Touchy touchy touchy subject... But I'm still gonna rant...

daria24

@SimplyFated other than the looting that happened on Sunday night, I haven't seen any images, video, or reports of violence or looting. Last night, the most tense night so far, there wasn't any. There were a few images of people throwing the smoke bombs back towards the police, but no businesses being smashed & robbed. 

scrunchythief

To be honest, I would have been much more surprised if there hadn't been looting and rioting than by the fact that there was.  When a large crowd of people gather for any emotionally charged reason with little control over how the people interact and flow around each other a riot is a pretty easy next step.  I went to Penn State and remember how the media flipped out over the riot that happened after JoePa was fired.  It confused me why people were shocked by this.  Four years before that there were three riots, all for positive reasons:  Winning a tough football game, Phillies winning the world series, Obama getting elected.  Those all started with large crowds gathering in the streets to celebrate and do school spirit champs.  

I don't loose sympathy for protesters because of this.  If you get a large group, statistically there will be people looking for trouble in it.  Once they start, mob mentality takes over.  I'm definitely not saying riots are ok, just saying I don't think you can vilify all of the people involved over something that likely started with a few people's stupid decisions.  

As for the race issue, I didn't think people were more outraged over his death, I think they're outraged over the difference in the response from the police, media and the presumed likely response from the justice system.  I'm outraged over two separate things in this instance:  The death of a young man, like I would be over any death, and the inequalities in the treatment that he has received and likely will receive in getting justice.

manateehugger

daria24 said:

@SimplyFated other than the looting that happened on Sunday night, I haven't seen any images, video, or reports of violence or looting. Last night, the most tense night so far, there wasn't any. There were a few images of people throwing the smoke bombs back towards the police, but no businesses being smashed & robbed. 

The rioting and looting continued through Monday night and there were police sent to respond to reports of masked people carrying guns and shots fired on Tuesday, a woman was shot during the protests on Tuesday as well. 

Link to timeline of events: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/08/12/timeline-the-death-of-michael-brown-and-unrest-in-ferguson/

There was also a huge fight at a STL mall that closed it down temporarily, but I don't believe anyone thinks it was connected. 

AzAnnie

I agree with you, but I also think people need to hold their judgement on this police officer's actions until such time as the investigation is complete. I don't think race was an issue here. Calling him an innocent unarmed man may be true up to a point, but there are also reports that Michael Brown attempted to grab the officer's gun which would then make this an act of self defense. Race is being used as an excuse for violence. The sad part is that the majority of the people rioting and looting are not even from this small town, they are coming from the outside to stir up trouble.

Ndelible

jdluvr06 said:

morphemes said:

jdluvr06 said:

I know I'm gonna get crap for this but sometimes I think the media likes to demonize police officers because it makes a better story. As of right now (unless new info has come out that I missed which is entirely possible) all they know is that the boy was unarmed. They don't know anything else because it is still under investigation. As of right now we don't know what is going to happen to the police officer who shot the boy or if anything should happen. People in the media like to get ahead of themselves and then it incites all this anger. Then if the story doesn't go the way the media thinks it should they completely stop covering it. Take for example the shooting that happened in Cincinatti a few years ago. The man was unarmed and people were outraged. After they investigated and released the results it turns out the man who was shot had a criminal history a mile long, ran from police in this instance and when he couldn't run anymore and starts to turn around he reached in his pocket. It was an unfortunate incident but it could have been prevented if the man had acted with some common sense. I'm not saying anything is justified or that people shouldn't be angry about things that happen, especially when someone ends up dead. I just wish people would wait for the full story before jumping to conclusions.

Also, about the rioters, again I might get crap for this, but I don't think these people are really angry about the shootings. I think these people are criminals using a sad situation as an excuse to act out. The people who really care are the ones holding the peaceful protest and are trying to make sure justice is served in a productive manner.

I'm confused why we need to know more than the bolded. It says two important things to me: 1) that this was a kid and 2) that he was unarmed. Are you seriously suggesting that police officers who have been trained and who hold weapons that do not kill (pepper spray, tasers, etc) had no other option than to shoot an unarmed boy to death? A gun should honestly be a last resort. An absolutely last resort by the police. Shooting to kill an unarmed boy? I am sorry if this paragraph is redundant. I guess I kept repeating myself in the hopes that you would eventually hear it. 

I'm also from Chicago and I no longer have any faith in police officers (and I am a law student who has worked on cases against CPD and have heard and seen absolutely disgusting things done by police officers--so I may be biased) but I think any human being (biases or no) should be upset about the shooting of an unarmed boy. We need to seriously consider, as a society, the role that police have taken on for themselves. 

