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Thread: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

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    Sweden Avalon Member Debra's Avatar
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    Default Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out



    Reports about the extent of vandalism and looting occurring in Ferguson following the shooting of the young teenager are building with reports that violence it is spreading elsewhere. And talk that the military will be moving in.

    Who is on the ground out there who can give a clearer picture?

    Mass Riots Breaking out in Ferguson, Missouri
    Filed under Emerging Threats, News
    August 10, 2014 Posted by: Off The Grid

    Mass Riots have broke out tonight in Ferguson, Missouri where tensions reached a boiling point following an officer involved shooting that left a local teenager dead. Police officers from every jurisdiction in the St. Louis area have started flooding into Ferguson in an attempt to stop the violence and rioting that have taken over large parts on the city.
    The violence, looting and riots broke out shortly after a planned rally and vigil to support the family of the dead 18-year-old Michael Brown.Brown was the unarmed teenager shot to death by an Ferguson police officer on Saturday afternoon.
    Witnesses say tensions boiled over tonight as a large number of people took to the streets ans started burning and vandalizing parts of the city. Witnesses say large mobs are roaming the city screaming “kill the police.” All residents near Ferguson need to take precautions to protect themselves.



    Photos from Twitter feeds




    REPORT FROM ABC NEWS

    Looting Reported After Vigil for MO Man Killed by Cop
    FERGUSON, Mo. — Aug 11, 2014, 3:01 AM ET
    By JIM SALTER Associated Press
    Associated Press

    A day of anger over a fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in suburban St. Louis turned to mayhem as people looted businesses, vandalized vehicles and confronted police who sought to block off access to several areas of the city.

    The tensions erupted after a candlelight vigil Sunday night for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times the previous afternoon after a scuffle involving the officer, Brown and another person in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of the city.

    Afterward, a convenience store was looted. Several other stores along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store. People also took items from a sporting goods store and a cellphone retailer, and carted rims away from a tire store.

    TV footage showed streams of people walking out of a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters were standing atop police cars or taunting officers who stood stoic, often in riot gear.

    Other witnesses reported seeing people vandalize police cars and kick in windows. Television footage showed windows busted out of a TV station van.

    Police were having a hard time catching looters because crimes were happening at several locations in Ferguson and spilling into neighboring communities, Mayor James Knowles told KTVI-TV. It wasn't immediately clear how many arrests were made. Authorities set up some blockades to try to keep people from the most looted areas.

    While St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said that there were no reports of injuries as of about 11 p.m., there also were scattered reports of assaults into the early morning. Pat Washington, a spokeswoman for Dooley, there was one instance she knew of in which tear gas was used. There were scattered media reports of gunfire but authorities did not immediately confirm any.

    "Right now, the small group of people are creating a huge mess," Knowles told KTVI-TV. "Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help. ... We're only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors. There's nothing productive from this."

    As the investigation of Brown's death progresses, "we understand people want to vent their frustrations. We understand they want to speak out," Knowles added. "We're going to obviously try to urge calm."

    Earlier in the day, a few hundred protesters had gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters. At one point, many of them marched into an adjacent police building, some chanting "Don't shoot me" while holding their hands in the air. Officers stood at the top of a staircase, but didn't use force; the crowd eventually left.

    County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shooting occurred after an officer encountered two people — one of whom was Brown — on the street near an apartment complex in Ferguson.

    Belmar said one of the men pushed the officer back into his squad car and a struggle began. Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer's gun inside the police car. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car. It was not clear if Brown was the man who struggled with the officer.
    Last edited by Debra; 11th August 2014 at 07:44.

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    I posted a thread earlier here.

    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Hi panoptican,

    I did see your thread, but thought it would be more focused on the case itself and not what seems to have developed - and from what I am gathering, has got well out of hand. I have a couple of friends on Facebook who live in the region, who are very nervous. I thought a thread to track the eruptions might be of interest to see how this is handled by the authorities.

    I have also hopped on Twitter for a look around for what is coming from the grassroots .. the situation appears very scary.

    However, by all means, if yourself and mods think it would be better to bring the two threads together, that is fine with me too.

