Ferguson, MO

[Monster]

Mike Brown's mom says there's no way he went for the gun. This type of thinking is what is fueling this issue.

Anyone really think a 21st century cop would shoot someone without reason? Maybe they jump the gun and shoot when they get nervous. Maybe they shoot someone who reaches into their pocket or the back of their car too quickly. Sure, that needs to be changed, but there is always a reason the trigger is pulled. These people are acting like the cop saw a black guy, got out of the car and executed him. It's bullshit that I have to side with conservatives on this.

"Stop killing us" - stop making stupid decisions that kill you.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Sure there would be. Guy with no gun, black, and white cop kills him.

But as far as history it's not a stretch to know Blacks as a whole do more criminal acts. Maybe there should be a white protests against idiot blacks who punch cops.

Really...you don't anything else escalated things?

And regarding your 2nd comment. For the, I don't know, 5th or 6th time, so what? If you think crime rates by race justify discrimination, then we're at an impasse. I don't think it's valid at all.

 

[Monster]

And this is 100% a race issue. Anyone think that if Mike Brown were white that all of those people would have shown up to protest and riot? Doubtful. Would cnn give more than a passing mention? Doubtful.

 

[Gulo Blue]

And this is 100% a race issue. Anyone think that if Mike Brown were white that all of those people would have shown up to protest and riot? Doubtful. Would cnn give more than a passing mention? Doubtful.

85% race issues.
7% Why the hell are police armed like a military force.
8% Why is the prosecutor treating this so differently, defending the accused?

 

[Sbee]

And this is 100% a race issue. Anyone think that if Mike Brown were white that all of those people would have shown up to protest and riot? Doubtful. Would cnn give more than a passing mention? Doubtful.

being black in america means that you're constantly under suspicion, sad to say. i know it's anecdotal but a buddy of mine from MSU is black, Iraq war vet, eagle scout, harvard law grad, he's been pulled over for being black 12 times. he was never doing anything wrong and never got into any trouble but these circumstances are troubling. I understand where the rage comes from

 

[Spartanmack]

Unless you want to get technical about zero being a quantity, no. You've missed the mark here thinking that the relative numbers are the issue.

I'm not saying it's a small number, barely greater than zero but still matters. Nor do I think relative numbers are the issue - I'm not even sure where you're getting that one from. I'm saying police violence against minorities is a prevalent theme in the Ferguson protests and riots and it's a key part of the modern civil rights platform as purported by race hustlers like Sharpton, Jackson, Holder, etc. And it's a myth that the media happily perpetuates. Police violence, murder in particular against minorities is not a big problem in this country.

 

[Monster]

85% race issues.
7% Why the hell are police armed like a military force.
8% Why is the prosecutor treating this so differently, defending the accused?

Militarization? That is after the fact. The protests are over the lack of indictment. I've yet to see a sign or complaint about it. The first riots were blamed on escalation by cops with military gear and equipment. 8% on prosecutor...well, true. But it's not hard to understand that the prosecutor's job is to determine if he can and should prosecute. It's fairly obvious he thought no. Therefore, he didn't push for an indictment. Still, he left it up to the people...which i disagree with. They agreed with him.

I do agree that cops shouldn't be so heavily armed, but in extreme situations, I think it's a requirement to protect themselves so they can do their job.

 

[Spartanmack]

Mike Brown's mom says there's no way he went for the gun. This type of thinking is what is fueling this issue.

She's absolutely certain of this despite published forensic evidence that clearly shows his hands in the vicinity of the gun - specifically the bullet wound to the thumb w/ gun powder on his hands. That could only be the case if his hands were close to the gun. But mom knows best.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Really...you don't anything else escalated things?

And regarding your 2nd comment. For the, I don't know, 5th or 6th time, so what? If you think crime rates by race justify discrimination, then we're at an impasse. I don't think it's valid at all.

Race discrimination? The dude reached into a policeman's car. And punched him.

 

[Monster]

being black in america means that you're constantly under suspicion, sad to say. i know it's anecdotal but a buddy of mine from MSU is black, Iraq war vet, eagle scout, harvard law grad, he's been pulled over for being black 12 times. he was never doing anything wrong and never got into any trouble but these circumstances are troubling. I understand where the rage comes from

I agree with you. However, when the great majority of arrests are black, there will be that racial stereotyping. Serial killer...almost always a white guy. Abortion bomber...white guy. Like it or not, this is the way things are.

If things change and white people are more likely to fight and kill cops, we'll be looked at differently. If people want change, they also need to.

Oh, and black cops racially profile, too. There's a reason for that.

 

[Monster]

You guys have no idea how much it kills me to be on the side of spartanmack and fox news. I can't wait for this to be over and we can argue about obama again.

 

[Spartanmack]

You guys have no idea how much it kills me to be on the side of spartanmack and fox news. I can't wait for this to be over and we can argue about obama again.

