1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

General News Reporters arrested in Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by BradThePug, Aug 13, 2014.

  1. BradThePug

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2011
    Messages:
    6,573
    Likes Received:
    288
    Location:
    Ohio
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    More here
     
  2. Candace

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 8, 2013
    Messages:
    3,819
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Southeastern U.S.
    Gender:
    Male
    :bang: Are you freaking kidding me? So what are they getting charged with? Failure to leave an establishment in under two minutes? This is freaking insane and too mind boggling for words. :dry:.
     
  3. Ivysaur

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2014
    Messages:
    58
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Illinois
    Gender:
    Female
    Wow. I'm from the area, and things here have been heated, but I didn't think it would be this insane.
     
  4. BryanM

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Messages:
    2,894
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Columbia, Missouri
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    And WHO said a police state and police brutality aren't things to worry about? Arresting journalists is absolutely unacceptable. This is what happens in countries like North Korea, China and Russia, not in countries with a supposedly free press.
     
  5. AwesomGaytheist

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2013
    Messages:
    6,909
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    One of the reporters was Black. Hardly surprising that in the past week, this police department has shot two black people, and that 86% of its traffic stops involve Blacks and 88% of its arrests involve Blacks.

    On a side note, they're treating them like Occupiers. The chief says, "Protest during the day," while the officers then think they're god. My dad said earlier they should treat the protesters like they treated looters after the 1908 San Francisco earthquake: hang them in the doorway as a warning to others. :bang:
     
    #5 AwesomGaytheist, Aug 13, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2014
  6. photoguy93

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2012
    Messages:
    1,893
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    St. Olaf
    I guess I see this situation differently. I'll put out a couple options.

    Option 1 -
    First, I will say that arresting these two was stupid. For fucks sake, you've got protesters/looters/all around crazy people out and about and you arrest two reports in McDonald's?

    I sense an officer with the hunger for power was at play here.

    That being said....
    Option 2. The officer could have easily been fed up with the shenanigans of the area, and decided these two were doing something wrong. Do we know, for a fact, that they weren't? There's crazy shit happening there. I refuse - REFUSE - to take all blame away from the protesters when they chose to go loot and do the stuff they've done.
     
  7. Aldrick

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2012
    Messages:
    2,175
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Virginia
    The police occupation of Ferguson is a provocation. They are actively provoking people through their tactics and military style presence. These provocations are going to lead to further rioting and looting, and that is in turn going to lead to harsher crack downs. It's in a horrible cycle, and it's one that only the occupying force can break. The police are not the solution to the problem, they ARE the problem.

    It is inevitable that at the rate things are going more innocent people are going to be assassinated by the police. Things are going to get out of control, tempers will flare up, and shots will be fired. Is that what they want? Because that's where they are pushing things.

    Imagine the citizens of Ferguson walking around like this...
    [​IMG]

    How many of them would be shot on site? We know all about white privilege and guns. Just imagine the people in Ferguson going about their business with open carry assault weapons, and ask yourself if the police would be engaged in such obviously heavy handed tactics against armed citizens as they would against unarmed citizens.

    This would NEVER be accepted in a town dominated by white people. I can just imagine this taking place in the town where I grew up, which is roughly 50/50 white and black. It would turn into a war zone within hours. Everyone is packing heat there, even grandma. She'd crack open the window and return fire at the police in the street while taking cover in the living room.

    White folks would not tolerate this type of shit. The only stores that would be looted would be the gun shops for the ammo.

    Remember when law enforcement were trying to get some rancher in Texas who was illegally letting his cattle graze on government land? Remember how hordes of crazy white people descended on Texas to "protect" the guy and his "rights"?

    [​IMG]

    That's just some random guy who showed up and decided that he would take up a sniper position on the bridge, and point his weapon at law enforcement.

    This is the type of crazy shit white people get away with, and you see these people - the overwhelmingly majority of them peaceful - just standing around in the street protesting the assassination of one of their own citizens by the police.

    If this does not show the insane disparity between how law enforcement treats white people vs black people - then nothing ever will.
     
  8. Aldrick

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2012
    Messages:
    2,175
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Virginia
    So. yeah, just to back up some of my points in my previous post, I found this really good interview with Jason Fritz. He's a veteran of the Iraq War, and serves as an analyst that focuses on policing in conflict zones. So dealing and thinking about this stuff is what he does for a living.

    Here is what he has to say (and I should point out this is what I've heard from other cops and whatnot who've also had to deal with similar protests).

    It is so blatantly obvious that the police presence there is making things worse, and it's a clear attempt to intimidate the people in Ferguson into submission. They are actively having their First Amendment rights violated by these police who are preventing peaceful protest.

    Read more of the interview here.
     