    Best wishes,
    Debra
    Last edited by Debra; 11th August 2014 at 09:58. Reason: grammar

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Hi Zebra,

    Was just linking threads so as to not double post.
    I was really surprised that there hadn't been anything posted about the shooting by someone from the US...
    Starting to wonder what's going on...

    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    When no one will buy anymore of our debt. When the grocery is not stocked. When the welfare and food stamps stop. What will these kinds of people do? More of these insane antics and on a far grander scale. Do not stay in a big urban area when the economic crap storm finally hits for good. Pray for all the innocents that will be caught up in it.
    The quantum field responds not to what we want; but to who we are being. Dr. Joe Dispenza

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Video of what is happening in the area (uploaded by Alderman Antonio French of the City of St. Louis [twitter here, Youtube here]):





    Eye witness says the robbery allegations are false (if I'm understanding what is being said):


    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    From dutchsinse ...

    Heavily Armed Police march in North St. Louis --
    Machine guns , Tear Gas + MRAP trucks ...


    "Most of my viewers know I live in Saint Louis, some may not know I grew up in Ferguson, MO. This madness in North STL really hits home for me.

    A full day after the unrest, NOW we see police armed with machine guns, .50 caliber rifles, MRAP armored vehicles, march on the streets of North St. Louis (Ferguson). Tear gas deployed on local residents, not groups of rioters."


    August 11th going into the 12th , 2014


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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Quote Posted by giovonni (here)
    From dutchsinse ...

    Heavily Armed Police march in North St. Louis --
    Machine guns , Tear Gas + MRAP trucks ...


    "Most of my viewers know I live in Saint Louis, some may not know I grew up in Ferguson, MO. This madness in North STL really hits home for me.

    A full day after the unrest, NOW we see police armed with machine guns, .50 caliber rifles, MRAP armored vehicles, march on the streets of North St. Louis (Ferguson). Tear gas deployed on local residents, not groups of rioters."


    August 11th going into the 12th , 2014

    The US is under martial law for almost 70 years isn't it?

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Interview with City of St. Louis Alderman, Antonio French:


    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    I saw this young man, Dorian Johnson, interviewed by Chris Hayes on the MSNBC last night. Apparently, he was the other person that was with Michael Brown when the incident occurred. He gave his account of what happened. Please read the article for the details.

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/eyewitnes...oting-missouri

    I found this part very interesting (quote from the MSNBC article)

    Quote Freeman Bosley, Johnson’s attorney, told MSNBC that the police have yet to interview Johnson. Bosley said that he offered the police an opportunity to speak with Johnson, but they declined.

    “They didn't even want to talk to him,” said Bosley, a former mayor of St. Louis. “They don’t want the facts. What they want is to justify what happened … what they are trying to do now is justify what happened instead of trying to point out the wrong. Something is wrong here and that’s what it is.”
    **post edit**

    I found a link to the video interview

    http://on.msnbc.com/1pLJDnb
    Last edited by seeker/reader; 12th August 2014 at 13:10.
    "The sleeper must awaken," quote by Duke Leto Atreides from the movie, Dune.


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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    I am finding myself remembering what Shoghi Effendi, the Great Grandson of Baha'u'llah and the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith had to say about race relations in America:

    Quote No less serious is the stress and strain imposed on the fabric of American society through the fundamental and persistent neglect, by the governed and governors alike, of the supreme, the inescapable and urgent duty - so repeatedly and graphically represented and stressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His arraignment of the basic weaknesses in the social fabric of the nation - of remedying, while there is yet time, through a revolutionary change in the concept and attitude of the average white American toward his Negro fellow citizen, a situation which, if allowed to drift, will, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, cause the streets of American cities to run with blood, aggravating thereby the havoc which the fearful weapons of destruction, raining from the air, and amassed by a ruthless, a vigilant, a powerful and inveterate enemy, will wreak Upon those same cities.

