These "demonstrators" really have no clue what a grand jury is or does. Either that, or this really has nothing to do with the incident in question.
A grand jury is comprised of citizens (not part of the government or police establishment) who are paid very very little to hear evidence and decide if there's enough of a case to send it to trial. They had to know that if they, after hearing the evidence, decided not to indict, there would be ramifications like this. Yet, they did so anyway. They could have decided to indict and let it play out in court and washed their hands of the whole thing. That tells me that there really just wasn't enough evidence against the officer.
How can you protest a grand jury's decision? It makes no sense.
They don't care and end result means same thing. No justice and the many on the other side have no clue how fked up it is to be born a black male. And then one to poor uneducated parents. And if you were born in that environment you'd be a very pissed off asshole as well. A thug. A home grown "evil doer". A punching bag for all the insecure weenies that watch Fox total shit News.
No excuse to hurt steel or kill but rather than complain why do we not spend money on education. After school programs. Yeah yeah yeah I know why, take from rich, give to poor and that's unacceptable. Well guess what, nothing will change. Billions spent on corporate asset securing wars are okay ah I mean kill all the evil brown people (fkn sheep). We are a fucked society and racists will ensure this cycle continues.
Chris Rock had bit.......not direct quote but..."here I am, rich, on stage, successful, beautiful wife, big house, but ask the white janitor if he would change places and he'd say no".
Know1 this was not directed at you and your post was accurate and I agree, they don't know. Just means to vent. Thanks Peace. B-)
Wilson and Brown are about the same height and weight 215 vs 290, Wilson is aiming a gun at Brown Wilson says......."I keep back peddling because I know that if he reaches me he will kill me"
Well, Brown outweighed Wilson, and Wilson had already taken a beating from Brown when the jackass leaned into the car and started punching him. So Wilson already experienced Brown's strength and aggression. Why wouldn't he be scared? Besides, you yourself said "Wilson does look like a total wuss." Brown probably thought so, too.
but im smart enough to know not to mess with a weasel with a gun, their more inclined to shoot! only wusses need guns, i prefer hand to hand combat, i hunt with a bow, like a real man.
real man hunts with his hands.
i tie my own flys? does that count
So we do have something in common other that Pearl jam.
musky we prob have alot in common, problem is the ruling elite would rather divide us so we can argue about blue vs red white vs black and etc in hopes we never realize that we are their indentured servants.
anyway speaking of what we have in common, we prob both like to masturbate, so in an attempt to provide some perspective on masturbation and why these criminal thugs are rioting how about this... if you an i were to masturbate once a day for 7 days, how many black people would have been killed by cops when we were done masturbating at the end of the week?
speaking of masturbating, while i was parting just this morning i was thinking about the often heard comment "well these cops have to be safe, they have to make sure they go home to their families" now ignoring that the criminal thugs prob have families to go home to too (whos your daddy!, whos your daddy! now ill ask the yankees whos your big papi!) i thought of the joke.... i went to my doctors to complain that when i lift my arm i get a sharp pain and the dr says, well dont lift your arm (da da dum!) when i finished, i made the correlation with a jockey friend of mine who asked, i dont like dirt kicked in my face and i dont like falling off of horses, horses are tall and i cant get hurt falling off of the horses, i have family. so i told him the dr joke and said maybe you shouldn't be a jockey!
If these criminals have families to go home to, then they should probably not venture out and do criminal activities- they should venture out to their jobs.
The amount of disrespect you have shown cops on these pages has officially become brutal.
* On a more positive note... here's an idea: why not develop a Math textbook with your creative word problems?
i disrespect cops? really...like i said this isnt about a cop DW
i dont have to disrespect or discredit cops, SOME do a fine jobs themselves. no words could disrespect them anymore their own actions...kill, lie, rape (pregnant women), beat there wives and girlfriends twice as much as the national average and etc.
the george carlin reference was a joke, i never posted anything about george carlin so stop looking! were you looking for it? lol anyway this is what i was referring to “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Some other Carlin quotes to lighten things up this glorious day for giving thanks that i think apply to this thread. Carlin was known for his "black comedy".
Have you ever noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff? I wanna live. I don’t wanna die. That’s the whole meaning of life: Not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade. You can’t fight City Hall, but you can goddamn sure blow it up. Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. If it requires a uniform, it’s a worthless endeavor. The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. I don’t like to think of laws as rules you have to follow, but more as suggestions. So I say, “Live and let live.” That’s my motto. “Live and let live.” Anyone who can’t go along with that, take him outside and shoot the motherfucker. It’s a simple philosophy, but it’s always worked in our family. I’ve never seen a homeless guy with a bottle of Gatorade. Have you ever wondered why Republicans are so interested in encouraging people to volunteer in their communities? It’s because volunteers work for no pay. Republicans have been trying to get people to work for no pay for a long time. Property is theft. Nobody “owns” anything. When you die, it all stays here. The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and “Thou shalt not lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment. The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it. Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
"to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff"
Wilson and Brown are about the same height and weight 215 vs 290, Wilson is aiming a gun at Brown Wilson says......."I keep back peddling because I know that if he reaches me he will kill me"
Well, Brown outweighed Wilson, and Wilson had already taken a beating from Brown when the jackass leaned into the car and started punching him. So Wilson already experienced Brown's strength and aggression. Why wouldn't he be scared? Besides, you yourself said "Wilson does look like a total wuss." Brown probably thought so, too.
but im smart enough to know not to mess with a weasel with a gun, their more inclined to shoot! only wusses need guns, i prefer hand to hand combat, i hunt with a bow, like a real man.
real man hunts with his hands.
i tie my own flys? does that count
So we do have something in common other that Pearl jam.
musky we prob have alot in common, problem is the ruling elite would rather divide us so we can argue about blue vs red white vs black and etc in hopes we never realize that we are their indentured servants.
anyway speaking of what we have in common, we prob both like to masturbate, so in an attempt to provide some perspective on masturbation and why these criminal thugs are rioting how about this... if you an i were to masturbate once a day for 7 days, how many black people would have been killed by cops when we were done masturbating at the end of the week?
speaking of masturbating, while i was parting just this morning i was thinking about the often heard comment "well these cops have to be safe, they have to make sure they go home to their families" now ignoring that the criminal thugs prob have families to go home to too (whos your daddy!, whos your daddy! now ill ask the yankees whos your big papi!) i thought of the joke.... i went to my doctors to complain that when i lift my arm i get a sharp pain and the dr says, well dont lift your arm (da da dum!) when i finished, i made the correlation with a jockey friend of mine who asked, i dont like dirt kicked in my face and i dont like falling off of horses, horses are tall and i cant get hurt falling off of the horses, i have family. so i told him the dr joke and said maybe you shouldn't be a jockey!
