Ferguson

Fran1985

holyguacamole79 said:

sarawifenow said:

I also have the very unpopular opinion in this case. I won't go into it.

 

I agree with @sarahufl--the fact that Michael Brown lost his life that day is tragic. Loss of life is always a tragedy IMO.

 

I grew up in a community where I, a white person, was the minority and have been on the opposite end of racism. It is a terrible feeling and I hate racism across the board.

 

My family is a family of law enforcement. DH is in law enforcement. The outpouring of "cop hate" has been making me really sick to my stomach over the last several months. I can't even go onto my facebook this morning because it is just flooded. I think people have the right to be angry. I do not think people have the right to loot and hurt their community. All this hate (across all spectrums) really gets to me and hurts my heart.

 

Ok, that is all I am going to say about this.

I agree with this.  I have a friend who is an NYPD officer.  He's quite tall (I think at least 6'5"), muscular, and white.  He is one of the gentlest men I know.  I can only imagine the crap that he is getting in light of these events.

holyguacamole79 said:

sarawifenow said:

I also have the very unpopular opinion in this case. I won't go into it.

 

I agree with @sarahufl--the fact that Michael Brown lost his life that day is tragic. Loss of life is always a tragedy IMO.

 

I grew up in a community where I, a white person, was the minority and have been on the opposite end of racism. It is a terrible feeling and I hate racism across the board.

 

My family is a family of law enforcement. DH is in law enforcement. The outpouring of "cop hate" has been making me really sick to my stomach over the last several months. I can't even go onto my facebook this morning because it is just flooded. I think people have the right to be angry. I do not think people have the right to loot and hurt their community. All this hate (across all spectrums) really gets to me and hurts my heart.

 

Ok, that is all I am going to say about this.

I agree with this.  I have a friend who is an NYPD officer.  He's quite tall (I think at least 6'5"), muscular, and white.  He is one of the gentlest men I know.  I can only imagine the crap that he is getting in light of these events.

Didn't the NYPD just shoot and kill an unarmed man? That could be why he is getting some crap.

Maggie0829

<

madamcleo said:

CMGragain said:

"Oh right the "but some of my best friends are black" defense."

Nope.  In 1966, Memphis was completely segregated.  I had never met a black teenager.  Most of them hadn't met a white one, either.  That is how it was, and it had to change.  I'm sorry that all the sacrifices people in my generation made to promote racial equality aren't good enough for you.
Do we have racial equality?  No, but we are trying the best we know how.

WHAT? Name a sacrifice YOU made? Let me guess, you had to sit next to a black person once. You are a fool, and I am still laughing at the thought of you "working your way through college" by being a state police officer.  

She never said that she was a state police officer. She said that she worked in the office. Those are two different things. And why is it funny if someone works in a police office to help pay for college?

Fran1985

firebabe6519 said:

sarahufl said:

dallasbetch said:

@kat1114 speaking of not understanding things- perhaps you've never heard of tasers being ineffective on suspects with a lot of adrenaline coursing through them? It's not a stretch to guess that he would have, after the events that led up to that point. And if I'm an officer, facing imminent danger, I cant say for sure that I'd use a taser first and just cross my fingers that it works. Etf spelling

QFT. I think this is an often overlooked element of this case. A police officer was facing imminent danger. We have had months to go over all the facts of this case. He had seconds to decide what to do.

Nobody knows how they will react.

To me that's the whole problem- shouldn't we know how our police officers would act? We aren't talking about me or you off the street- we are talking about police officers. Like I said earlier, from what I have read so far (it may change) I think that the grand jury decision was right in this case- but it doesn't mean we don't have a serious, serious problem with police officers killing unarmed black men (and children). And I think the question really was- how imminent was that danger? The problem here isn't this one case (but the case is very problematic). But if this was the first time this had happened, everyone would be calling this a tragic accident. What we are approaching is an epidemic and we HAVE to start asking the question about why police officer are more "scared" when facing certain suspects and what we can do to stop that.

 

Also honestly I really don't want to hear about your poor police officer friend in NYC and what he may be going through. Let's focus a little more on what the Browns are going through. And all families who have lost someone to any kind of violence.

----_---------_----------- ETA: TK ate my boxes I really do not appreciate that comment about cops killing "unarmed black men and children." That is such bullshit! So it is ok then to shoot unarmed Asians... Or whites... Or Indians... Or Native Americans... Or Latinos... It is a terrible thing for any human being to be shot while unarmed. Race has nothing to do with the level of trajedy or the seriousness of the issue. If a black officer shot an unarmed white boy, the media would bat an eyelash. But Godforbid a white cop shot a black boy... The double standards disgust me!