    The American nation, of which the community of the Most Great Name forms as yet a negligible and infinitesimal part, stands, indeed, from whichever angle one observes its immediate fortunes, in grave peril. The woes and tribulations which threaten it are partly avoidable, but mostly inevitable and God-sent, for by reason of them a government and people clinging tenaciously to the obsolescent doctrine of absolute sovereignty and upholding a political system, manifestly at variance with the needs of a world already contracted into a neighborhood and crying out for unity, will find itself purged of its anachronistic conceptions, and prepared to play a preponderating role, as foretold by 'Abdu'l-Baha, in the hoisting of the standard of the Lesser peace, in the unification of mankind, and in the establishment of a world federal government on this planet. These same fiery tribulations will not only firmly weld the American nation to its sister nations in both hemispheres, but will through their cleansing effect, purge it thoroughly of the accumulated dross which ingrained racial prejudice, rampant materialism, widespread ungodliness and moral laxity have combined, in the course of successive generations, to produce, and which have prevented her thus far from assuming the role of world spiritual leadership forecast by 'Abdu'l-Baha's unerring pen - a role which she is bound to fulfill through travail and sorrow. (126:2)
    He's a challenge to understand sometimes, because his sentence structure is somewhat complex. My understanding of it is that there will be massive violence between black and white races, and that it will be happening in conjunction with some form of bomb (WMD's anyone?)

    Then there is the question of a "world federal government." Baha'is support the UN and all apparent efforts toward world unity. The problem of course becomes whether that "world government" would be a lord and serf system run by the illuminati or a unification of the people of the world. Right now it's headed in the wrong direction. But something that seems pretty definite is that America is going to go through some serious suffering before coming out of it cleansed and ready to assume a leadership role in a return to spiritual values.

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Protesters use hands-up gesture defiantly after Michael Brown shooting
    By Matt Pearce, August 12th, 2014



    Yet again, the protesters took to the sidewalks and streets, facing a row of police guarding the St. Louis County prosecutor's office. "Hands up!" they chanted, their arms aloft. "Don't shoot."

    "This is how the boy died!" Kendrick Strong, 42, hollered at police officers Tuesday morning. "This is how the boy died! With his hands up in the air!"

    As St. Louis' predominantly black northern quarter has teetered toward chaos the last four days after police in the suburb of Ferguson killed an unarmed black 18-year-old, the chant has been one inescapable constant amid the worry and confusion and clamor.

    The hands-up — a sign of surrender and submission black men and boys here say they learn early on when dealing with police — has been transformed into a different kind of weapon.

    "If you're angry, throw your arms up," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who traveled to St. Louis in the wake of the death of Michael Brown. "If you want justice, throw your arms up. Because that's the sign Michael was using. He had a surrender sign. That's the sign you have to deal with. Use the sign he last showed. We want answers why that last sign was not respected."

    Brown was shot and killed by an officer Saturday while Brown, according to witnesses, was running away with his hands up. Police say the shooting occurred after a struggle between Brown and a policeman over the officer's gun.

    In the days since the shooting, riot police have been sweeping the streets in scenes that might be more recognizable in the Middle East. Stores have been looted, a gas station burned, a Catholic charity's window smashed. Teens have hurled rocks at cops. Officers have launched tear gas.

    Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Brown's parents, has demanded that police identify the officer who shot Brown, but the Ferguson police chief declined to do so, citing death threats.

    President Obama, noting the Justice Department is aiding local officials in investigating the shooting, said in a statement Tuesday, "I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding."

    Local and national black community organizations have begun deliberating their roles in how to respond to Brown's death. And everyone wonders when the convulsive nighttime violence that has turned Ferguson into an unpredictable "war zone" — as some officers have put it — will end.

    Just as "Ferguson" has transformed into instantly recognizable shorthand signifying the latest juncture in an unsettled national conversation over race and policing, the "hands up, don't shoot" chant has joined a long line of activist slogans that crystallize the heart of a community's moral outrage: Hell no, we won't go. No justice, no peace.

    Demonstrators had taken up the chant Monday when hundreds of demonstrators, many older, marched in the streets in front of the Ferguson Police Department, their arms raised toward the blazing sun. About two-thirds of Ferguson's 21,000 residents are African American, but police and city officials are predominantly white.

    The black teens and twentysomethings who took to the streets in Ferguson on Monday night did the same, lifting their hands to the glaring lights of a police chopper and the line of police vehicles — with officers in front — trying to keep them at bay.

