Ferguson

[wherebee]

Mods - is the topic banned? Confused as to why no one is commenting on the events stateside?

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Don't keep us in suspense, I'm waiting for your wisdom on race relations.

That really needs the gene wilder/willy work meme picture.

[Frank Hovis]

Stateside? He's bound to be sacked when he loses on Friday as the Posh Chairman takes no nonsense.

[The Masked Tulip]

There was a very interesting comment on the radio this morning about all of this.

Apparently there are about 90 local Police Forces within the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. These are basically all self-funding and their major source of income is apparently traffic violation fines.

Apparently most of these Police Forces are predominantly staffed by white people whereas most of the people in the areas policed by these forces are black. So you have, so the BBC reported, mainly white people funding their employers by pulling over black people for traffic violations and fining them.

Because of the poverty in the area this results, apparently, in people not being able to pay their food bills or rent, etc, when so fined so it has caused loads of anger. If the above is true then I can well understand it - no taxation without representation and all that.

On the other hand, if an enormous guy walks into a shop and, allegedly, nicks something before shoving around and/or threatening the shop staff he or she should not be surprised when the Police, with guns, turn up and unholster their weapons.

[wherebee]

Don't keep us in suspense, I'm waiting for your wisdom on race relations.

That really needs the gene wilder/willy work meme picture.

Hah hah I might suprise you.

I think both sides are wrong. Cops over weaponsised, over violent, and racist. US urban black community, undereducated, over violent, and racist. No one comes out of this looking good.

Of course those are wide sweeping generalisations and each group has good people in, but if you look at the stats (death by cop split by race/class, number of rapes committed by blacks on whites, etc etc) it's a disgrace that BOTH sides even try to blame the other without recognising their own failings.

[Marshmellow]

Obumma's legacy

[dances with sheeple]

There was a very interesting comment on the radio this morning about all of this.

Apparently there are about 90 local Police Forces within the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. These are basically all self-funding and their major source of income is apparently traffic violation fines.

Apparently most of these Police Forces are predominantly staffed by white people whereas most of the people in the areas policed by these forces are black. So you have, so the BBC reported, mainly white people funding their employers by pulling over black people for traffic violations and fining them.

Because of the poverty in the area this results, apparently, in people not being able to pay their food bills or rent, etc, when so fined so it has caused loads of anger. If the above is true then I can well understand it - no taxation without representation and all that.

On the other hand, if an enormous guy walks into a shop and, allegedly, nicks something before shoving around and/or threatening the shop staff he or she should not be surprised when the Police, with guns, turn up and unholster their weapons.

Didn`t play out like that though, according to the officers testimony, things seem to have been done in a very ramshackle manner, and the officers gun is claimed to have mis-fired three times before the fatal shooting? Was there only one officer in the first car to spot them or something?

[Bossybabe]

Hah hah I might suprise you.

I think both sides are wrong. Cops over weaponsised, over violent, and racist. US urban black community, undereducated, over violent, and racist. No one comes out of this looking good.

Of course those are wide sweeping generalisations and each group has good people in, but if you look at the stats (death by cop split by race/class, number of rapes committed by blacks on whites, etc etc) it's a disgrace that BOTH sides even try to blame the other without recognising their own failings.

You forgot to mention the cops are over privatised and under trained.

[interestrateripoff]

Ferguson ruling sparks 'worst' riots

The US town of Ferguson reportedly sees its worst rioting yet after a jury decides not to bring charges over a black teenager's killing by police.

• 'Worse than the worst night' Watch
• Barber shop reaction Watch
• Unrest in pictures
• Michael Brown: Grand jury explained
• BBC reporter flees tear gas

'You are too much of a p***y to shoot me': Explosive US grand jury evidence reveals how 'aggressive' black teenager taunted white police officer before he was shot dead

Mail take on events.

Hard to make who's telling the truth in all of this, but it would appear the grand jury felt the officer was provoked and feared for his own life, however it's clear there are some very difficult race relation issues within the US.

[Marshmellow]

Didn`t play out like that though, according to the officers testimony, things seem to have been done in a very ramshackle manner, and the officers gun is claimed to have mis-fired three times before the fatal shooting? Was there only one officer in the first car to spot them or something?

There is a youtube video just after the shooting where everyone standing around is having a racism fit over the police and how he was shot with his hands in the air with a white flag and a bag of skittles.

Off camera it is possible to hear someone describe what they saw and it's actually quite close to what the police officer has said. It's not possible to make out everythingm but it sounds like he says that they were both in the police car, and then Michael Brown ran away, stopped, turned around, and kept coming at the police officer even after he had started firing and the bystander thought the police officer was missing his shots.

Obviously the video maker probably didn't want to catch that conversation, as after all 'snitches get stitches'

[richc]

You forgot to mention the cops are over privatised and under trained.