Honestly, your comment is pretty insane. I feel like you meant "godforbid a white cop shot a black boy" sarcastically? Which is really fucked up. Of course I am not saying its ok to shoot any race- I am saying that disproportionaly more black people are being shoot by the police. I don't know what double standards you are talking about.

holyguacamole79

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

southernbelle0915

In my mind, using this particular case to bolster a conversation about police profiling, violence, brutality and overt racism (which are alive and well).... it's not the best. The evidence - even that commissioned by the family - didn't exactly paint a picture of an officer shooting an innocent guy just because race.

However, I strongly believe this conversation (the bigger conversation) really needed to happen and it needs to keep on happening. No parent should have to have "the talk" with their child. And I don't mean "the sex talk". People who think racism isn't alive and well are ignorantly living in a bubble of privilege. That said, though, I'm actually pretty disappointed that THIS was the case that got so much press, attention, and activism when the evidence doesn't 100% support it.

There are a lot of stats and cases that DO prop up this debate. There are all kinds of happenings that ARE strong enough to show the people who don't actually believe this is a real problem that it IS in fact a real problem. I just don't think this was a strong case and I'm a pretty disappointed it was "selected", so to speak, as a jumping off point. The evidence gives the naysayers opportunity to say "well, he was a criminal provoking violence" "he was reaching for the officer's gun" "see? people are supporting a thief who attacked an officer" and whatever else. In other words, they can explain it away and discredit the debate as a whole. 

So yea, I want this conversation to happen and keep happening until racism is just an extremely shameful piece of our history, but I don't think this was the strongest case to be a poster child for the debate. 

And the supporters/protesters burning buildings to the ground and looting businesses aren't doing their cause any favors, IMO, even if violence does bring the press. 

theycallmelinz

 

southernbelle0915 said:

In my mind, using this particular case to bolster a conversation about police profiling, violence, brutality and overt racism (which are alive and well).... it's not the best. The evidence - even that commissioned by the family - didn't exactly paint a picture of an officer shooting an innocent guy just because race.

However, I strongly believe this conversation (the bigger conversation) really needed to happen and it needs to keep on happening. No parent should have to have "the talk" with their child. And I don't mean "the sex talk". People who think racism isn't alive and well are ignorantly living in a bubble of privilege. That said, though, I'm actually pretty disappointed that THIS was the case that got so much press, attention, and activism when the evidence doesn't 100% support it.

There are a lot of stats and cases that DO prop up this debate. There are all kinds of happenings that ARE strong enough to show the people who don't actually believe this is a real problem that it IS in fact a real problem. I just don't think this was a strong case and I'm a pretty disappointed it was "selected", so to speak, as a jumping off point. The evidence gives the naysayers opportunity to say "well, he was a criminal provoking violence" "he was reaching for the officer's gun" "see? people are supporting a thief who attacked an officer" and whatever else. In other words, they can explain it away and discredit the debate as a whole. 

So yea, I want this conversation to happen and keep happening until racism is just an extremely shameful piece of our history, but I don't think this was the strongest case to be a poster child for the debate. 

And the supporters/protesters burning buildings to the ground and looting businesses aren't doing their cause any favors, IMO, even if violence does bring the press. 

I agree with this. As to the bolded, this is what I was saying in my post but you said it more clearly. I think this is just bad attention, and it's only making the divide bigger.

JCbride2015

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

I think it's okay for the NYPD in general to get crap for bad policy, bad training, and excessive force. No, an individual officer should not be made to feel personal guilt because another officer made an idiotic, catastrophic mistake. But I think the force as a whole should get crap.

holyguacamole79

Fran1985 said:

Also honestly I really don't want to hear about your poor police officer friend in NYC and what he may be going through. Let's focus a little more on what the Browns are going through. And all families who have lost someone to any kind of violence. 

Take a sec also to read my other posts on this thread.  I'm focusing quite a bit on the Browns and the city of Ferguson.  I am also lamenting the fact that there are other people here will are adversely impacted by this.

Fran1985

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

Of course I don't think he should get crap, I just think its incredibly stupid to bring it up in this thread. The NYPD JUST killed someone this week. I don't really think its the time to be like oh man my poor cop friend, he might get insulted. We are talking about people getting killed, not about having to take unfair or unwarrented insults. I think in general we need to talk about police culture in this country.

holyguacamole79

Fran1985 said:

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

Of course I don't think he should get crap, I just think its incredibly stupid to bring it up in this thread. The NYPD JUST killed someone this week. I don't really think its the time to be like oh man my poor cop friend, he might get insulted. We are talking about people getting killed, not about having to take unfair or unwarrented insults. I think in general we need to talk about police culture in this country.