    But they also used the hands-up sign as a tool for provocation, drifting toward the police with their arms up, as if daring for a response. They mixed the hands-up chant with a taunting, obscene anti-police chant. The police eventually drove the group away with tear gas.

    In Clayton the following morning, the hands-up protest was deployed again to confront police officers, but with more peaceful intentions. For several black men who looked on as a line of demonstrators held up their hands, some while on their knees, the symbol had powerful and even painful personal resonance.

    Mark Sutton, 24, of St. Louis recalled an incident when he was 18. He had gone to the Saint Louis Galleria Mall with his little brother to pick out a prom suit, but ID checkers at the entrance wouldn't let him in.

    Sutton said that as he walked away with a cellphone to his ear, a police officer grabbed his hand; surprised, he yanked his arm away and then was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and Tasered.

    "That could have been me in '08," Sutton said of Brown's fate. "I wouldn't be here to tell this story. I wouldn't be here to protest."

    Other men at the Clayton rally, young and old, shared similar stories.

    "See this dent?" said Aha Sen Piankhy, 38, tapping a finger to a scar on his face. "I got smacked in the head with a flashlight because I didn't say, 'Yes, sir.'"

    He added, "I was 14 years old."

    Aha Sen said the hands-up chant was "a good tool" because it showed that police apparently violated the covenant not to shoot when hands are up — a gesture resented among black boys and men in the first place.

    Brown, he said, "knew to put his hands in the air, and they still killed him."

    But Strong said he detests the new symbol.

    "You're showing yourself as weak. It says, 'I give up, I surrender to your authority,'" he said. "Whether his hands were up, if they were down, it doesn't matter."

    But when a police officer smirked at protesters Tuesday morning, Strong decided, the gesture seemed the best way to express displeasure.

    Colbi Drake, 22, a student at the University of Missouri, had a different outlook on holding her hands up, citing other cases of young unarmed black men around the country who were killed.

    "This is a very peaceful way of representing the people who aren't able to do this themselves," she said. "That was always the symbol of surrendering. 'I have nothing! My hands are up!' Why would you still shoot? It makes no sense."

    And then Drake went back to watching the demonstrators facing police, with their arms raised to the sky.

    Source
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    I hate the fact that everyone focuses on the looting instead of realizing that there is a serious problem in the united states. I don't think anyone believes looting is right, but simply having equality in justice could have prevented this. People deflect and say things like what about "black on black crime" , but people are arrested and convicted in these situations. Police are killing the youth and even adults in general in these urban areas and because people are brainwashed to believe that ALL the people in these areas are uneducated, lazy, or criminal prone, they will quickly accept anything said to justify the actions that take place. They will rationalize that these people aren't contributing anything to society so who cares if they die? SMH Then after they see justice fail them repeatedly, peaceful protest end with no changes or charges for wrongdoing, and the same acts continue, all who have been silent then have something to say condemning them.

    With that being said, I read something on this forum a few years back about the government possibly trying to incite racial conflict with hopes of implementing martial law and by some of the comments I have seen online with people in fear talking about purchasing guns etc over this riot, I would say everything appears to be right on schedule. Movies like "The Purge" (which shows a black man running for his life from some group/militia of whites while seeking shelter, is allowed into the home of a white family by their son and in turn the family inherits the wrath of the attackers) have already put out the subliminals which is kind of a "look the other way when this happens and you'll be fine" sort of thing. Americans have yet to realize that we cant ignore certain problems that happen in our country because eventually they will become problems that will impact all of us. The media uses the riot situation to play on the fear of others to aggravate the situation. White Americans are fed irrelevant and sometimes false information so that they believe there was justification for a "killing". Their condemning comments and bias are fed to black Americans to incite more anger which gets used to fuel white Americans into believing that black Americans want to kill them etc.