Again JC, thank you again for almost making me spill my mourning coffee all over myself and my delicious Jelly Donut. I got through the masturbating and Cops have to be safe part OK, but had to stop reading after your ,"what about the families of the criminal thugs of this world" part…like I usually do after trying to make any reasonable sense after most of your ramblings.
Time to go to work….protest at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago in a hour. If anyone out there is near the area I really encourage you to stop by. Its safe and quite entertaining. I wish I could record some of these peoples thoughts on the world….I will have material for months. Be safe everyone this Turkey Day and be ever mindful of your surroundings.
i am not saying it doesnt apply, that these people arent thugs by definition. I am saying, as others have, that it is a word that is disproportionately used for black people and it's overuse contributes to racial issues.
Thanks gambs, I don't see how people can't see the word being co-opted in a racist way. And when they use it they should be aware of that fact. It's all context.
I have asked you twice now... what term should Speedy have used to adequately describe the 'thugs' which wouldn't hurt anybody's feelings?
To answer your question, how about rioters and looters. Isn't that what they are?
Anyway I am done with this. This isn't about hurt feelings, I'm perfectly content and I was just trying to raise a point. You fail to see this issue from any different point of view and I have a feeling you want to just argue for arguments sake and it's boring. No need to respond.
(CNN) -- The sparks of outrage that started in Ferguson, Missouri, have ignited a firestorm of protests across the country.
But the national furor isn't just about one grand jury's decision on one shooting case. To many protesters, the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown -- and the lack of an indictment for the officer who shot him -- are symbolic of racial injustice in America.
"I think that it's important for people to know that the decision not to indict (Officer) Darren Wilson means that the system does not value black lives," one protester marching through Los Angeles told CNN.
Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson
"I think that it means that a cop can kill a black or brown kid when he's defenseless and unarmed and not get charged. I think that it means that we either fight back and stand up and end police terrorism."
More than 170 protests sprouted up across the country Tuesday. Some crowds blocked bridges, tunnels and major highways. But unlike the violence that erupted in Ferguson on Monday night when looting ran wild, but not one pair of work style boots was stollen said one witness.
In New York, a protesters spanning an array of races and ages filled Times Square with their hands up, some chanting, "Don't shoot." In Washington, a crowd including prep school students lay silently on a sidewalk, as if dead. And in Boston, even jail inmates joined in the protest silently from a window.
(CNN) -- The sparks of outrage that started in Ferguson, Missouri, have ignited a firestorm of protests across the country.
But the national furor isn't just about one grand jury's decision on one shooting case. To many protesters, the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown -- and the lack of an indictment for the officer who shot him -- are symbolic of racial injustice in America.
"I think that it's important for people to know that the decision not to indict (Officer) Darren Wilson means that the system does not value black lives," one protester marching through Los Angeles told CNN.
Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson
"I think that it means that a cop can kill a black or brown kid when he's defenseless and unarmed and not get charged. I think that it means that we either fight back and stand up and end police terrorism."
More than 170 protests sprouted up across the country Tuesday. Some crowds blocked bridges, tunnels and major highways. But unlike the violence that erupted in Ferguson on Monday night when looting ran wild, but not one pair of work style boots was stollen said one witness.
In New York, a protesters spanning an array of races and ages filled Times Square with their hands up, some chanting, "Don't shoot." In Washington, a crowd including prep school students lay silently on a sidewalk, as if dead. And in Boston, even jail inmates joined in the protest silently from a window.
170 protests across the country, protests in 37 of 50 states (i heard that not sure what states didnt have protests)....man thats alot of thugs in this country. soon were going to be know as the united thugs of america.
Didn't piss me off at all, I wish all protests were like that. A little confused on what they WON, but whatever…..as long as they go away so we could go home is all the Police are thinking. I just want to know where they got that catchy Lollaby background music…it was a nice touch.
I've been reading a lot of the grand jury transcript....it seems like the most relevant witnesses were in vehicles that had stopped due to the police car blocking the road. Definitely a few matching accounts saying that Brown turned and moved toward the officer while the officer was saying "Stop".
I can see the reasoning behind the decision....but damn could the whole process have been handled any worse?
i agree, could you, having read the testimony, say that he was charging wilson thou, and without the context of the bullets its hard to tell if the shots caused him to fall forward. i havent gone thru all 72 witnesses testimony but i can say from the testimony falling stumbling forward doesnt equate to charging. still lets assume a total thug robber unarmed who is shot at least twice is charging an officer, the question is do you shoot to kill or shoot to apprehend? oh well he doesnt have time its split second he cant worry about shooting to apprehend... then why chase after him, wilson said all he needed was 30 seconds for other cars to arrive.
Again, you are focusing entirely on the cop's decisions. Why don't you scrutinize Brown's decisions as much?
America's Ferguson protests put police authority on trial
Night of protest shows the two solitudes when it comes to dealing with police
Neil Macdonald Senior Washington Correspondent
Years ago, a fellow journalist affixed what I thought was a terribly clever sticker to his bumper.
"Question Authority," it proclaimed in capitalized yellow letters.
I adored that bumper sticker. It seemed a most elegant assertion of individual rights in a democracy.
It also turned out to be a magnet for impassive traffic cops intent on writing tickets for the slightest infraction.
Of course it did.
What happened in Ferguson, Mo., last summer was a great deal more serious than being rousted for a smart-alecky bumper sticker, but it began the same way — somebody questioning a cop's authority.
Officer Darren Wilson told grand jurors that when he told Michael Brown and his friend to walk on the sidewalk that Saturday afternoon instead of down the middle of the road, Brown replied "fuck what you have to say."