And the "community activists" are over privatised and under trained.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/272227/speedreads-rev-al-sharpton-owes-millions-in-taxes

Stirring up racial resentment is an entire industry in America. Where would the music labels selling rap music be without it?

[The Generation Game]

Sounds like they need a common enemy to help them bond. Send in some latino gangs or radical muslims?

[geezer466]

It's a real shame they don't have an honours system in the USA. Ms Brown could have bleated on CNN for years and ended up a Baroness.

[EUBanana]

The cop was scrutinised by a grand jury, in theory at least judged by his (and Michael Brown's) peers. The grand jury has made it's decision. The law has spoken - common law, at that.

So now people are rioting, presumably they think the grand jury was bent? or is this just out of racism?

[Frank Hovis]

The cop was scrutinised by a grand jury, in theory at least judged by his (and Michael Brown's) peers. The grand jury has made it's decision. The law has spoken - common law, at that.

So now people are rioting, presumably they think the grand jury was bent? or is this just out of racism?

Maybe they just want a new telly or an iPad.

[EUBanana]

Maybe they just want a new telly or an iPad.

Maybe.

I wasn't impressed with the video on the Daily Heil, where they were interviewing the protesters. Looks to me like they just assume he was guilty, presumably on zero evidence and entirely because of racism and sectarianism.

I'd rather have a jury decide than a mob who have already made their mind up.

[Billy Ray Valentine]

There is a youtube video just after the shooting where everyone standing around is having a racism fit over the police and how he was shot with his hands in the air with a white flag and a bag of skittles.

Off camera it is possible to hear someone describe what they saw and it's actually quite close to what the police officer has said. It's not possible to make out everythingm but it sounds like he says that they were both in the police car, and then Michael Brown ran away, stopped, turned around, and kept coming at the police officer even after he had started firing and the bystander thought the police officer was missing his shots.

Obviously the video maker probably didn't want to catch that conversation, as after all 'snitches get stitches'

Link?

[geezer466]

I did notice that they kept showing the photo of Brown on the news in his graduation robes, not the one of him robbing and assaulting the storekeeper.
I'm sure they weren't trying to influence opinion though!

Do you think the mobs that are looting and burning realise they are actually terribly racist by demanding a person be charged with murder simply because of the colour of his skin, or would that interrupt their civil right of stealing things from their community.

[MrPin]

Wasn't the young lad waving a "replica" pistol in public? I'm sure I would not have known whether it was a replica or not!

[interestrateripoff]

Ferguson jury process is 'broken'

Lawyers for Michael Brown's family say the process that cleared a police officer who shot dead the teenager in Ferguson is "broken" and "unfair".

• Why wait until dark to give jury decision? New
• Sharpton: 'We will fight on' Watch New
• How many more Fergusons?
• In pictures: Aftermath of riots
• Brown's mother weeps over ruling

I'm sure they are convinced there's a cover up and the policeman simply shot their son in cold blood.

[interestrateripoff]

Forget Ferguson, 244 Teenagers Have Been Shot In Chicago Since Michael Brown Died

While the events down in Ferguson play out, back in Chicagoland, HeyJackass reports that the same old ******** continues day in and day out with nary a peep. In the 107 days since officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18 year old Michael Brown – 12:03pm, Saturday, August 9th – the following stupidity has taken place in Chicago: 155 homicides (74% black males), 725 shot & wounded, and 244 teenagers (13-19) shot and wounded... but that's just scratching the surface. So what is it about these stats that hasn’t caused people to lose their collective shit?

ZH adding a bit of contrast. You don't see riots over this.

[ccc]

That's a very good point.

I assume they are just pointing out that the majority of the time in the US - it's black folk that kill black folk ?

[richc]

That's a very good point.

I assume they are just pointing out that the majority of the time in the US - it's black folk that kill black folk ?

The majority of murders in America are committed by black men. They make up less than 5% of the population, yet commit the majority of murders. This statistic, frankly, is mind-boggling but just about anyone who cites it is immediately labelled a "racist".

[Nuggets Mahoney]

Wasn't the young lad waving a "replica" pistol in public? I'm sure I would not have known whether it was a replica or not!

If you're thinking of the 12 year killed playing with a toy gun in the park this week that was another one. Or the Black man shot in a Walmart whilst chatting on his phone and carrying a BB gun he'd picked up in the Walmart, that was another one too.

Either would arguably be more appropriate to protest about than this hyped up BS. Like the Trayvon Martin shooting it's almost as if someone is picking out the inconclusive, polarising incidents, with unsympathetic protagonists, to be ramped up in the corporate media.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Seem to remember an original thread on this where a lot of people were taking positions. What happened to that thread ?

However there is a lot of extra information available now that wasn't before IIRC - especially the information as to what happened in the car prior to the officer leaving it, which to me is a very significant addition.