Police shooting of unarmed teen leads to protests and Riot

[habernac]

State Police and the feds are relieving the force of their duties. Hope they're able to sort this out.

[DiracSpike]

I feel for the cops on that force. Obviously not the racist trigger happy dick bag that killed Brown but the 98% of guys who are good officers. Police work is difficult, people try and pretend like it's not but it is, and they put their lives on the line every day. Now this small suburban force is trying to deal with hordes of looters and anarchists and an army of reporters being in dangerous areas after they've been warned to stay away, all the while being painted as a KKK satellite chapter. Oh and now this anonymous group is threatening to release their privileged information.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I feel for the cops on that force. Obviously not the racist trigger happy dick bag that killed Brown but the 98% of guys who are good officers. Police work is difficult, people try and pretend like it's not but it is, and they put their lives on the line every day. Now this small suburban force is trying to deal with hordes of looters and anarchists and an army of reporters being in dangerous areas after they've been warned to stay away, all the while being painted as a KKK satellite chapter. Oh and now this anonymous group is threatening to release their privileged information.

"Small suburban police force"

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I feel for the cops on that force. Obviously not the racist trigger happy dick bag that killed Brown but the 98% of guys who are good officers. Police work is difficult, people try and pretend like it's not but it is, and they put their lives on the line every day. Now this small suburban force is trying to deal with hordes of looters and anarchists and an army of reporters being in dangerous areas after they've been warned to stay away, all the while being painted as a KKK satellite chapter. Oh and now this anonymous group is threatening to release their privileged information.

Yeah, those reporters are in a dangerous area, so protect them by launching tear gas at them?

[nik-]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I feel for the cops on that force. Obviously not the racist trigger happy dick bag that killed Brown but the 98% of guys who are good officers. Police work is difficult, people try and pretend like it's not but it is, and they put their lives on the line every day. Now this small suburban force is trying to deal with hordes of looters and anarchists and an army of reporters being in dangerous areas after they've been warned to stay away, all the while being painted as a KKK satellite chapter. Oh and now this anonymous group is threatening to release their privileged information.

This is such apologist BS. There are reporters on the front lines in Syria. I'm sure reporters can handle a protest. The fact that the police want no media there is terrifying and embarrassing for that police department.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by nik-

This is such apologist BS. There are reporters on the front lines in Syria. I'm sure reporters can handle a protest. The fact that the police want no media there is terrifying and embarrassing for that police department.

Even worse than being embarassing and scary, it's amazingly naive and idiotic to believe they could supress information in this day and age, and attempting to do so will only result in even more negative backlash. This PD look like a bunch of rank amateurs.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Even worse than being embarassing and scary, it's amazingly naive and idiotic to believe they could supress information in this day and age, and attempting to do so will only result in even more negative backlash. This PD look like a bunch of rank amateurs.

"Hey Cletus ... what's a tweeter?"

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by driveway

"Small suburban police force"

I guess I'm missing where it says Ferguson PD on that truck. According to Wikipedia they have 54 officers and annual budget of 5.2 million, so yeah, I would consider them a small police force.

[sec304]

Wow, the Anonymous stuff is getting hectic!

[driveway]

How's this.



or this



or this



or this

[terminator]

Originally Posted by sec304

Wow, the Anonymous stuff is getting hectic!

F the Furgeson police.

Where are you getting the Anonymous updateS?

[karl262]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I feel for the cops on that force. Obviously not the racist trigger happy dick bag that killed Brown but the 98% of guys who are good officers. Police work is difficult, people try and pretend like it's not but it is, and they put their lives on the line every day. Now this small suburban force is trying to deal with hordes of looters and anarchists and an army of reporters being in dangerous areas after they've been warned to stay away, all the while being painted as a KKK satellite chapter. Oh and now this anonymous group is threatening to release their privileged information.

Yes, police work is difficult. Very difficult. I have a hard time believing that in this case 98% or even close to that number of these officers are "good officers". How can a "good officer" be A-OK with violently dispersing a peaceful, constitutionally protected right to protest while arresting journalists for covering the story. At some point a "good officer" would grow a conscience and not follow the orders to fire rubber bullets and tear gas on an unarmed, nonviolent gathering. If the crowd was violent we have a different scenario, but that certainly wasn't the case in the live feed posted. Didn't seem that 98% of the police officers had any second thoughts at all.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by terminator

F the Furgeson police.

Where are you getting the Anonymous updateS?

twitter.com/youranonnews

[Senator Clay Davis]

[sec304]

Originally Posted by terminator

F the Furgeson police.

Where are you getting the Anonymous updateS?

Just twitter (their acct was suspended, but they popped up another one quickly) and instagram has people sharing the officers pics like crazy...

I don't want to link things here.

[Coys1882]

That's a really good statement.

I'm really surprised that these police forces spend so heavily on this military equipment when instead they should be go-proing and dash caming every interaction with the public they have.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

That's a really good statement.

I'm really surprised that these police forces spend so heavily on this military equipment when instead they should be go-proing and dash caming every interaction with the public they have.

Who says they actually spend money on the military equipment? Lots of the stuff is surplus stuff and simply gets passed down by DHS.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Rand Paul has an Op-Ed in Time saying the same thing as Claire McCaskill

http://time.com/#3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

The part about the white cops is somewhat offbase, but the overall point of the militarization of police forces in America is dead on.


http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...oting-protests

Originally Posted by Coys1882

I'm really surprised that these police forces spend so heavily on this military equipment when instead they should be go-proing and dash caming every interaction with the public they have.

I could be wrong (and often am), but as I recall, after 9/11 the US government essentially granted huge amounts of money for police departments all over the US to, essentially, military-up. The money could only be used to get new "anti-terror" equipment, so dash-cams and the like weren't on the eligibility list. I remember reading articles about how small towns in the middle of nowhere were essentially being "forced" to buy SWAT-type equipment, that they would likely never use, or else they'd lose the money (which no one ever wants to do).

In any event, the increasing militarization of the police is getting out of control and simply results in increased militarization (or, at least, increased gun buying) by the public. Fear begets fear, and weapons buying begets weapons buying. It is a never-ending cycle.

But, of course, the government itself is making money off of the whole thing. Or, at least, those in power are. Congressmen get increased donations from military equipment makers, and from the gun manufacturers, as more of their products are bought and "needed." The criminal justice system needs criminals to operate (and particularly to operate at a profit--running all those privatized prisons and courthouses costs money, you know), so there is an incentive to increase the criminal population, so more things get criminalized, the police gets militarized, and the American public gets, well, sodomized.

It is like the US government's Middle East policy: we fund both sides of the war, and then we wonder why seemingly nothing ever improves or changes for the better.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Rand Paul has an Op-Ed in Time saying the same thing as Claire McCaskill

http://time.com/#3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/

Tinfoil hat jokes aside, when you start piecing all of those things together, it actually is pretty scary what is occurring in what is "supposed to be" the banner democracy for the world.

When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury—national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture—we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.