Eventually, they tussled at the window of Wilson's cruiser. Finally, with both of them outside on the street and facing one another, Wilson shot the unarmed teenager to death.
There are different accounts of what happened in those final seconds. Wilson testified Brown, already wounded in the hand, charged at him and looked "like a demon."
And the grand jury declined to indict Wilson. Of course it did.
Enforcers of the status quo
Most police despise any challenge to their authority. Some will abuse it, if necessary, to protect that authority, and the system can allow them to do that.
Some police are bright, professional and educated. Some are louts. Some are racists. You never know which variety you're facing.
But what they all have in common (outside Great Britain) is the weapon at their hip, and the implicit threat of its ultimate use to settle matters.
Let me acknowledge the obvious: I'm a privileged male Caucasian and I have no idea what it's like to be a young black man in a mostly black American city where the police are mostly white. Pretty nasty at times, I imagine.
But I've had my share of dealings with police, in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere in the world, and there is a universal truth: when police demand submission, it's best to submit.
You can complain later. In democracies like America, actually in America in particular, people enjoy individual rights and judicial recourse against arbitrary behaviour.
But as the family of Michael Brown, and so many others in this country have discovered, police are more than enforcers of the law.
They are enforcers of the status quo that provides their employment and power, and the system they protect has conferred upon them something very close to an immunity, which can be a terrifying reality, especially for underprivileged minorities.
Jenny Durkan, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle, wrote convincingly about this in the Washington Post after the grand jury verdict in the Michael Brown case on Monday.
She described trying to rein in a police department that had a pattern of abusive behaviour toward minorities, and running into a wall of legal protection.
Basically, a prosecutor must prove a policeman wasn't acting in good faith in the moment in question, which ranges from difficult to impossible.
When a Seattle officer shot and killed a Native American woodcarver who failed to drop his carving tool quickly enough, an inquest jury found the policeman was not in danger, and that he hadn't given the woodcarver enough time to drop it.
A criminal jury, though, acquitted the officer, finding that he, indeed, did believe the woodcarver was a threat.
Fear factor
Durkan's office then tried to assess whether the Seattle police had been violating federal civil rights in some of these cases, which is what Justice Department officials are doing in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson now that local prosecutors stand accused of steering the grand jury away from an indictment.
But, writes Durkan, "federal law sets a very high bar, and essentially requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an officer intended to deprive a person of his civil rights … It is exceedingly difficult to prove such specific motivation."
And why does society grant such effective immunity to police? Fear.
Fear of evil, fear of the other, fear that the membrane between civil society and barbarity is easily ruptured, as the looters and arsonists among the civil rights protesters in Ferguson managed to prove, with theatrical irony, after the verdict.
Clearly, there are people with well-grounded anger at class divisions who feel the appropriate response is to go out and help themselves to some shop owner's goods, or burn down a building.
And there are actually "advocates" willing to defend that kind of action. ("You can rebuild a shop, but you can't bring a young man back to life.")
All such behaviour does, of course, is deepen the system's willingness to let police behave as they see fit.
It's a safe bet that my fellow privileged white folks felt a whiff of fear, and gratitude for their local police as they watched the post-verdict rioting in Ferguson and elsewhere.
But the Ferguson story, with its pictures of militarized white cops training their combat weaponry at the crowds, has also brought the issue of race and class into awfully sharp relief.
Everybody, including President Barack Obama and Robert McCullough, the prosecutor who announced the grand jury verdict, agreed something has to be done.
Obama, who seemed unable to hide his disappointment at the verdict, talked about a system "in which the law too often feels as if it is being applied in discriminatory fashion."
But both men offered only bromides about holding a public discussion on accountability. As though that's going to change anything.
The best practical suggestion came from Michael Brown's family: Ensure that every police officer working the streets of America wears a body camera. That would certainly help.
Many police cruisers are already equipped with dash cameras. And the Ferguson case demonstrated the fallibility of eyewitness accounts.
So why not pin digital cams on uniforms? They would act as impassive, accurate monitors, both in cases of police abuse and when someone falsely claims police abuse.
I suspect police here will probably resist the idea, though. Nothing questions authority like hard video evidence.
Riot Act(s) could it be said that whites are more likely to riot over sports and blacks over civil rights? blacks = riot white = civil unrest
2010 - University of Tennessee Lane Kiffin Riot. Students riot on the Knoxville campus following head football coach Lane Kiffin's announcement that he took the head coaching job at the University of Southern California. 2010 - University of Maryland basketball disturbance 2010, College Park, Maryland, March 3 following a game; 28 arrested. 2010 - Springfest Riot, April 10, 200 police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds, near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested., Harrisonburg, Virginia 2010 – Santa Cruz May Day riot, May 1, 250 rampage through downtown Santa Cruz attacking 18 businesses, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages. 1 arrested. Santa Cruz, California 2010 – L.A. Lakers riot, June 17, Fans riot in Downtown Los Angeles after Lakers win championship, 50 arrested. Los Angeles, California 2010 – BART Verdict riot, July 8, Riot breaks out in response to verdict in the killing of Oscar Grant, BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. About 100 businesses were damaged and 78 people were arrested, Oakland, California 2010 - Eugene Melee, Sept 25, Riot breaks out west of the University of Oregon campus as police use tear gas to break up a rowdy party. 9 arrested. Eugene, Oregon 2010 - Oakland Protest riot, Nov. 5, Police made more than 150 arrests as a crowd broke windows and knocked down fences, protesting sentence of former BART officer in shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009 see BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant., Oakland, California 2011 - Pennsylvania State University Joe Paterno Riot. Students riot in protest of the decision of the Board of Trustees to fire head football coach Joe Paterno. State College, Pennsylvania 2011 - Occupy Wall Street (Brooklyn Bridge Protests). Demonstrators blocked the bridge and more than 700 people were arrested. Brooklyn, New York 2011 - Occupy Wall Street Oakland Protests Riots. October. Protesters shattered windows, set fires, and plastered buildings with graffiti. Riot police fired heavy amounts of tear gas on the protesters. 2012 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit May. Conflict between riot police. Dozens of demonstrators clubbed and arrested. 2012 Anaheim police shooting and protests Civil Unrest, July 28. Violence erupted after multiple shootings in the neighborhood by police that included unarmed Manuel Diaz. 24 people were arrested 2012 - Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, October 12, Fans riot after a win at home against Upper St. Clair. Fans broke through a fence at the Bethel Park High School stadium. 2013 - Brooklyn Riots, March 9. Riots erupt for several nights after the controversial shooting of Kimani Gray. Over 46 demonstrators were arrested. 2013 - Seattle May Day Protest Riots, May 1st, 17 Arrested as Seattle May Day Protests Turn Violent. 2014 - Deltopia Party Turns Violent, University of California, Santa Barbara, April 5, Over 80 Arrested and over 8 police officers Injured.[1] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, August 10. Protests turned into violent riots and unrest after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a Ferguson police officer. Multiple arrests because of curfew violations and looting.[2] 2014 - Keene, New Hampshire, October 18. Riots occurred at Keene's 24th annual Pumpkin Fest, where beer and liquor bottles were thrown at event-goers and police, property including vehicles were damaged, and fires were set. At least several people were injured during the riots. Dozens of arrests were made, many of whom were Keene State College students.[3] 2014 - San Francisco, California, October 29. After the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series, fires were set, bottles were thrown at police, and city buses and police vehicles were vandalized by fans. Multiple people were injured; two were shot, one was stabbed, and a police officer was seriously hurt from fireworks. 40 people were arrested.[4][5][6][7] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, November 24. Rioting, looting, massive fires set in the Ferguson unrest following the grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting case.