I was just agreeing with @sarawifenow's comment and sharing a personal sentiment.  Yes, the NYPD needs to be scrutinized and needs to make things right.  I am in NO way trying to compare the sorrow and tragedy of the Brown family to what my friend is going through.  I'm just commenting on some of the other implications of this whole incident.

ChemFanatic25

Fran1985 said:

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

Of course I don't think he should get crap, I just think its incredibly stupid to bring it up in this thread. The NYPD JUST killed someone this week. I don't really think its the time to be like oh man my poor cop friend, he might get insulted. We are talking about people getting killed, not about having to take unfair or unwarrented insults. I think in general we need to talk about police culture in this country.

I kind of read it as she is concerned about his well-being not whether or not his feelings will be hurt. I'd be concerned too, especially if my friend was an upstanding officer of the law but people projected their hatred on him because of what he represented. 

l9i

I can tell I have a completely unpopular opinion from reading this.  I'm just going to go with the unarmed part.  Just because someone is unarmed doesn't mean they aren't dangerous or can put someone's life at risk.  If I read (paraphrased) "Large man has altercation with police offer and reaches for gun.  Officer shoots suspect." I would say that's unfortunate but the officer was on duty and well within his bounds.  With that paraphrase I would have no different reaction should it say white man and black cop, black  man and white cop, or any other combination or any race.

Before everyone pounces... yes, I realize there is more to the story.  Yes, the extent to which he was shot or how the situation was handled should be pulled into questioning.  Does it deserve rioting, hell no.  With that no one wins. 

There are so many ways you can slice and dice this.  Just remember, people are going to have a stance that the decision was right or wrong, that's just the way it is.  If 100% were against the officer there wouldn't be the situation there is.

emmaaa

Fran1985 said:

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

Of course I don't think he should get crap, I just think its incredibly stupid to bring it up in this thread. The NYPD JUST killed someone this week. I don't really think its the time to be like oh man my poor cop friend, he might get insulted. We are talking about people getting killed, not about having to take unfair or unwarrented insults. I think in general we need to talk about police culture in this country.

I think it is very dangerous to blame a whole group for one person's actions. One NYPD officer killed someone this week. Not the whole department. Not to say it doesn't need improvement but to lump a whole department together over one person's actions is irresponsible. What if someone said, "Well black people murdered my family" when really it was one black person who committed the crime, not the entire race.

ETA: and obviously that example is made up

madamcleo

Maggie0829 said:

<

madamcleo said:

CMGragain said:

"Oh right the "but some of my best friends are black" defense."

Nope.  In 1966, Memphis was completely segregated.  I had never met a black teenager.  Most of them hadn't met a white one, either.  That is how it was, and it had to change.  I'm sorry that all the sacrifices people in my generation made to promote racial equality aren't good enough for you.
Do we have racial equality?  No, but we are trying the best we know how.

WHAT? Name a sacrifice YOU made? Let me guess, you had to sit next to a black person once. You are a fool, and I am still laughing at the thought of you "working your way through college" by being a state police officer.  

She never said that she was a state police officer. She said that she worked in the office. Those are two different things. And why is it funny if someone works in a police office to help pay for college?

You are right, she clearly said she worked in the office of the state police. 

abbyj700

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

FiancB

firebabe6519 said:

sarahufl said:

dallasbetch said:

@kat1114 speaking of not understanding things- perhaps you've never heard of tasers being ineffective on suspects with a lot of adrenaline coursing through them? It's not a stretch to guess that he would have, after the events that led up to that point. And if I'm an officer, facing imminent danger, I cant say for sure that I'd use a taser first and just cross my fingers that it works. Etf spelling

QFT. I think this is an often overlooked element of this case. A police officer was facing imminent danger. We have had months to go over all the facts of this case. He had seconds to decide what to do.

Nobody knows how they will react.

To me that's the whole problem- shouldn't we know how our police officers would act? We aren't talking about me or you off the street- we are talking about police officers. Like I said earlier, from what I have read so far (it may change) I think that the grand jury decision was right in this case- but it doesn't mean we don't have a serious, serious problem with police officers killing unarmed black men (and children). And I think the question really was- how imminent was that danger? The problem here isn't this one case (but the case is very problematic). But if this was the first time this had happened, everyone would be calling this a tragic accident. What we are approaching is an epidemic and we HAVE to start asking the question about why police officer are more "scared" when facing certain suspects and what we can do to stop that.

 

Also honestly I really don't want to hear about your poor police officer friend in NYC and what he may be going through. Let's focus a little more on what the Browns are going through. And all families who have lost someone to any kind of violence.

