Teenager's Death Causes Chaos in Ferguson, Missouri

Personally, I think it's a little early to go into chaos, as we don't know the full story.

Chaos and Looting in Ferguson, Michigan, after Teen Is Killed by Police

• Source: Business Insider
• Published: August 11, 2014

 

My bad. Fixed.

 

We absolutely know the full story. Brown was murdered, another victim of police brutality and racism in this country. This has evolved to full scale protests. The police have been shooting rubber bullets and tear gas on protesters, have locked down Ferguson to the media (so that's two Constitutional rights being broken here), and refused to interview eyewitness accounts. Antonio French, who was mentioned in that article, has been arrested. We all know what's going on here... but the police don't want to admit it.

Basically if you're not horrified by what's going down in Ferguson, you need to read up. Because you should be.

 

Well, I meant that something must have happened to cause the police to go out there in the first place.

But yes, I agree that some police abuse their powers, but at the same time, I also think that, more often than not (say, nine times out of ten), when people say police abuse their powers, they actually haven't. Just like there are police that abuse their powers, there are citizens that hate police and will do anything to make them look bad by complaining over anything they think is abuse.

 

That's a very idealized view. Unfortunately police brutality is a very real thing and absolutely the case here. Police officers are in a position of power, which is easily abused, and I do not agree with your statement in the slightest. It is however difficult to cite statistics and studies here because so often is violence covered up and officers not convicted. When it's so clear what happened with Michael Brown, I don't think we should disrespect him and the countless other victims of police brutality by defending the people who abuse their position for their hateful actions.

 

Which statement? The one about citizens making police look bad?

No, of course not. I completely agree with you here. Although does anyone know what made the police go out there to begin with?

I'll try and word what I said better, and feel free to tell me if you agree, disagree, or are somewhere in the middle: Most police officers don't abuse their powers, but, unfortunately, there are those who do.

 

You're correct in saying that most officers are just doing their jobs and are decent, however, going "NOT ALL POLICE" is just derailing the conversation with irrelevant information we already know. The situation isn't about trying to fight false allegations of police abuse, it IS police abuse. The press is being censored, mostly peaceful protesters are being shot at for dubious reasons, reporters were being arrested for dubious reasons, a no fly zone was declared, ostensibly to clear the sky for police, but more likely to keep news copters out of the area. While the last bit is speculation on my part, I can source everything else for you. The police aren't geared up to contain a riot, no one would blame them if they were, they're geared up for a battle.

 

Believe me, I don't agree with what happened here, either. (Although I'm still wondering what made the police go out there to begin with.) I'm just the type of person that likes to get the full story (which we've already gotten) and see all sides of the story before saying "yes, this was justified" or "no, this wasn't justified." I also don't get too worked up in general on these types of things. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely against abuse of power, sexual harassment, and other things of that nature, but I'm just not a very emotional person in general.

I've seen my fair share of police abusing their power through videos on YouTube or other news sites. Remember that incident where police were trying to get someone barricaded inside a house to come out and a guy with his dog was filming them and was in the way? Police confronted him, and he put his dog in the car. However, the windows were rolled completely down, and when the guy was getting handcuffed, his dog jumped out and supposedly tried to a lunge at an officer, so the officer shot and killed the dog because he felt he was in danger.

 

This Tumblr post covers it quite well, with multiple sources provided (warning: there is a graphic picture of Mike Brown within the post, there's a warning there as well so you can avoid clicking it).

Basically, after he was murdered by the police officer, a group of peaceful protestors approached the police station to reason and explain why this was, frankly, absolutely unnecessary and horrific to do. Following this, they approached the police station and that's when things started to get out of hand on the end of the police, as you can read about here.

But the fact remains through all of this is that the actions they are currently taking are absolutely disproportionate & a domestic act of terrorism against the people of the Ferguson community.