i am not saying it doesnt apply, that these people arent thugs by definition. I am saying, as others have, that it is a word that is disproportionately used for black people and it's overuse contributes to racial issues.
Thanks gambs, I don't see how people can't see the word being co-opted in a racist way. And when they use it they should be aware of that fact. It's all context.
I have asked you twice now... what term should Speedy have used to adequately describe the 'thugs' which wouldn't hurt anybody's feelings?
To answer your question, how about rioters and looters. Isn't that what they are?
Anyway I am done with this. This isn't about hurt feelings, I'm perfectly content and I was just trying to raise a point. You fail to see this issue from any different point of view and I have a feeling you want to just argue for arguments sake and it's boring. No need to respond.
Exactly. You were trying to raise a point that didn't hold water. I didn't fail to see what you were trying to say... I just refused to accept what you were trying to say.
I know you wished for me not to respond... but what you did was- as you describe- trying to argue for arguments' sake. I guess I could have just let it go, but it's just not my nature to.
Hey... I totally get the racial inequities and it pisses me off too.
JC asked a poignant question that got lost in one of his posts- it might have been intertwined with thoughts on the comparative rates of masturbation between black and white men... or trying to find his retainer.
His question was as follows: Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger?
I meant to address it, but never did. I feel that the protests are about something bigger. The Brown case is 'likely' one of the more legitimate cases where a cop murders a black man while on duty that we have been presented with over the years; however, society is growing weary of reading these headlines and distrust has been brewing for a long, long time. We see it on these boards with good, smart people refusing to believe the 'official' story.
I'm not so naive that I think there might not be a chance there are deep and dark forces at play which allowed for the decision we were rendered; however, when I use common sense... as much as Wilson's story is fishy... his use of force given Brown's behaviour was not as excessive as many are making it out to be.
This tread is specifically about the Michael Brown shooting? Do you think the anger and frustration displayed in Ferguson last night is about Michael Brown? Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger? We can argue the opinions all we want with very little introduction of facts about Michael Brown we can argue statistics about black on black crime we can argue about racism about thugs and what the word really means but simply put people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY in a Wal-Mart for holding a bb rifle, pre teens shouldn't be getting shot and killed for playing with a bb gun at a playground, people shouldn't be getting shot in the back and killed for running from a off duty police officer, people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY because a cop was scared. Argue all you want. If you are on here arguing over Mike Brown then you don't get it, all the evidence and in the world all the statistics in the world and no amount of posts or threads will help. If you are on here arguing that cops should be allowed to LEGALLY kill people with impunity then although you may be on the right side of the law you are on the wrong side of RIGHT and the wrong side of HISTORY. Commentary post
There was no reference... to comparative rates of masturbation between black and white men... or trying to find his retainer...in that post (i edited out the beginning) I typed this early this morning after getting back from the PHL protests, I felt inspired by democracy in action plus I had to use the bathroom. (i typed and posted while I was on the toilet, I do some of my best thinking there)
This tread is specifically about the Michael Brown shooting? Do you think the anger and frustration displayed in Ferguson last night is about Michael Brown? Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger? We can argue the opinions all we want with very little introduction of facts about Michael Brown we can argue statistics about black on black crime we can argue about racism about thugs and what the word really means but simply put people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY in a Wal-Mart for holding a bb rifle, pre teens shouldn't be getting shot and killed for playing with a bb gun at a playground, people shouldn't be getting shot in the back and killed for running from a off duty police officer, people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY because a cop was scared. Argue all you want. If you are on here arguing over Mike Brown then you don't get it, all the evidence and in the world all the statistics in the world and no amount of posts or threads will help. If you are on here arguing that cops should be allowed to LEGALLY kill people with impunity then although you may be on the right side of the law you are on the wrong side of RIGHT and the wrong side of HISTORY. Commentary post
This tread is specifically about the Michael Brown shooting? Do you think the anger and frustration displayed in Ferguson last night is about Michael Brown? Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger? We can argue the opinions all we want with very little introduction of facts about Michael Brown we can argue statistics about black on black crime we can argue about racism about thugs and what the word really means but simply put people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY in a Wal-Mart for holding a bb rifle, pre teens shouldn't be getting shot and killed for playing with a bb gun at a playground, people shouldn't be getting shot in the back and killed for running from a off duty police officer, people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY because a cop was scared. Argue all you want. If you are on here arguing over Mike Brown then you don't get it, all the evidence and in the world all the statistics in the world and no amount of posts or threads will help. If you are on here arguing that cops should be allowed to LEGALLY kill people with impunity then although you may be on the right side of the law you are on the wrong side of RIGHT and the wrong side of HISTORY. Commentary post
There was no reference... to comparative rates of masturbation between black and white men... or trying to find his retainer...in that post (i edited out the beginning) I typed this early this morning after getting back from the PHL protests, I felt inspired by democracy in action plus I had to use the bathroom. (i typed and posted while I was on the toilet, I do some of my best thinking there)
)
It's the shower for me- I'm a freakin' Einstein in there! Like I said... it was 'back there' among all your other posts (I spent some time digging around for it instead of paraphrasing it and possibly ruining the integrity of it when I wrote my last post).