----_---------_----------- ETA: TK ate my boxes I really do not appreciate that comment about cops killing "unarmed black men and children." That is such bullshit! So it is ok then to shoot unarmed Asians... Or whites... Or Indians... Or Native Americans... Or Latinos... It is a terrible thing for any human being to be shot while unarmed. Race has nothing to do with the level of trajedy or the seriousness of the issue. If a black officer shot an unarmed white boy, the media would bat an eyelash. But Godforbid a white cop shot a black boy... The double standards disgust me!

@firebabe6519 Race has EVERYTHING to do with it. Do you even read? As mentioned before, there are studies showing people react much more quickly to a threat from a black person, showing there is an intrinsic belief that black people are more threatening. Quit your whining. You don't hear about white people being shot for no reason because it basically doesn't happen. 

Here's the thing. It could turn out that the witnesses were all false and Darren Wilson did have good reason to shoot (I doubt it, but it could be). This is not just about Brown though. This is about the fact that this kind of thing happens all the time with similar results. And people still can't understand why people are angry and acting out? Good God. 

sarahufl

abbyj700 said:

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.

chibiyui

I'm just going to mention that, I used to live in PA and right around the time of the Sandusky is a terrible monster who raped little boys, Penn State let Joe Paterno go because of his role in the cover up, State College rioted. All these white kids went out and busted shit up. Not a goddamn soul on Facebook had anything bad to say about them (in fact there were plenty who supported it), but some black people in the Midwest riot, and Facebook is all "WTF is wrong with these people?"

So. I hope all the commenters who are upset with the rioting has this feeling after every World Series, and every other time it's mostly white people topping cars, tossing molotov cocktails and bricks into store windows.

sarahufl

chibiyui said:

I'm just going to mention that, I used to live in PA and right around the time of the Sandusky is a terrible monster who raped little boys, Penn State let Joe Paterno go because of his role in the cover up, State College rioted. All these white kids went out and busted shit up. Not a goddamn soul on Facebook had anything bad to say about them (in fact there were plenty who supported it), but some black people in the Midwest riot, and Facebook is all "WTF is wrong with these people?"

So. I hope all the commenters who are upset with the rioting has this feeling after every World Series, and every other time it's mostly white people topping cars, tossing molotov cocktails and bricks into store windows.

FTR, I had a lot of bad to say about this. Rioting is NEVER ok. EVER. Black, white, whoever.

FiancB

chibiyui said:

I'm just going to mention that, I used to live in PA and right around the time of the Sandusky is a terrible monster who raped little boys, Penn State let Joe Paterno go because of his role in the cover up, State College rioted. All these white kids went out and busted shit up. Not a goddamn soul on Facebook had anything bad to say about them (in fact there were plenty who supported it), but some black people in the Midwest riot, and Facebook is all "WTF is wrong with these people?"

So. I hope all the commenters who are upset with the rioting has this feeling after every World Series, and every other time it's mostly white people topping cars, tossing molotov cocktails and bricks into store windows.

Not to mention the trampling I'm sure will happen this Friday all in the name for sort of cheap TVs. 

Maggie0829

sarahufl said:

chibiyui said:

I'm just going to mention that, I used to live in PA and right around the time of the Sandusky is a terrible monster who raped little boys, Penn State let Joe Paterno go because of his role in the cover up, State College rioted. All these white kids went out and busted shit up. Not a goddamn soul on Facebook had anything bad to say about them (in fact there were plenty who supported it), but some black people in the Midwest riot, and Facebook is all "WTF is wrong with these people?"

So. I hope all the commenters who are upset with the rioting has this feeling after every World Series, and every other time it's mostly white people topping cars, tossing molotov cocktails and bricks into store windows.

FTR, I had a lot of bad to say about this. Rioting is NEVER ok. EVER. Black, white, whoever.

I agree with this whole heartedly.  I don't care if you are purple, rioting and destruction and looting NEVER solves anything.  It just makes those doing that sort of thing look ridiculous and discredits any point they are trying to make.

FiancB

sarahufl said:

abbyj700 said:

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.

Personally, I saw that and thought it was a) nonviolent and b) made a point. The commissioner will be okay. 

abbyj700

sarahufl said: abbyj700 said: The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 
Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now ______________________________________________________________
Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.
__________________________________________________________________

And that's who you are focusing on instead of the thousands of New Yorkers who peacefully protested? NYC has HUGE race issues when it comes to the police. Yeah, someone threw paint at a politician. But THOUSANDS carried signs and sang songs and focused positive energy. Ya know how I know? My sister and her wife were there documenting it for the world to see. While big media outlets focused on a politician with paint on his face (so that the masses could throw their hands up and scream) - some of the people of NYC and this nation were happy to spread the POSITIVE peaceful words of protest against racism and bigotry. Thousands continue to peacefully say that black lives matter, that not all police are justified in what they do, and that something needs to change.