    To be honest I believe these urban areas are being singled out because they have a stigma that can be easily used to cover up any wrongdoing that takes place. When people were protesting peacefully, dogs and military equipment were brought out and the riot ensued after tear gas was thrown into the crowd. Why do that to people protesting peacefully? People in MO have stated that police were smirking and telling them "..bring it, you animals!" of course these type of things the media are not going to inform the public of. I often wonder sometimes if these unnecessarily fatal situations are being done to provoke unrest given the ridiculous amounts of force and reasons why police felt the need to kill instead of apprehend. On top of that, the officers walk free or receive little to no condemning for their actions which has to be a slap in the face to the people constantly dealing with their behavior. Could the government be using these people to test out new gear and tactics for future situations that may include us all? We look the other way, but when this begins to happen to us all what will we do then? I wonder sometimes...

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    I don't think the people of Ferguson, Missouri are going to "get over it." The question posed in one of the articles, "when will the rioting stop," suggests that the riots are like a child's tantrum. When they "get over it," then they will stop rioting (tantrumming.) I think the time has come that the streets of American cities will run with blood. Another "episode" here, then another over there, then it becomes a new way of beingness - everywhere. It is too late. That quote I copied from the Baha'i Writings was written back in the mid 20th century. It said, "while there is still time" to remedy the situation. Today, I believe we are out of time.

    I think this specific time in Ferguson is the catalyst because 1. It's the right timing in the process of the disintegration of civilization, 2. They will not tell the boy's parents who killed their son, and 3. The boy was killed when he had his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. The rioting is not a tantrum, it is the final scream of a people who see no other option.

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Some reporters have been arrested and the police have told the remaining media in Ferguson to turn off their cameras...

    Gas, sound bursts dispersals, bullets (rubber coated), wooden plugs, exploding non-lethal canisters (big bang etc)...

    All developed in the West Bank.

    Video: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9...events/3271930

    ###

    Ferguson police arrest reporters amid rage over Michael Brown shooting
    14 August 2014


    Protesters raise their hands in front of armed police in Ferguson. Photograph: JB Forbes/AP

    Washington Post and Huffington Post journalists detained amid continuing fraught situation on streets

    Five nights after an unarmed black teenager was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by an officer from the town’s predominantly white police force, tensions were once again running high on Wednesday. Two reporters were arrested.

    Groups of protesters, demonstrating over the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, faced off with armed police in riot and military gear who responded with teargas.



    Pictures taken by photographers and TV camera crews showed police snipers overlooking protesters.


    A police officer watches over demonstrators protesting the killing of teenager Michael Brown on 13 August in Ferguson, Missouri. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

    The Guardian’s Jon Swaine witnessed the arrest of two reporters: Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan J Reilly of the Huffington Post.

    Jon writes:
    The two reporters were taken in cuffs from a McDonald’s in downtown Ferguson and placed in an unmarked white police van.

    “They’re reporters,” shouted one member of the public, who had also been in the restaurant. Another customer confirmed seeing the pair at work inside. Lowery and Reilly both tweeted about being asked to leave the restaurant moments before the pair were seen being arrested.

    Asked why he was being detained, the first reporter shouted: “For videotaping them.” When I approached a police line in an effort to confirm the reporters’ identities, I was threatened with arrest and told to retreat.

    The arrests came as a line of police in riot gear swept eastward along West Florissant street, the main drag in downtown Ferguson where demonstrations have flared for the past three nights. Residents were forced out of the street as they tried to return to their homes.
    ###

    For more of this article including video & images see here:
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...brown-shooting

    Buy or learn how to make a gas mask (it ain't hard).

    1st amendment superseded by enforced 5th amendment?

    -- Pan
    Last edited by panopticon; 14th August 2014 at 03:20.
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    United States Avalon Member jagman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    People should protest but they are tearing up their own community and some are
    using this tradgey to steal and tear up property. The nation is watching Ferguson
    and what the black population of Ferguson needs to understand is that this was
    the work of one man! I'm praying for that young man who was lost and his family
    and I'm also praying for swift justice to be delivered.

  30. Link to Post #17
    Australia Avalon Member panopticon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    Quote Posted by jagman (here)
    People should protest but they are tearing up their own community and some are
    using this tradgey to steal and tear up property. The nation is watching Ferguson
    and what the black population of Ferguson needs to understand is that this was
    the work of one man! I'm praying for that young man who was lost and his family
    and I'm also praying for swift justice to be delivered.
    This is systemic, not an isolated problem due to one man.