I answered your question though. Do you care to elaborate?
This tread is specifically about the Michael Brown shooting? Do you think the anger and frustration displayed in Ferguson last night is about Michael Brown? Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger? We can argue the opinions all we want with very little introduction of facts about Michael Brown we can argue statistics about black on black crime we can argue about racism about thugs and what the word really means but simply put people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY in a Wal-Mart for holding a bb rifle, pre teens shouldn't be getting shot and killed for playing with a bb gun at a playground, people shouldn't be getting shot in the back and killed for running from a off duty police officer, people shouldn't be getting shot and killed LEGALLY because a cop was scared. Argue all you want. If you are on here arguing over Mike Brown then you don't get it, all the evidence and in the world all the statistics in the world and no amount of posts or threads will help. If you are on here arguing that cops should be allowed to LEGALLY kill people with impunity then although you may be on the right side of the law you are on the wrong side of RIGHT and the wrong side of HISTORY. Commentary post
There was no reference... to comparative rates of masturbation between black and white men... or trying to find his retainer...in that post (i edited out the beginning) I typed this early this morning after getting back from the PHL protests, I felt inspired by democracy in action plus I had to use the bathroom. (i typed and posted while I was on the toilet, I do some of my best thinking there)
)
It's the shower for me- I'm a freakin' Einstein in there! Like I said... it was 'back there' among all your other posts (I spent some time digging around for it instead of paraphrasing it and possibly ruining the integrity of it when I wrote my last post).
I answered your question though. Do you care to elaborate?
Riot Act(s) could it be said that whites are more likely to riot over sports and blacks over civil rights? blacks = riot white = civil unrest
2010 - University of Tennessee Lane Kiffin Riot. Students riot on the Knoxville campus following head football coach Lane Kiffin's announcement that he took the head coaching job at the University of Southern California. 2010 - University of Maryland basketball disturbance 2010, College Park, Maryland, March 3 following a game; 28 arrested. 2010 - Springfest Riot, April 10, 200 police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds, near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested., Harrisonburg, Virginia 2010 – Santa Cruz May Day riot, May 1, 250 rampage through downtown Santa Cruz attacking 18 businesses, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages. 1 arrested. Santa Cruz, California 2010 – L.A. Lakers riot, June 17, Fans riot in Downtown Los Angeles after Lakers win championship, 50 arrested. Los Angeles, California 2010 – BART Verdict riot, July 8, Riot breaks out in response to verdict in the killing of Oscar Grant, BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. About 100 businesses were damaged and 78 people were arrested, Oakland, California 2010 - Eugene Melee, Sept 25, Riot breaks out west of the University of Oregon campus as police use tear gas to break up a rowdy party. 9 arrested. Eugene, Oregon 2010 - Oakland Protest riot, Nov. 5, Police made more than 150 arrests as a crowd broke windows and knocked down fences, protesting sentence of former BART officer in shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009 see BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant., Oakland, California 2011 - Pennsylvania State University Joe Paterno Riot. Students riot in protest of the decision of the Board of Trustees to fire head football coach Joe Paterno. State College, Pennsylvania 2011 - Occupy Wall Street (Brooklyn Bridge Protests). Demonstrators blocked the bridge and more than 700 people were arrested. Brooklyn, New York 2011 - Occupy Wall Street Oakland Protests Riots. October. Protesters shattered windows, set fires, and plastered buildings with graffiti. Riot police fired heavy amounts of tear gas on the protesters. 2012 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit May. Conflict between riot police. Dozens of demonstrators clubbed and arrested. 2012 Anaheim police shooting and protests Civil Unrest, July 28. Violence erupted after multiple shootings in the neighborhood by police that included unarmed Manuel Diaz. 24 people were arrested 2012 - Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, October 12, Fans riot after a win at home against Upper St. Clair. Fans broke through a fence at the Bethel Park High School stadium. 2013 - Brooklyn Riots, March 9. Riots erupt for several nights after the controversial shooting of Kimani Gray. Over 46 demonstrators were arrested. 2013 - Seattle May Day Protest Riots, May 1st, 17 Arrested as Seattle May Day Protests Turn Violent. 2014 - Deltopia Party Turns Violent, University of California, Santa Barbara, April 5, Over 80 Arrested and over 8 police officers Injured.[1] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, August 10. Protests turned into violent riots and unrest after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a Ferguson police officer. Multiple arrests because of curfew violations and looting.[2] 2014 - Keene, New Hampshire, October 18. Riots occurred at Keene's 24th annual Pumpkin Fest, where beer and liquor bottles were thrown at event-goers and police, property including vehicles were damaged, and fires were set. At least several people were injured during the riots. Dozens of arrests were made, many of whom were Keene State College students.[3] 2014 - San Francisco, California, October 29. After the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series, fires were set, bottles were thrown at police, and city buses and police vehicles were vandalized by fans. Multiple people were injured; two were shot, one was stabbed, and a police officer was seriously hurt from fireworks. 40 people were arrested.[4][5][6][7] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, November 24. Rioting, looting, massive fires set in the Ferguson unrest following the grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting case.
I know this argument needs to be put to bed, but the word thug doesn't get tossed around when these sports riots happen...it just doesn't.
Moving on, there are truly hundreds of cases that would serve as better examples for the black community to rally around in protesting the un fair treatment they receive from law enforcement. I wish the John Crawford case was switched with Michael Brown in terms of media attention and grassroots support. He was within his legal rights, he didn't hurt or threaten anybody, and he was killed by trigger-happy military style police. It would serve as a better example, but just like with Trayvon, the attention goes where it goes and you can't stop it. People need to remember that there are John Crawfords and Tamir Rices happening all the time.
