests have grown tense — no uniformed officers were in sight outside the burned-out QuikTrip convenience store that had become a flashpoint for standoffs between police and protesters.

"You can feel it. You can see it," protester Cleo Willis said of the change. "Now it's up to us to ride that feeling."

Nixon appointed Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is black, to lead the police effort. Johnson, who grew up near Ferguson and commands a region that includes St. Louis County, marched alongside protesters Thursday, joined by other high-ranking brass from the Highway Patrol as well as the county department. The marchers also had a police escort.

"We're here to serve and protect," Johnson said. "We're not here to instill fear."

http://news.yahoo.com/turmoil-tear-g...053336976.html

[Itse]

That's the best possible thing to happen at this point. The image of people turning from fearing the police to hugging them makes for a great addition to the public discussion.

I also got to thinking that there must be some part of the US police force who dislike the militarization that's been happening since 9/11. (Simply because people always have opinions on what are the right and wrong ways to do their jobs.)

I wonder how small or large that part is, and how much these events have affected those feelings.

[GirlySports]

Alrighty! All better! Americans can go back to forgetting about their paramilitary police force now.

So when's the next batch of outrage going to happen?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Alrighty! All better! Americans can go back to forgetting about their paramilitary police force now.

So when's the next batch of outrage going to happen?

Probably when the LAPD shoots 4 people in a manhunt for another cop who's making them look bad.

HOpefully they corner him in a cabin and then burn it to the ground around him.

Justice.

[corporatejay]

The police are now alleging that the kid stole a box of cigars before being gunned down and was considered a robbery suspect.....WTF is going on.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

The police are now alleging that the kid stole a box of cigars before being gunned down and was considered a robbery suspect.....WTF is going on.

Well, "he was resisting" didn't yield much fruit because he was 35 feet away.

I'm surprised they didn't sprinkle some crack on him.

Spoiler!

[undercoverbrother]

Officer has been named.

http://mashable.com/2014/08/15/fergu...brown-officer/

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson named Darren Wilson as the officer who shot and killed unarmed Michael Brown, 18, in the St. Louis suburb on Aug 9.

Sorry if fata

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Totally off topic, but the aging of an American president is always interesting to watch. 100% I'd chalk it up to the stress and total lack of a proper sleep at any point. The guys that do two terms tend to age 20-25 years.

I think you nailed it about the sleep.

Evening/night interruptions, meetings essentially until bed time, constant reflection and recalculations, and probably horrible fatigue from incomplete nightly processing.

Sleep, sleep, sleep. It's all about the rest.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I think you nailed it about the sleep.

Evening/night interruptions, meetings essentially until bed time, constant reflection and recalculations, and probably horrible fatigue from incomplete nightly processing.

Sleep, sleep, sleep. It's all about the rest.

Not to mentiont the 24 hr chef and full kitchen that can whip up any midnight snack you need, those 2 am rib binges will get you every time.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Not to mentiont the 24 hr chef and full kitchen that can whip up any midnight snack you need, those 2 am rib binges will get you every time.

If I had a personal chef available to me 24 hours a day I would weigh like 500 pounds.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by codynw

If I had a personal chef available to me 24 hours a day I would weigh like 500 pounds.

Well both Clinton and Bush had heart surgery after their presidencies ... so maybe you're not too far off.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Totally off topic, but the aging of an American president is always interesting to watch. 100% I'd chalk it up to the stress and total lack of a proper sleep at any point. The guys that do two terms tend to age 20-25 years.

I think part of it is that they stop with a lot of the makeup and stuff after the 2nd term starts. Since they don't need to worry about re-election, they stop trying to impress as much.

[Canehdianman]

Police announced the name of the police officer who shot the kid in Ferguson.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/story.html?id=10121184