Open Thread: The death of Michael Brown and the situation in #Ferguson

There’re few people that can bring a smile to my face even when the topic is so damn depressing. John Oliver stands tall among the greats in that list.

To add on to the “theft/=death penalty” point: “Jackson gave no further information about the incident that led to Brown being shot multiple times, but revealed that the 18-year-old was the lead suspect in a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store, where a box of Swisher Sweets cigars valued at $48.99 was stolen and a clerk was allegedly shoved.”

I’d like to reiterate that: lead suspect in a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store, where a box of Swisher Sweets cigars valued at $48.99 was stolen and a clerk was allegedly shoved

An 18 yr old teen is dead, and their justification is that he might have stole some Swishas and pushed someone. Are you fucking kidding me!!

From the Popehat article that Unimaginative linked us to, I want to share the following paragraph;

Whether or not they released the surveillance video in response to a public records request, as they claim, the Ferguson Police Department undoubtedly knew that the news would reach the pool of prospective jurors in any criminal or civil case against Officer Wilson, telling them facts that they might not hear in court. They knew that the media would run with the story, and that the media would run with it multiple times: first to report it, then to ask why the police released it, and possibly a third time in a mock-self-critical analysis of whether they were played. The effect in the public’s mind is to emphasize the point Mike Brown was a robber, with the subtext so he probably had it coming.

And this,

The alleged robbery matters because nearly everyone accepts the subtext that a robber deserves to be shot even if he’s unarmed. People who say “look, he was a robber” accept it, as do the people gleefully digging through Mike Brown’s life to find things to dirty him up3 But more insidiously, many of Mike Brown’s champions accept the narrative of just deserts as well. When Mike Brown’s supporters say that he had no record, that he was a high-school graduate, that he was never in any trouble, and that he was going to college, they advance the narrative that because of these things he did not deserve to be shot as he stood, unarmed, attempting to surrender. This implies that had been a dropout with a record, he might have deserved it.

I was just guilty of trying to prove that Mike Brown wasn’t a bad kid, but it absolutely shouldn’t matter. Of course, I think most of those who are trying to assert he wasn’t bad are doing so to retaliate against all of the people who are actively trying to make him look worse than he was, but that doesn’t mean it’s an ideal response.

This is a very good point – some of the defense of Brown / criticism of the police has followed the script of ‘some people do deserve to be shot down in the street *but he wasn’t one of them*’. There are very few people I would put in the first group; nobody unarmed would qualify.

I’m not sure if anyone else has linked this, it came up as a suggestion in my Tumblr feed:
http://iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com/

Doesn’t your constitution have something about the right to freedom of assembly?

pallygirl,
We haven’t had that for over a decade now. It’s on paper, but in practice it’s a very different story.

I just got called a ‘racewhore’ and a ‘liberal hack’ in the Ed Show’s twitter stream by someone who earlier said they were hoping-

Let me find it again-

“hoping they will send the military to stop these animals from burning down their towns”

Then they hashtagged it #furgeson. Can’t be bothered to learn to spell the name of the town and call peaceful protesters animals.

All in all I think the fact this person disapproves of me is a great compliment.

I am about to rant it up here, but I will try my hardest to stay coherent.

In my opinion, limiting freedom to assemble so that it essentially ends at midnight means Americans only have freedom to assemble during certain hours of the day. This is how you step on someone’s toes. No adult appreciates being told they have to be inside by midnight. What makes it worse is I just KNOW that if they kept all those militant toys and costumes out of the equation, most people would have been back home by midnight of their own free will! Unless you amp a crowd up by physically threatening their well being people tend to get tired and head home around ten. Under normal conditions, only the most dedicated people would remain by midnight. When I was involved in Madison’s mass protests against Scott Walker, protests that lasted for months, cops were usually stationed like security guards in there normal uniforms and left everyone alone. When the cops were friendly, the protesters were friendly in turn. And vice versa. Protesters in Madison were at their most aggressive only when unlawful shit was going down. When bills were passed with half the house out of state and only Republicans in attendance, that’s when we got pushy. When we were told to leave the capitol building because our presence was an inconvenience, that’s when shit started to get tense.

This situation in Ferguson is even worse because a young man was murdered (a far greater trauma than corrupt politics) by the very authorities who are paid to control the citizens. The people are both more afraid and angrier than my peers in Madison (and rightly so) while the police are acting more like the invading army in Red Dawn than local police officers. I might be a particularly reactive person in that I respond very strongly to the body language and energy around me, but everyone responds to the energy around them in some way. And when the atmosphere resounds with the injustice of having a police force who has murdered one of your own set against your community only because the community has raised it’s voice in protest of that very murder? It’s more injustice than anyone should ever be expected to bear, and yet it is the protesters who have been, are still being, treated like the enemy here! This tension is the fault of those who have abused their positions of power, meaning the the police. It is unjust that the protesters are the ones being made to pay for those sins.

As for the press, keeping them in one small spot where they can’t even film half of what’s occurring is not freedom of press. It’s censorship. But it gets worse. When I was watching the live feed of Ferguson tonight the police department were stating that the reason the press had to be controlled is because the press was inciting violence. The press! Not the tanks, guns, tear gas, or straight up murder of the innocent; oh no, clearly those crazy young hoodlums just want their chance to be on TV. Those manipulative mangy shitlords. They know better, but they’ll never let on because they can cause harm for as long as they can feign ignorance. Oh, and one last tidbit; Fergusons police department wants to review their approach toward media presence, but not because they are wrong. They think limiting the media further will quiet dissent. I want to run screaming into a dark cave right now, so if anyone feels the same I can promise you company.

Just one more thing. The first amendment is getting trounced here, but if anyone even glanced in the direction of gun rights right now 2nd amendment folk would lose their mind. And that just eats at me because the second amendment only guarantees the right to bear arms. If we made every gun except shotguns and hunting rifles illegal people would still have their right to bear arms. Yet those people who are soooo worried about perceived limitations on their prized second amendment? Who claim that they are the ones who really truly adore and follow the constitution? Where are they when a critical amendment is in danger? On the side doing the oppressing, that’s where.

Okay, I think I’ve exhausted myself. I got a little emotional for a while there, but it’s safe to approach now. Carry on.

Shadow and Kirby Warp, I’m glad to know that I at least managed to bring some appropriate humor and good points to this open thread. Praise be to John Oliver!

I’m not being the best conversationalist here, and I do apologize for that. When I get wrapped up in a major case of Social Injustice I get a little lost. I’ll work on that, I promise.

As far as music appropriate to this situation goes, I’m torn between The Expatriate Act, by The World/Inferno Friendship Society…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQqZQj2ag5o&w=420&h=315%5D

Lea | August 19, 2014 at 1:20 am

It’s only a matter of time before the cops start using drones on us too.

Well, yeah. They already have them in the air, spying on us. It’s only a matter of time before they arm them.

I wish I was kidding.

How do I upload an image from my computer?

@Shaun

On WordPress? You can’t do that, unfortunately. You need to upload an image to hosting website like imgur or photobucket first and then link to the image in your comment.