A cross examiners dream. Yea, anyone that can keep their cool under pressure could rationally answer those questions. (It's definitely a question weather Wilson could or not). But there were bruises on his head and face. Maybe the guy doesn't bruise easy. Who knows. But to say the lack of bruising doesn't indicate that he wasn't hit hard is not proof of anything.
One thing is for sure: there was bruising on his head and face, which proves he was assaulted.
Riot Act(s) could it be said that whites are more likely to riot over sports and blacks over civil rights? blacks = riot white = civil unrest
2010 - University of Tennessee Lane Kiffin Riot. Students riot on the Knoxville campus following head football coach Lane Kiffin's announcement that he took the head coaching job at the University of Southern California. 2010 - University of Maryland basketball disturbance 2010, College Park, Maryland, March 3 following a game; 28 arrested. 2010 - Springfest Riot, April 10, 200 police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds, near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested., Harrisonburg, Virginia 2010 – Santa Cruz May Day riot, May 1, 250 rampage through downtown Santa Cruz attacking 18 businesses, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages. 1 arrested. Santa Cruz, California 2010 – L.A. Lakers riot, June 17, Fans riot in Downtown Los Angeles after Lakers win championship, 50 arrested. Los Angeles, California 2010 – BART Verdict riot, July 8, Riot breaks out in response to verdict in the killing of Oscar Grant, BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. About 100 businesses were damaged and 78 people were arrested, Oakland, California 2010 - Eugene Melee, Sept 25, Riot breaks out west of the University of Oregon campus as police use tear gas to break up a rowdy party. 9 arrested. Eugene, Oregon 2010 - Oakland Protest riot, Nov. 5, Police made more than 150 arrests as a crowd broke windows and knocked down fences, protesting sentence of former BART officer in shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009 see BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant., Oakland, California 2011 - Pennsylvania State University Joe Paterno Riot. Students riot in protest of the decision of the Board of Trustees to fire head football coach Joe Paterno. State College, Pennsylvania 2011 - Occupy Wall Street (Brooklyn Bridge Protests). Demonstrators blocked the bridge and more than 700 people were arrested. Brooklyn, New York 2011 - Occupy Wall Street Oakland Protests Riots. October. Protesters shattered windows, set fires, and plastered buildings with graffiti. Riot police fired heavy amounts of tear gas on the protesters. 2012 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit May. Conflict between riot police. Dozens of demonstrators clubbed and arrested. 2012 Anaheim police shooting and protests Civil Unrest, July 28. Violence erupted after multiple shootings in the neighborhood by police that included unarmed Manuel Diaz. 24 people were arrested 2012 - Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, October 12, Fans riot after a win at home against Upper St. Clair. Fans broke through a fence at the Bethel Park High School stadium. 2013 - Brooklyn Riots, March 9. Riots erupt for several nights after the controversial shooting of Kimani Gray. Over 46 demonstrators were arrested. 2013 - Seattle May Day Protest Riots, May 1st, 17 Arrested as Seattle May Day Protests Turn Violent. 2014 - Deltopia Party Turns Violent, University of California, Santa Barbara, April 5, Over 80 Arrested and over 8 police officers Injured.[1] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, August 10. Protests turned into violent riots and unrest after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a Ferguson police officer. Multiple arrests because of curfew violations and looting.[2] 2014 - Keene, New Hampshire, October 18. Riots occurred at Keene's 24th annual Pumpkin Fest, where beer and liquor bottles were thrown at event-goers and police, property including vehicles were damaged, and fires were set. At least several people were injured during the riots. Dozens of arrests were made, many of whom were Keene State College students.[3] 2014 - San Francisco, California, October 29. After the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series, fires were set, bottles were thrown at police, and city buses and police vehicles were vandalized by fans. Multiple people were injured; two were shot, one was stabbed, and a police officer was seriously hurt from fireworks. 40 people were arrested.[4][5][6][7] 2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, November 24. Rioting, looting, massive fires set in the Ferguson unrest following the grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting case.
Comments
No excuse to hurt steel or kill but rather than complain why do we not spend money on education. After school programs. Yeah yeah yeah I know why, take from rich, give to poor and that's unacceptable. Well guess what, nothing will change. Billions spent on corporate asset securing wars are okay ah I mean kill all the evil brown people (fkn sheep). We are a fucked society and racists will ensure this cycle continues.
Chris Rock had bit.......not direct quote but..."here I am, rich, on stage, successful, beautiful wife, big house, but ask the white janitor if he would change places and he'd say no".
Know1 this was not directed at you and your post was accurate and I agree, they don't know. Just means to vent. Thanks Peace. B-)
i dont have to disrespect or discredit cops, SOME do a fine jobs themselves.
no words could disrespect them anymore their own actions...kill, lie, rape (pregnant women), beat there wives and girlfriends twice as much as the national average and etc.
the george carlin reference was a joke, i never posted anything about george carlin so stop looking! were you looking for it? lol
anyway this is what i was referring to
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Have you ever noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?
I wanna live. I don’t wanna die. That’s the whole meaning of life: Not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade.
You can’t fight City Hall, but you can goddamn sure blow it up.
Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
If it requires a uniform, it’s a worthless endeavor.
The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions.
I don’t like to think of laws as rules you have to follow, but more as suggestions.
So I say, “Live and let live.” That’s my motto. “Live and let live.” Anyone who can’t go along with that, take him outside and shoot the motherfucker. It’s a simple philosophy, but it’s always worked in our family.
I’ve never seen a homeless guy with a bottle of Gatorade.
Have you ever wondered why Republicans are so interested in encouraging people to volunteer in their communities? It’s because volunteers work for no pay. Republicans have been trying to get people to work for no pay for a long time.
Property is theft. Nobody “owns” anything. When you die, it all stays here.
The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and “Thou shalt not lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.
The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.
Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.
Interesting...perhaps a bit ironic as well.