  9. Aquilo

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2012
    Messages:
    631
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Europe
    Wow.. I knew there are problems with the police and crazy people in the USA, but that just opened my eyes. :eek:

    From that article:

    [​IMG]

    That's Police?!
     
    #9 Aquilo, Aug 15, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2014
  10. AwesomGaytheist

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2013
    Messages:
    6,909
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    As soon as Governor Jay Nixon (D) pulled the STL County army police out of there, and replaced them with state troopers who weren't riding around in tanks and gassing crowds or shooting people with rubber bullets, that very night, the protests turned festive with music and barbecues. People were actually shaking hands with officers instead of the riots that looked identical to the six days of mayhem in Los Angeles back in 1992.

    Peaceful Protests Replace Tear Gas and Tanks in Ferguson

    Instead of this:

    [​IMG]

    Yesterday's demonstrations looked like this:

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Ruprect

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 25, 2013
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    TX
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    I think that you'll find it was in Nevada that this photo was taken.

    And to address one of your other points, open carry of long guns is not allowed there (according to Wikipedia), so I would imagine the police response wouldn't be nice.
     
    #11 Ruprect, Aug 15, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2014
  12. Ruprect

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 25, 2013
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    TX
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    The funniest part of reporting is the choice of photos. You can tun the devil into an angel and vice_versa.

    I don't think that anyone is void of responsibility. If you riot, you're a criminal. If you beat up or otherwise assault innocent folks you are also a criminal. Picking a side here seems to be a futile effort.
     
  13. Aldrick

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2012
    Messages:
    2,175
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Virginia
    You're right, if you're rioting and looting you're a criminal. Police should deal with such individuals. They are, however, a tiny minority of people and it only occurred right in the very beginning. No one is excusing rioting and looting. What people were angry about is how peaceful protests and demonstrations were being silenced by military style policing, and the vastly overwhelming majority of people were and still are non-violent.

    It was my assessment that the police were out of control in this situation, and to quote myself: "The police are not the solution to the problem, they ARE the problem." They were actively making the situation worse, and increasing the likelihood of violence and riots by the way that they were handling the situation. My statement is supported by a whole range of law enforcement experts (one of which I linked to in a subsequent post).

    It's not "picking a side" when one side clearly is in the wrong, and everything that I wrote is further backed up by how things have been handled since the Governor appointed Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson to take things over. Captain Johnson has so far handled everything perfectly. He's struck the right tone, he has engaged with the community, he has apologized for how badly things were handled previously. He's doing everything right, and as a consequence of that though tensions are still high, things are more under control than they were just over 48 hours ago.

    However, sadly, the local law enforcement still seem keen on provoking the community in the way that Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson handled yesterday's couple of press conferences. He comes out, releases a grainy video with no audio of the victim in question allegedly robbing a local store. He doesn't take questions, tells the media he wants to give them time to "digest" the news. He doesn't inform his superior, who is now Captain Johnson of the video or that he's going to release it (which could obviously lead to hostility on the streets). He then comes back later and tells reporters, yeah - that video really had nothing to do with the confrontation because the officer in question (now identified as Darren Wilson) didn't really know anything about it. Then later, the Police Chief tried to change his story a bit... which in turn looked like to the community that it was an attempt at character assassination.

    Though, personally, I think it was both an attempt at character assassination AND attempt to undermine the peace Captain Johnson was trying to establish. (Since he effectively came in and just usurped their authority by fiat of the Governor, and they're receiving so much public backlash for how badly they've handled things.)

    I mean... just ugh. The whole thing is an awful mess, and Ferguson just needs to totally clean house when it comes to their police department from top to bottom.

    And the sad fact is that none of the important facts of the case are disputed. There is no dispute that the victim was unarmed, and that he was running away after being initially shot at the police vehicle. There is no dispute that he was then shot in the back, at least once, and then turned to lift his arms in the universal sign of surrender, where the officer in question then proceeded to fatally shoot him multiple times from the front. There is no dispute over these facts, and it's supported by multiple eye witnesses. What we have here is clearly a case where a cop murdered an unarmed citizen. The cop wasn't acting in self-defense when he fired the fatal shots.

    I've said it in the past on these forums, and I'll say it again. The United States really needs to take a close look at how the British handle their policing without guns. Cops are human just like everyone else, and they're prone to all the same emotions as every other human being. They're going to have bad days, they're going to get angry, and we're frequently putting them in confrontational situations. It is inevitable when weapons are involved in these types of situations for them to be used, and for people to get hurt and killed. It is not necessary to police this way, and it is not necessary for people to get injured or killed as a result. This is a choice we make as a society, and individuals like Michael Brown and others like him pay the price with their lives.
     
  14. BryanM

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Messages:
    2,894
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Columbia, Missouri
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Exactly. If you treat people like violent protesters, they will act like that. St. Louis was a ticking time bomb. Ron Johnson defused it.