    The statistics to do with arrests vs population demographics and vehicle stops vs demographics are telling in themselves.

    See here for an indicator:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/p...-for-ferguson/

    There are many voices from Ferguson who have said that the looting by some persons in the area did nothing but hinder the peaceful protests. It makes me wonder whether the well known use of undercover police to start a disturbance was used... The reason that police dept's make use of this technique is that when a peaceful protest can be shown to be a violent protest then the crowd can be justifiably dispersed to "protect the community". Notice the loaded language. The police who instigate the violence can then protect the "community" (warm and fuzzy subconscious feelings) from a "bad element" (which Others the persons who are peacefully protesting by association).

    In actual fact the bad element is often the police or lackies of "upstanding members of society". See here for one example where they admitted it:

    These protests are in response to repression/oppression.

    I am unsure as to whether the spark that lit this was a "murder" but the aftermath is a sure sign that something is wrong within this area.

    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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  32. Link to Post #18
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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    How surreal is this. Imagine getting arrested and the police car arrives with someone like this in it...

    Quote Eventually a police car arrived. A woman — with a collar identifying her as a member of the clergy — sat in the back. Ryan and I crammed in next to her, and we took the three-minute ride to the Ferguson Police Department. The woman sang hymns throughout the ride.


    I just don't get it.

    Not just some sheila singin' hymns on the way to the jail house (which I'm still not able to negotiate at the moment, had she been arrested earlier or is this a new thing that the Ferguson polise have introduced to freak people out!!!) but I'm also having trouble with the entire "arrest a reporter" thing...

    Which part of their tiny little brain (I think they must be sharing it) made them think this was going to end up being a good idea?

    -- Pan

    ###

    In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest
    By Wesley Lowery, August 14th, 2014

    [Videos, Images and links are in the original article, it is not paywalled]

    FERGUSON, Mo. — For the past week in Ferguson, reporters have been using the McDonald’s a few blocks from the scene of Michael Brown’s shooting as a staging area. Demonstrations have blown up each night nearby. But inside there’s WiFi and outlets, so it’s common for reporters to gather there.

    That was the case Wednesday. My phone was just about to die, so as I charged it, I used the time to respond to people on Twitter and do a little bit of a Q&A since I wasn’t out there covering the protests.

    As I sat there, many armed officers came in — some who were dressed as normal officers, others who were dressed with more gear.

    Initially, both Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post and I were asked for identification. I was wearing my lanyard, but Ryan asked why he had to show his ID. They didn’t press the point, but one added that if we called 911, no one would answer.

    Then they walked away. Moments later, the police reemerged, telling us that we had to leave. I pulled my phone out and began recording video.

    An officer with a large weapon came up to me and said, “Stop recording.”

    I said, “Officer, do I not have the right to record you?”

    He backed off but told me to hurry up. So I gathered my notebook and pens with one hand while recording him with the other hand.

    As I exited, I saw Ryan to my left, having a similar argument with two officers. I recorded him, too, and that angered the officer. As I made my way toward the door, the officers gave me conflicting information.

    One instructed me to exit to my left. As I turned left, another officer emerged, blocking my path.

    “Go another way,” he said.

    As I turned, my backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, began to slip. I said, “Officers, let me just gather my bag.” As I did, one of them said, “Okay, let’s take him.”

    Multiple officers grabbed me. I tried to turn my back to them to assist them in arresting me. I dropped the things from my hands.

    “My hands are behind my back,” I said. “I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting.” At which point one officer said: “You’re resisting. Stop resisting.”

    That was when I was most afraid — more afraid than of the tear gas and rubber bullets.

    As they took me into custody, the officers slammed me into a soda machine, at one point setting off the Coke dispenser. They put plastic cuffs on me, then they led me out the door.

    I could see Ryan still talking to an officer. I said: “Ryan, tweet that they’re arresting me, tweet that they’re arresting me.”

    He didn’t have an opportunity, because he was arrested as well.

