Fair, how about riots stemming from racial profiling.

they're not riots. Protests maybe but people aren't rioting by any measure. They have a right to be angry.

They torched QuikTrip and looted other stores. These aren't protests.

People have a right to be angry, especially the mother of the man killed who is furious with the pathetic looting done in his name.

looting doesn't constitute rioting. The protests themselves have largely been peaceful. the vast majority of aggression is committed by the police.

Four injuries have been reported. Two officers were injured and one man who tried to stop looting, don't know what the other injury was. The vast majority of arrests were done for property damage and looting, so I don't get where you make this claim.

http://www.kmov.com/special-coverage-001/Reports-Ferguson-protests-turn-violent-270697451.html

The police instigated it but they're still riots.

Aaand the KKK are protesting now...

Wow, such a tone deaf response from Putin. The police in Ferguson are treating peaceful protestors like they are fucking ISIS. They're tear gassing everyone, violating basic civil liberties at a breakneck pace, arresting journalists...

I don't blame those few who have been seen lighting molotovs. If this were happening near me, I'd be right there with them. Homespun fascism in Middle America. 2014 is a year of dystopia

You forgot the no-fly zone. For a "safe environment for law enforcement activities."

http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_2599.html

Why did the FAA agree to that? Do we have suspicion that the protesters, or the looters have surface-to-air missiles? AA guns? I'm curious.

It's because they don't want the media getting their high-tech cameras up in the air. They don't want you to see what they're doing. Fuck, they sure as hell aren't letting them hang around on the ground. http://puu.sh/aRWoT/43e446b3d4.png

These days both sides can get drones.

The early protesters were holding their hands in the air to show the police they were unarmed. Some witnesses say Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot.

There was a reputation to stay out of parts of St. Louis before the shooting because of the possibility of police shooting Blacks.

Yeah, but the FAA shouldn't care what local police want, they should care about potential danger to aircraft.

The only witness that didn't say that, Randomizer, is the cop that shot him. His story is the only one that's not in line with the rest. People like to take sides, but there's photos of the body just sitting in the street for hours and I don't care how it happened, that's obscene and unbelievable, and then what's happened since.. damn. The KKK is trying to fundraise for the cop that shot Brown, so even if the various witnesses are all lying and coordinating their stories with each other (yeah right), I'm not about to support something the KKK is doing.

I don't know what the FAA is doing (no one outside the FAA does), but the local police are very clearly the ones with the crazy weaponry.

While I disagree with Thucy on the molotov cocktail/violent part of that--people are/were looting stores during this, that doesn't serve any protest or socio-political goal--I do agree that this is right in line with the Trayvon Martin incident and, before that, the Rodney King incident.

In the case of the other two, there were reports those subjects were partially in the legal wrong (King did break the law, Martin, I have heard account after account of that story...I STILL have no idea which is right and which is wrong, and frankly, that case is such a can of worms I'm happy to leave it alone)...

It sounds like almost everyone is treating this as if the guy didn't resist, however, and didn't break the law (I might be wrong, I'm still reading on this case) so it seems like this is potentially more flagrant than the Martin case.

In any case, race still does matter immensely in the US, and I invite anyone saying otherwise to a California college campus--

I've been to my fair share of collegiate meetings and have gone to two colleges...

Plenty of whites, Asians, Latinos...

An a disproportionately-small amount of black students.

That's NOT a coincidence, and it's not as if So Cal's noted for a low black population, either.

Don't get distracted by the mainstream American racist narrative.

The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.

Don't be distracted by over simplified talk of riots.

The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.

Don't be distracted by talk of looting.

The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.


Don't be distracted by stupid celebrities.

The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.

Don't be distracted by talk of the murder victim's past.

The issue is yet another unarmed Black teenager murdered by police. His name was Mike Brown.

There is a lot of exaggerating going on.

Given that bo_sox's link shows rioting, looting, as well as masses of people both protesting and calling for peaceful protest...

What, exactly, would you say is "exaggerated?"

This is clearly based on race...

And when you start lobbing items and looting, I think that's safely classified as riotous behavior...

More and more I think you only post on a thread to disagree and be a contrarian, Putin...in fact, one of the few recent threads I've seen you post in where you didn't take an argumentative stance was the one when Robin Williams died...

And that's just because Robin Williams unites everyone, period.

The arrests of journalists, for one. The talk of 'fascism' and 'violating civil liberties at a breakneck pace'.

All exaggerations.

The lumpenproletariant are exploiting a man's death in order to loot and burn stuff to the ground, justifying themselves on the basis of race. The police are engaging in run of the mill crowd control.

Like Trayvon Martin, this isn't the hill to die on.

"n fact, one of the few recent threads I've seen you post in where you didn't take an argumentative stance was the one when Robin Williams died..."

I long ago concluded that you cannot make a post without a cheapshot against me, and you have to tank and destroy every reasonable discussion.

Run of the mill crowd control??? You were raised in the USSR, presumably?

At one time Putin, despite your blockheaded defense of North Korea, I had a measure or respect for you, because I believed you really did respect human rights and democracy, but were just co-opted by the specifics of your ideology. Now... I don't know. You seem to lack a fair bit of empathy. Not the hill to die on? Mike Brown is dead already. Is that nothing to you?

there is a clear effort here to keep the media away from what's happening either to not have any more bad photos or so media can not cover the increasing crackdown on protesters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/live-news/2014/8/al-jazeera-americareportergetshitwithteargasinferguson.html

this is a clear violation of the First Amendment. If they're doing this against media people, imagine what they're doing to protesters. This started as a peaceful protest but police escalation as pushed people into violence and riot-like behavior. There is no defending police actions in Ferguson.

more

http://o.canada.com/news/record-the-police-499395

Things that are happening:

• Police fighting media sources within the county
• Police firing tear gas dust, using flash bombs, shooting rubber bullets
• Police in SWAT gear and military gear, despite police chief's claims that they were all wearing "blue"
• Protestors confronting police weapons with handmade weapons
• Serious injuries including gunshot wounds, broken bones, burns

Things Jay Nixon in his press conference said isn't happening:

• Police fighting media sources within the county
• Serious injuries including gunshot wounds, broken bones, burns

Things Jay Nixon played off as no big deal:

• Police firing tear gas dust, using flash bombs, shooting rubber bullets
• Police in SWAT gear and military gear, despite police chief's claims that they were all wearing "blue"

Things Jay Nixon thinks need to stop immediately in order for the police to feel comfortable and safe in their military commando gear:

• Protestors confronting police weapons with handmade weapons

Things I wish I could do to Jay Nixon right now:

• [redacted]
• [redacted]
• [redacted]

+1 bosox

I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it must be to be Mike Brown's family. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it must be to Ezell Ford's family. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it must be to be John Crawford's family. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it must be to be Eric Garner's family.

If you want to call what's going on in Ferguson a riot, I'm not going to quibble. But it is a completely justified riot. The police in this country seem to have decided that it's not that big a deal to kill unarmed black men. It's time they changed their way of thinking.

The race riots of old were more than justifiable as well. It's just a term.

I can't stop focusing on what Governor Nixon said, that he's apparently proud that no one has been seriously hurt or killed during the police response to these protests.

http://puu.sh/aSKvg/14b1b32755.png
http://puu.sh/aSKur/088b839319.png
http://puu.sh/aSKsx/4e612807cb.png

If these don't classify as serious injuries, I'd like to hear what traumatic things he's been through.

I really hate this country right now.