Police shooting of unarmed teen leads to protests and Riot

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Apparently there was a whole lot of looting after this news as well....i will never understand how those people who decide to loot/vandalize think it will help the situation in any way.

Ugh.

Perhaps the looting stems from a frustration of not being heard or treated properly? Through looting and vandalism you can be sure you make a point. It wouldn't be my choice of action but I have never been in this kind of situation.

From what I have read, the kid was good and trying to make something of himself. Trayvon Martin is pretty recent too. I might act out too.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

Perhaps the looting stems from a frustration of not being heard or treated properly? Through looting and vandalism you can be sure you make a point. It wouldn't be my choice of action but I have never been in this kind of situation.

From what I have read, the kid was good and trying to make something of himself. Trayvon Martin is pretty recent too. I might act out too.

Don't forget Eric Garner happened last month.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

You can afford all that military style hardware but no dash cams. Seriously Its weird that not one of their cars has them.

If I'm not mistaken, don't police forces get insanely cut rates on surplus/second hand military equipment. They aren't buy this stuff new, they are almost being given it by the government.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

No that would be stupid to say to shoot black kids. Too hide how they conduct themselves maybe. Its all speculation tho. Its just odd how many more black people over. You can afford all that military style hardware but no dash cams. Seriously Its weird that not one of their cars has them.


Then asking media to leave so they can control crowds.

Well, as long as it's not some crazy police conspiracy so that they can shoot first and not answer questions.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Well, as long as it's not some crazy police conspiracy so that they can shoot first and not answer questions.

No I would never think its so they can shoot first. There have been many cases like the one In New mexico where they gunned down a homeless man. Cameras are not going to stop Cops from shooting. Cameras. Although they might Shed a light on racial profiling tho. They might show a lot of the stops are not warranted.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

If I'm not mistaken, don't police forces get insanely cut rates on surplus/second hand military equipment. They aren't buy this stuff new, they are almost being given it by the government.

Maybe the government should be giving out some military style cameras so they can retro fit the cars with them, since they are giving stuff away.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

No that would be stupid to say to shoot black kids. Too hide how they conduct themselves maybe. Its all speculation tho. Its just odd how many more black people over. You can afford all that military style hardware but no dash cams. Seriously Its weird that not one of their cars has them.


Then asking media to leave so they can control crowds.

It is kind of curious how various police forces are gifted with military grade weaponry, and yet they can't manage to get dash cams. I would imagine dash cams might deter some of the more vigilante style officers from creating problems like this.

And while this is coming to a head in Ferguson right now, make no mistake--this is a nationwide problem. It's all too common now for police to take a shoot now, ask later approach when it comes to black men. Two recent examples:

In Ohio, a black man is shot and killed by police in a Walmart
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cops-shoo...oy-gun-walmart

Meanwhile, back in June, in Michigan, a drunken white man brandishes a weapon ranting about a revolution and calling police "gang members" and yet the police calmly talk with him and then don't even charge him with anything.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/..._open_car.html

[combustiblefuel]

Protests have flared up once again

Live feed.

http://fox2now.com/on-air/live-streaming/


Edit: feed is switching between live and replay.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

It is kind of curious how various police forces are gifted with military grade weaponry, and yet they can't manage to get dash cams.

Because they aren't given them, and dash cams are expensive. Body cameras even more so. But no one wants to fund the police.

I would imagine dash cams might deter some of the more vigilante style officers from creating problems like this.

You would be right. It also has the citizens interacting with police behaving a lot more. Almost kinda like when someone knows they are on camera and won't get away with shenanigans, they don't try to pull shenanigans...

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

It is kind of curious how various police forces are gifted with military grade weaponry, and yet they can't manage to get dash cams. I would imagine dash cams might deter some of the more vigilante style officers from creating problems like this.

And while this is coming to a head in Ferguson right now, make no mistake--this is a nationwide problem. It's all too common now for police to take a shoot now, ask later approach when it comes to black men. Two recent examples:

In Ohio, a black man is shot and killed by police in a Walmart
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cops-shoo...oy-gun-walmart

Meanwhile, back in June, in Michigan, a drunken white man brandishes a weapon ranting about a revolution and calling police "gang members" and yet the police calmly talk with him and then don't even charge him with anything.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/..._open_car.html

Many protesters wearing this
http://instagram.com/p/rlcT4LO1Cr/

[combustiblefuel]

[driveway]

People on Twitter calling out the media on the portrayal of black victims of violence.

Here are two pictures of Michael Brown, guess which one was first published by most news outlets reporting on the shooting?



More pictures from #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.

Spoiler!

I'm not big on hashtag activism, but twitter does media criticism really, really well.

[terminator]

Sounds like cut and dry murder.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by terminator

Sounds like cut and dry murder.

Yes, because you have all the details and answers from reading what the media says.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

It is kind of curious how various police forces are gifted with military grade weaponry, and yet they can't manage to get dash cams. I would imagine dash cams might deter some of the more vigilante style officers from creating problems like this.

It doesn't make it right, but part of the issue lies with the kind of weaponry gun nut freaks carry as well. An arms race is all but inevitable.

But the rest of your post is probably bang on. I am always amazed at the level of subtle racism when I'm in the US, and that is simple, every day life. Never mind the well known disparity in how blacks, whites and other races are treated by the legal system.

[To Be Quite Honest]

I'm good friends with a man in Atlanta, who happens to be black, and he posts almost DAILY videos of police brutality to black men and women. Just yesterday there was a video of a woman getting punched in the face and it was so hard to watch. It's getting very bad down there from what I'm shown...

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

It doesn't make it right, but part of the issue lies with the kind of weaponry gun nut freaks carry as well. An arms race is all but inevitable.

But the rest of your post is probably bang on. I am always amazed at the level of subtle racism when I'm in the US, and that is simple, every day life. Never mind the well known disparity in how blacks, whites and other races are treated by the legal system.

Every time I talk to my friend I hear the racial undertones because it's a different world down there. Every now and again he throws in a "I don't want to sound racists but..." I tell him that Canada is very different and it's hard for me to understand what is actually going on down there. We know racism exists and everyone feels it to some extent, but it's so ingrained the cultures down there. The segregation and the hate is so nerve-racking, disturbing and sad.

[Resolute 14]

Yeah, we aren't perfect by a long shot, but in a lot of ways, there really seems to be an implied caste system in places down there. It's disconcerting.

[Canuck-Hater]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Yes, because you have all the details and answers from reading what the media says.

We have enough information to know that the police murdered this teen who had his hands up in surrender.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Canuck-Hater

We have enough information to know that the police murdered this teen who had his hands up in surrender.

Except we don't. Innocent until proven guilty has to go both ways. Let the FBI investigate it, let the trial commence and then start drawing conclusions, which may be the exact same conclusions.

But remember the media manipulating the 911 call to make the Trayvon Martin situation look as much as a race case as possible to make ratings and sell newspapers. There was more information then and more people willing to come to the same conclusion but when the trial actually happened Zimmerman was acquitted because there was enough evidence to claim self-defense and not enough to claim murder.