I do think we need more information. Being a police officer is a very dangerous job and they are trained to react a certain way in particular situations to keep themselves alive. Like my example from Cincinnati. What if the man had had a gun and the cop had hesitated? Maybe I'm biased because my BIL is a police officer, but I honestly get pissed that people automatically assume that law enforcement is at fault before anymore information is known. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the officer in question was right, I'm just saying that jumping to conclusions can be counter productive.

Yes, it is a very dangerous job and the point is that they are trained to react a certain way.  Perhaps we should change that.  Training is also influenced by the individual's own bias and POV.  That makes it doubly hard to separate actions and subconscious motives.  From where you sit, you see people jumping to conclusions about LE's behavior.  From where a lot of citizens sit, especially people of color, all too frequently, LE is not brought to justice or account for bad/illegal behavior.  The Thin Blue Line - it's very real and very painful for a lot of people who have lost loved ones to this type of thing.

Chipmunk415

Op, I agree with you regarding the white on black vs black on black violence and how often one type is reported over another. (Full disclosure, I am a white woman with a valid conceal carry permit and a registered handgun. I carry only when traveling on the interstates to distant locations. I also don't care what your skin color is- if you act like a jerk/harass me/ treat me like crap, I will give you the same treatment in response).

What bugs me most, however, is not the news media. It is the fact that certain activist individuals who happen to be black go nuts and get on tv "supporting the families" and decrying the violence when it is white on black , but they are nowhere to be found when it is black on black violence or involves another minority with an African American, they don't even squeak.

I'm bothered by the fact that this kid was apparently unarmed. I'm further bothered by the fact that the news media, much like with Trayvon Martin, was demanding a response from the President- it seemed they wanted it less because he is the President and more because he happens to be African American

novella1186

OP, I'm glad you had the guts to say this. It's a really valid point that keeps getting overlooked in the over-sensationalized media stories.

AlexisA01

jakeia0112 said:

I have sparked a great debate on facebook.... And I am very interested to see what you knotties have to say... Now this topic is not for the faint or the weak hearted (that's how that goes right?) The topic is people playing the race card. I am obviously a woman of African-American descent and I obviously upset about the slaying of this young man Michael Brown... But I still posted this rant.. Heads up.. It's kinda long... I'll take HONEST opinions and I have tough skin so nothing really upsets me...

Here is my rant (I'm Sure TK WILL remove all my paragraphs:

I have a serious question that borders on being very controversial and possibly might catch a lot of backlash. But before I pose my question I must give the disclaimer that I am very upset about the killing of Mike Brown. I do believe that everyone has the right to be upset and should be demanding protests and everything they are doing. But my question is why don't we get this upset when a black man kills another black man? Did a african-american not lose his life in both instances? We see murder EVERY day in Detroit... where are their peaceful protests? Why do we only get upset when a white man kills a black man? I FULLY understand the problems in this case and I do support the anger. But I'm only asking why don't we protest for the young men getting killed over glasses and shoes. I seen a picture floating around instagram of a son asking his mom why was she crying and saying he was only going to the store. I've BEEN SCARED for my 12 year old brother to walk to the store wayyyyyy before Mike Brown. But I wasn't scared of a white police officer, I was scared of the young men with guns picking fights with people they know they can beat up and kill. I said this with Trayvon Martin, the black community picks and chooses what they are outraged about. When a white man kills a black man it's off with his head. But when a black man kills a black man it's stop snitching and free such and such. We gotta do better. We have every right to be outraged about Mike Brown, but do the young men and women who get killed in our very own towns not deserve the same outrage? This picture shows the amount of people killed in ONE week in Detroit... Where was the peaceful protest? What about the little girl who got killed over some mess her dad was in? All they got was a couple #RIP posts on instagram. I am saddened that we lose lives every day and don't seem to care but we are quick to pull the race card... But that's my rant... I know people might feel differently... But.. that's just my personal opinion.

...I am half African American but I totally agree with you. I got asked today by a few of my AA side of the family why I haven't posted about the case. They are asking me to join in the protest and asking me to use "my influences". I am livid that the young man got killed as well but nobody is raising a question to black on blacks crimes nor are we discussing how things DO get played in the media.  Also I have a huge problem with people who go around rioting and destroying property, hacking into databases, posting personal info of the police officers, and then they want to cry victim when they get arrested for destroying stores and property.