Welcome to the dark side Monster but for the last f'n time - I don't watch Fox News! I don't even know what channel it's on.

 

[Sbee]

I agree with you. However, when the great majority of arrests are black, there will be that racial stereotyping. Serial killer...almost always a white guy. Abortion bomber...white guy. Like it or not, this is the way things are.

If things change and white people are more likely to fight and kill cops, we'll be looked at differently. If people want change, they also need to.

Oh, and black cops racially profile, too. There's a reason for that.

Yes, it's called the war on drugs and it's a failure on every way, unless the goal is to lock up as many minorities as possible

 

[zyxt9]

I don't think there's any evidence of the dog thing, but here's a link: http://www.ibtimes.com/mike-brown-m...olice-day-ferguson-teens-death-report-1671898

As to the rest, I don't know why it matters why there were German reporters there or how you can hear that line about animals and let the guy off the hook because "animals" isn't racial. Look at the rest of the sentence and tell me you don't think that's going to piss anyone off. What if he had said "Bring it you fuckin' protesters. Bring it."? It doesn't matter. It's way out of line. That one wasn't hearsay. CNN aired the video.

The German reporters aspect is backing up the way the MEDIA over-sensationalized this entire situation, that's all. How many times do German reporters go on scene to small town America? Why was this particular situation one that warranted them going there? The trumped up and hyped up racial aspects which are nearly 100% the making of the press and people who WANT this to be a racial issue.

Monster is providing more than enough sanity to this thread. I'm done, because I'm probably going to be called a racist soon by those who wish to make me into one, just like so many have wanted to turn this criminal being killed into a racial situation.

A sincere "thank you" to Monster for his posts, especially his perspective. I was trying to avoid this thread, now it is time for me to leave it.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I'm not saying it's a small number, barely greater than zero but still matters. Nor do I think relative numbers are the issue - I'm not even sure where you're getting that one from. I'm saying police violence against minorities is a prevalent theme in the Ferguson protests and riots and it's a key part of the modern civil rights platform as purported by race hustlers like Sharpton, Jackson, Holder, etc. And it's a myth that the media happily perpetuates. Police violence, murder in particular against minorities is not a big problem in this country.

I'm getting the idea from the 5,000 > 400 argument you made several pages ago.

What exactly do you think is a myth? The idea that our legal system, including the police, discriminate against black people, is no myth. Police violence re-triggers the conversation.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Militarization? That is after the fact. The protests are over the lack of indictment. I've yet to see a sign or complaint about it. The first riots were blamed on escalation by cops with military gear and equipment. 8% on prosecutor...well, true. But it's not hard to understand that the prosecutor's job is to determine if he can and should prosecute. It's fairly obvious he thought no. Therefore, he didn't push for an indictment. Still, he left it up to the people...which i disagree with. They agreed with him.

I do agree that cops shouldn't be so heavily armed, but in extreme situations, I think it's a requirement to protect themselves so they can do their job.

Well, I'm not familiar with what a prosecutor usually does, but what I've been reading is that they almost never go to a grand jury unless they know they can get an indictment and when they do, their job isn't to defend the accused. They just show the evidence suggesting possible guilt. In this case, Wilson took the stand which I've read almost never happens and the prosecutor presented both sides. But like I said, I don't actually know how unusual it is. There's a stat I saw that at the federal level, this happened only 11 out of the last 160,000 times.

This article has that stat, but goes on to say that police officers at the state level often do not get indicted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...rand-juries-indict-99-99-percent-of-the-time/

 

[Mitchrapp]

I'm getting the idea from the 5,000 > 400 argument you made several pages ago.

What exactly do you think is a myth? The idea that our legal system, including the police, discriminate against black people, is no myth. Police violence re-triggers the conversation.

Many of those times it's warranted. I see no problem with a officer saying stay off the street or step back. Stopping them for a traffic ticket because they are black is wrong..but other instances they do it for a reason, because many youths are up to trouble. Right or wrong, if blacks stop with criminal behavior maybe police officers will stop getting in their faace..

 

[Gulo Blue]

Race discrimination? The dude reached into a policeman's car. And punched him.

I know that. What makes you think I don't? I keep saying this is about way more than Michael Brown and it's like people just don't want to hear that.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I know that. What makes you think I don't? I keep saying this is about way more than Michael Brown and it's like people just don't want to hear that.

Then I misunderstood your post.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Then I misunderstood your post.

This thread is pretty long and it's tough to keep track of who says what (and I get that wrong all the time) so I think it's worth saying again. Whatever else Brown might have done in his life and however his family viewed him, on that day, he was thug.

I just don't think that makes all the protesters wrong. I think the reaction to the initial protests were heavy-handed and that heavy-handed response, in combination with the history of racial discrimination justifies some anger and more protesting.