A reporter was falsely arrested for trespassing...at a McDonalds, where he and a coworker were working after purchasing his meal amongst dozens of other patrons. Another (black) man was denied services and was mocked by officers for pleading for paramedic help. This transitions into my next point, to note especially this tweet of what the officers said to him and the other patrons:

I don't think I can really format the words to convey how incredibly disgusting that is. Children who relied on school/local services for food are suffering (fortunately, there is a fundraiser created by one of the local teachers to help with this), people who are disabled or require medical protection or anything of the sort are being flat out DENIED those services.

There may be honest & caring police down there who are trying their best to reconcile the situation and provide aid for people, but it's not about the police as people, much as how the issues of white supremacy aren't about white people, or how issues of sexism isn't about male people -- it is about the society that has and does and will try to normalize this behavior, the society that tries to explain it away as paranoia, that racism/sexism/and whatever "ism" you throw out are a thing of the past.

That is a lie that we as a country are guilty of perpetuating and acknowledging as truth, and it's one that is and long has been our inherent responsibility to tear down from the foundations on which it's been allowed to fester in. Mike Brown shouldn't have had to die to make us pause for the 173564564th time as a country to ponder "huh is oppression still alive in America" only to end up going ...lmao naaaaaaaaaaaaaah," nor should have Trayvon Martin or the millions of minority/female/queer/disabled people assaulted and/or killed in our local areas on a daily basis only to receive two seconds of acknowledgement before the local news goes right back to healthy eating of the day and the national news doesn't even bat an eye.

Also, on the tear gas, a protestor was actually pictured throwing a canister back at police after they threw it into the group:


Notice the American flag styled shirt; an image that truly speaks a thousand words, and the power holders in Ferguson aren't hearing a single letter of it.

 

I think that picture is absolutely brilliant. It so perfectly captures the oppression. He is quite literally throwing back the **** thrown at him.

 

Not If I went outside and asked my friend about Ferguson she would have no idea what I'm talking about. Heck, I didn't even now what was going on until yesterday. Social media is the only thing that is keeping us informed. Even if they don't let reporters in it's going to get out one way or another and that's what makes me mad.

Not only this but it's also affecting the children that live there. Most of them only get meals when the go to school, which means at least some of them have gone for days without food.

 

My mom and I were talking about the incident earlier, specifically this part, and she also agrees that police brutality exists, and what happened here with that one officer. However, she also said that it does not justify the citizens' actions in the out of control protest.

Peacefully protesting is fine, don't get me wrong, but I think at this point, police officers are just trying to get the situation under control, and the citizens are just making it worse by fighting back.

I've seen how bad protests can get just by watching World's Wildest Police Videos.

 

You know, I' m confused as to how such a situation is even possible. I mean I' m aware that some people, when given a hammer, see everything as nails. Careers in the police, like any other authority position, draws them like moths to a flame. What' s more surprising is to see it reach such proportions. Even though I can see a whole department shutting the **** up because "what happens in the police stays in the police and we deal with our own" (yeah right), we' ve know for a good while that such a pack mentality can emerge and we' ve put safeguards against it. At least we did in my country. Don' t you have a police of the police ? Isn' t there a single higher up able to put a stop to such a public disgrace ?

 

I heard somewhere that the President was informed about it, but I haven't heard if he gave a response.

 

Well, we don't have much indication at present to determine if citizens are being malicious or not considering the lockdown on news coverage and all. I do agree and hope there haven't been any malicious plans protestors have been carrying out, but so far evidence has been pointing to them (citizens) being peaceful.

EDIT: Interestingly enough, a woman who lives near Ferguson has been replying to John Legend's tweets about the subject. She's stated that there have been some rioters who have burned down a gas station and a few local businesses, some of whom were from the actual city (she's in a suburb). Though, it is important to note that these are rioters as opposed to the protestors, who she stated in an earlier tweet to be rather peaceful.

On the other hand, what Anonymous is doing is rather questionable by involving the polices' kids into the conflict (granted, the kids of Ferguson citizens have no choice but to be involved).

 

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Was that the incident at the White House where a woman was killed in front of her own kids?