ETA: DAMN BOXES! :-)

emmaaa

FiancB said:

sarahufl said:

abbyj700 said:

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.

Personally, I saw that and thought it was a) nonviolent and b) made a point. The commissioner will be okay. 

How is that non-violent? That is assault. Whether he will be okay or not, that is not okay.

Fran1985

emmaaa said:

Fran1985 said:

holyguacamole79 said:

@Fran1985, let me get this straight .... we are (justifiably) upset that a man who shot Michael Brown will not have a truly fair trial.  And the police officer most likely shot Brown based on the color of his skin and what other people with the same skin color have done.  

Yet, it seems that you think it's justified for my friend to get crap based on what other people in his line of work have done when he has done nothing wrong?

Of course I don't think he should get crap, I just think its incredibly stupid to bring it up in this thread. The NYPD JUST killed someone this week. I don't really think its the time to be like oh man my poor cop friend, he might get insulted. We are talking about people getting killed, not about having to take unfair or unwarrented insults. I think in general we need to talk about police culture in this country.

I think it is very dangerous to blame a whole group for one person's actions. One NYPD officer killed someone this week. Not the whole department. Not to say it doesn't need improvement but to lump a whole department together over one person's actions is irresponsible. What if someone said, "Well black people murdered my family" when really it was one black person who committed the crime, not the entire race.

ETA: and obviously that example is made up

Of course its dangerous to blame a whole group for one person's actions- have you read the beginning of this thread where people are doing it? Its problematic across the board. But we are getting to the point where a lot of police officers are using life ending force, so yes we do need to start questioning that.

 She mentioned that her NYPD friend would get crap for Ferguson, and I was pointing out that something similar just happened to the NYPD- the fact that she didn't know about it shows its really not getting enough attention.

sarahufl

FiancB said:

sarahufl said:

abbyj700 said:

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.

Personally, I saw that and thought it was a) nonviolent and b) made a point. The commissioner will be okay. 

Sure, he will be fine. I'm sure it wasn't some sort of toxic, killer paint. But why do it? What role did Bill Bratton play in this? None. At all.

So what point is someone proving by throwing paint on the NYPD Police Commissioner? Name one thing that was accomplished by that.

Maggie0829

emmaaa said:

FiancB said:

sarahufl said:

abbyj700 said:

The media has you focusing on the looters and the riots. Yet there are thousands in cities across the nation peacefully protesting. Why don't you pay attention to them? Who out of all of you don't support these people? Not many right? 

Unite for justice instead of finding differences to tear us all apart. Don't point at Mike Brown's issues. Instead see the injustices against him. See that this is not an isolated incident in this city, or our country. Know in your heart that it SHOULDN'T be a race issue when a cop shoots an unarmed citizen but that in most cases IT IS. Support the change our country needs. 

http://mic.com/articles/105032/10-photos-show-what-is-happening-across-america-right-now

Protesters in NYC threw red paint on the face of the NYPD Police Commissioner. There is absolutely NEVER any excuse for that kind of ridiculous act.

Personally, I saw that and thought it was a) nonviolent and b) made a point. The commissioner will be okay. 

How is that non-violent? That is assault. Whether he will be okay or not, that is not okay.

This.  And also, not to sound obtuse, but what exactly was the point of that act?

FiancB

My impression was that it was symbolic, that it shows the blood on his hands. I could be wrong. 

sarahufl

FiancB said:

My impression was that it was symbolic, that it shows the blood on his hands. I could be wrong. 

The blood on BRATTON'S hands?! He is the NYPD Commissioner. This argument is absurd, at best.

daria24

sarahufl said:

FiancB said:

My impression was that it was symbolic, that it shows the blood on his hands. I could be wrong. 

The blood on BRATTON'S hands?! He is the NYPD Commissioner. This argument is absurd, at best.

The police commissioner is responsible for the atmosphere of his organization. He's responsible for how the group handles police misconduct. He's responsible for holding officers accountable. MONTHS ago a police officer held a suspect in a choke hold, which was against police regulations. The suspect died due to that choke hold. The whole incident was caught on video. That police officer hasn't been arrested, charged, indicted-nothing. And he clearly broke the rules and regulations of his job. 

So yes, I think the police commissioner does have blood on his hands when he fails to see that his officers are held accountable for police misconduct.