    The officers led us outside to a police van. Inside, there was a large man sitting on the floor between the two benches. He began screaming: “I can’t breathe! Call a paramedic! Call a paramedic!”

    Ryan and I asked the officers if they intended to help the man. They said he was fine. The screaming went on for the 10 to 15 minutes we stood outside the van.

    “I’m going to die!” he screamed. “I’m going to die! I can’t breathe! I’m going to die!”

    Eventually a police car arrived. A woman — with a collar identifying her as a member of the clergy — sat in the back. Ryan and I crammed in next to her, and we took the three-minute ride to the Ferguson Police Department. The woman sang hymns throughout the ride.

    During this time, we asked the officers for badge numbers. We asked to speak to a supervising officer. We asked why we were being detained. We were told: trespassing in a McDonald’s.

    “I hope you’re happy with yourself,” one officer told me. And I responded: “This story’s going to get out there. It’s going to be on the front page of The Washington Post tomorrow.”

    And he said, “Yeah, well, you’re going to be in my jail cell tonight.”

    Once at the station, we were processed, our pockets emptied. No mug shots. They removed our restraints and put us in a holding cell. Ryan was able to get ahold of his dad. I called my mom, but I couldn’t get through. I couldn’t remember any phone numbers.

    We were in there for what felt like 10 or 15 minutes. Then the processing officer came in.

    “Who’s media?” he asked.

    We said we were. And the officer said we were both free to go. We asked to speak to a commanding officer. We asked to see an arrest report. No report, the officer told us, and no, they wouldn’t provide any names.

    I asked if there would ever be a report. He came back with a case number and said a report would be available in a week or two.

    “The chief thought he was doing you two a favor,” he said.

    The Ferguson Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lowery’s detention.

    The following is a statement on the incident from Washington Post Executive Editor Martin D. Baron:
    Wesley has briefed us on what occurred, and there was absolutely no justification for his arrest.

    He was illegally instructed to stop taking video of officers. Then he followed officers’ instructions to leave a McDonald’s — and after contradictory instructions on how to exit, he was slammed against a soda machine and then handcuffed. That behavior was wholly unwarranted and an assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news. The physical risk to Wesley himself is obvious and outrageous.

    After being placed in a holding cell, he was released with no charges and no explanation. He was denied information about the names and badge numbers of those who arrested him.

    We are relieved that Wesley is going to be OK. We are appalled by the conduct of police officers involved.
    Source
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    There is a variation on the agent provocateur technique I mentioned above.

    In every crowd there are those who have a greater influence on how the crowd moves. The agent provocateur tries to defy this, often by direct violent action.

    Another way to try to make a crowd behave in a violent manner is to remove those who are controlling the crowds anger and who are channelling it into something less destructive.

    Sometimes people who are able to influence protests (eg organisers, spokespersons) make use of non-violent direct-action with participants demanding arrest for their violation of a law that symbolises what they are protesting against (similar to Gandhi's 1930 Salt March).

    Anyway, the removal of these "moderate" voices in a crowd then leave those with a more "direct" approach to control the way in which the protest progresses. It is not easy for some people, who may feel that they are not being listened to, especially if they are hurting over a personal loss. They may be very angry and express that anger through physical outburst. Without the moderates there to "talk them down" a protest can deteriorate quickly.

    I mentioned Alderman French in a previous post in this thread.

    He was arrested along with the reporters.

    Quote French said he should never have been locked up, nor should the dozen or so others he shared cell space with overnight.

    "Inside that jail is nothing but peacekeepers," he said. "They rounded up the wrong people ... reverends, young people organizing the peace effort."
    Source
    I say they rounded up exactly who they were aiming to.

    Not only did this give the opportunity for angry protesters to attack police over the injustices of these "good people" being arrested but maybe a night in the cells might make those "good people" have second thoughts about protesting again.

    It's all about control and power...

    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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    Default Re: Mayhem in Missouri Breaks Out

    This would have to be my favourite photo to come out of Ferguson that I've seen.

    It depicts a young protester throwing a dispersal device back at the police who had shot it into the crowd.



    Says more than words.

    I reckon this will become an iconic photo.

    -- Pan
    "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.
    The only consequence is what we do."

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