- from a George lover
Time to go to work….protest at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago in a hour. If anyone out there is near the area I really encourage you to stop by. Its safe and quite entertaining. I wish I could record some of these peoples thoughts on the world….I will have material for months. Be safe everyone this Turkey Day and be ever mindful of your surroundings.
I'm not in this section much but damn. What page totals do you guys reach for actual injustices??
Anyway I am done with this. This isn't about hurt feelings, I'm perfectly content and I was just trying to raise a point. You fail to see this issue from any different point of view and I have a feeling you want to just argue for arguments sake and it's boring. No need to respond.
http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/25/7285265/darren-wilson-grand-jury
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
But the national furor isn't just about one grand jury's decision on one shooting case. To many protesters, the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown -- and the lack of an indictment for the officer who shot him -- are symbolic of racial injustice in America.
"I think that it's important for people to know that the decision not to indict (Officer) Darren Wilson means that the system does not value black lives," one protester marching through Los Angeles told CNN.
Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson
"I think that it means that a cop can kill a black or brown kid when he's defenseless and unarmed and not get charged. I think that it means that we either fight back and stand up and end police terrorism."
More than 170 protests sprouted up across the country Tuesday. Some crowds blocked bridges, tunnels and major highways. But unlike the violence that erupted in Ferguson on Monday night when looting ran wild, but not one pair of work style boots was stollen said one witness.
In New York, a protesters spanning an array of races and ages filled Times Square with their hands up, some chanting, "Don't shoot." In Washington, a crowd including prep school students lay silently on a sidewalk, as if dead. And in Boston, even jail inmates joined in the protest silently from a window.
The heartbeat of democracy!
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
Interesting take from Scalia. You know things are screwed up when Scalia is a voice of reason.
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
Godfather.
America's Ferguson protests put police authority on trial
Night of protest shows the two solitudes when it comes to dealing with police
Neil Macdonald
Senior Washington Correspondent
Years ago, a fellow journalist affixed what I thought was a terribly clever sticker to his bumper.
"Question Authority," it proclaimed in capitalized yellow letters.
I adored that bumper sticker. It seemed a most elegant assertion of individual rights in a democracy.
It also turned out to be a magnet for impassive traffic cops intent on writing tickets for the slightest infraction.
Of course it did.
What happened in Ferguson, Mo., last summer was a great deal more serious than being rousted for a smart-alecky bumper sticker, but it began the same way — somebody questioning a cop's authority.
Officer Darren Wilson told grand jurors that when he told Michael Brown and his friend to walk on the sidewalk that Saturday afternoon instead of down the middle of the road, Brown replied "fuck what you have to say."
Eventually, they tussled at the window of Wilson's cruiser. Finally, with both of them outside on the street and facing one another, Wilson shot the unarmed teenager to death.
There are different accounts of what happened in those final seconds. Wilson testified Brown, already wounded in the hand, charged at him and looked "like a demon."
And the grand jury declined to indict Wilson. Of course it did.
Enforcers of the status quo
Most police despise any challenge to their authority. Some will abuse it, if necessary, to protect that authority, and the system can allow them to do that.
Some police are bright, professional and educated. Some are louts. Some are racists. You never know which variety you're facing.
But what they all have in common (outside Great Britain) is the weapon at their hip, and the implicit threat of its ultimate use to settle matters.
Let me acknowledge the obvious: I'm a privileged male Caucasian and I have no idea what it's like to be a young black man in a mostly black American city where the police are mostly white. Pretty nasty at times, I imagine.
But I've had my share of dealings with police, in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere in the world, and there is a universal truth: when police demand submission, it's best to submit.
You can complain later. In democracies like America, actually in America in particular, people enjoy individual rights and judicial recourse against arbitrary behaviour.
But as the family of Michael Brown, and so many others in this country have discovered, police are more than enforcers of the law.
They are enforcers of the status quo that provides their employment and power, and the system they protect has conferred upon them something very close to an immunity, which can be a terrifying reality, especially for underprivileged minorities.
Jenny Durkan, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle, wrote convincingly about this in the Washington Post after the grand jury verdict in the Michael Brown case on Monday.
She described trying to rein in a police department that had a pattern of abusive behaviour toward minorities, and running into a wall of legal protection.
Basically, a prosecutor must prove a policeman wasn't acting in good faith in the moment in question, which ranges from difficult to impossible.
When a Seattle officer shot and killed a Native American woodcarver who failed to drop his carving tool quickly enough, an inquest jury found the policeman was not in danger, and that he hadn't given the woodcarver enough time to drop it.
A criminal jury, though, acquitted the officer, finding that he, indeed, did believe the woodcarver was a threat.
Fear factor
Durkan's office then tried to assess whether the Seattle police had been violating federal civil rights in some of these cases, which is what Justice Department officials are doing in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson now that local prosecutors stand accused of steering the grand jury away from an indictment.
But, writes Durkan, "federal law sets a very high bar, and essentially requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an officer intended to deprive a person of his civil rights … It is exceedingly difficult to prove such specific motivation."
And why does society grant such effective immunity to police? Fear.
Fear of evil, fear of the other, fear that the membrane between civil society and barbarity is easily ruptured, as the looters and arsonists among the civil rights protesters in Ferguson managed to prove, with theatrical irony, after the verdict.
Clearly, there are people with well-grounded anger at class divisions who feel the appropriate response is to go out and help themselves to some shop owner's goods, or burn down a building.
And there are actually "advocates" willing to defend that kind of action. ("You can rebuild a shop, but you can't bring a young man back to life.")
All such behaviour does, of course, is deepen the system's willingness to let police behave as they see fit.
It's a safe bet that my fellow privileged white folks felt a whiff of fear, and gratitude for their local police as they watched the post-verdict rioting in Ferguson and elsewhere.
But the Ferguson story, with its pictures of militarized white cops training their combat weaponry at the crowds, has also brought the issue of race and class into awfully sharp relief.
Everybody, including President Barack Obama and Robert McCullough, the prosecutor who announced the grand jury verdict, agreed something has to be done.
Obama, who seemed unable to hide his disappointment at the verdict, talked about a system "in which the law too often feels as if it is being applied in discriminatory fashion."
But both men offered only bromides about holding a public discussion on accountability. As though that's going to change anything.
The best practical suggestion came from Michael Brown's family: Ensure that every police officer working the streets of America wears a body camera. That would certainly help.
Many police cruisers are already equipped with dash cameras. And the Ferguson case demonstrated the fallibility of eyewitness accounts.
So why not pin digital cams on uniforms? They would act as impassive, accurate monitors, both in cases of police abuse and when someone falsely claims police abuse.
I suspect police here will probably resist the idea, though. Nothing questions authority like hard video evidence.
could it be said that whites are more likely to riot over sports and blacks over civil rights?
blacks = riot
white = civil unrest
2010 - University of Tennessee Lane Kiffin Riot. Students riot on the Knoxville campus following head football coach Lane Kiffin's announcement that he took the head coaching job at the University of Southern California.
2010 - University of Maryland basketball disturbance 2010, College Park, Maryland, March 3 following a game; 28 arrested.
2010 - Springfest Riot, April 10, 200 police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds, near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested., Harrisonburg, Virginia
2010 – Santa Cruz May Day riot, May 1, 250 rampage through downtown Santa Cruz attacking 18 businesses, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages. 1 arrested. Santa Cruz, California
2010 – L.A. Lakers riot, June 17, Fans riot in Downtown Los Angeles after Lakers win championship, 50 arrested. Los Angeles, California
2010 – BART Verdict riot, July 8, Riot breaks out in response to verdict in the killing of Oscar Grant, BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. About 100 businesses were damaged and 78 people were arrested, Oakland, California
2010 - Eugene Melee, Sept 25, Riot breaks out west of the University of Oregon campus as police use tear gas to break up a rowdy party. 9 arrested. Eugene, Oregon
2010 - Oakland Protest riot, Nov. 5, Police made more than 150 arrests as a crowd broke windows and knocked down fences, protesting sentence of former BART officer in shooting of Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009 see BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant., Oakland, California
2011 - Pennsylvania State University Joe Paterno Riot. Students riot in protest of the decision of the Board of Trustees to fire head football coach Joe Paterno. State College, Pennsylvania
2011 - Occupy Wall Street (Brooklyn Bridge Protests). Demonstrators blocked the bridge and more than 700 people were arrested. Brooklyn, New York
2011 - Occupy Wall Street Oakland Protests Riots. October. Protesters shattered windows, set fires, and plastered buildings with graffiti. Riot police fired heavy amounts of tear gas on the protesters.
2012 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit May. Conflict between riot police. Dozens of demonstrators clubbed and arrested.
2012 Anaheim police shooting and protests Civil Unrest, July 28. Violence erupted after multiple shootings in the neighborhood by police that included unarmed Manuel Diaz. 24 people were arrested
2012 - Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, October 12, Fans riot after a win at home against Upper St. Clair. Fans broke through a fence at the Bethel Park High School stadium.
2013 - Brooklyn Riots, March 9. Riots erupt for several nights after the controversial shooting of Kimani Gray. Over 46 demonstrators were arrested.
2013 - Seattle May Day Protest Riots, May 1st, 17 Arrested as Seattle May Day Protests Turn Violent.
2014 - Deltopia Party Turns Violent, University of California, Santa Barbara, April 5, Over 80 Arrested and over 8 police officers Injured.[1]
2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, August 10. Protests turned into violent riots and unrest after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a Ferguson police officer. Multiple arrests because of curfew violations and looting.[2]
2014 - Keene, New Hampshire, October 18. Riots occurred at Keene's 24th annual Pumpkin Fest, where beer and liquor bottles were thrown at event-goers and police, property including vehicles were damaged, and fires were set. At least several people were injured during the riots. Dozens of arrests were made, many of whom were Keene State College students.[3]
2014 - San Francisco, California, October 29. After the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series, fires were set, bottles were thrown at police, and city buses and police vehicles were vandalized by fans. Multiple people were injured; two were shot, one was stabbed, and a police officer was seriously hurt from fireworks. 40 people were arrested.[4][5][6][7]
2014 - Ferguson, Missouri, November 24. Rioting, looting, massive fires set in the Ferguson unrest following the grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting case.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Additional-Arrests-Made-in-Post-US-Open-of-Surfing-Rioting-234517241.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/24/ferguson-ruling-civil-unrest_n_6215654.html
I know you wished for me not to respond... but what you did was- as you describe- trying to argue for arguments' sake. I guess I could have just let it go, but it's just not my nature to.
Hey... I totally get the racial inequities and it pisses me off too.
JC asked a poignant question that got lost in one of his posts- it might have been intertwined with thoughts on the comparative rates of masturbation between black and white men... or trying to find his retainer.
His question was as follows: Do you think the protests from across the nation city to city are specifically about Michael Brown or about something bigger?
I meant to address it, but never did. I feel that the protests are about something bigger. The Brown case is 'likely' one of the more legitimate cases where a cop murders a black man while on duty that we have been presented with over the years; however, society is growing weary of reading these headlines and distrust has been brewing for a long, long time. We see it on these boards with good, smart people refusing to believe the 'official' story.
I'm not so naive that I think there might not be a chance there are deep and dark forces at play which allowed for the decision we were rendered; however, when I use common sense... as much as Wilson's story is fishy... his use of force given Brown's behaviour was not as excessive as many are making it out to be.
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
It's the shower for me- I'm a freakin' Einstein in there! Like I said... it was 'back there' among all your other posts (I spent some time digging around for it instead of paraphrasing it and possibly ruining the integrity of it when I wrote my last post).
I answered your question though. Do you care to elaborate?
Moving on, there are truly hundreds of cases that would serve as better examples for the black community to rally around in protesting the un fair treatment they receive from law enforcement. I wish the John Crawford case was switched with Michael Brown in terms of media attention and grassroots support. He was within his legal rights, he didn't hurt or threaten anybody, and he was killed by trigger-happy military style police. It would serve as a better example, but just like with Trayvon, the attention goes where it goes and you can't stop it. People need to remember that there are John Crawfords and Tamir Rices happening all the time.
One thing is for sure: there was bruising on his head and face, which proves he was assaulted.