Beyond appalling.
Please post useful links, pics, videos. I will update this post with more.
Video of demonstration, police firing teargas and rubber bullets.
Ferguson Is 60 Percent Black. Virtually All Its Cops Are White.
Google News Realtime coverage of Ferguson
Pardon if someone’s already linked this:
http://thatsenuff.com/index.php/2014/08/howard-alum-was-shot-in-the-head-in-ferguson-conflicting-reports-on-what-took-place-photovideo/
strivingally nailed it upthread.
It looks so far tonight the protests have been peaceful. The state police took over and haven’t been violent towards the protesters. Lo and behold there’s no rioting!
Lo and behold there’s no rioting!
But how can that be unless police with snipers rifles and tear gas are there to give order?
Thank you, vraydar, for sharing that link. That is an awesome article.
President Obama’s official statement:
http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/12/president-obama-issues-statement-death-michael-brown
(TW: racism)
And, of course, Fox News turns it into a chance to attack President Obama:
http://mediamatters.org/mobile/research/2014/08/13/right-wing-media-politicize-obamas-statement-on/200428
From that link:
Yeah, gee, I wonder why the President didn’t offer condolonces to the still living cop who shot an unarmed teenager. I fucking wonder why.
I think I’m going to be sick.
There’s no low that Fox won’t sink to. Every time it seems like they’ve hit rock bottom, they go further.
@lkeke35, All the hugs if they’re wanted. This is raw. As far as I’m concerned, we’re doing basic human decency by being outraged at the murder of this young man. Everyone should be outraged.
I was able to catch the tail end of a #NMOS14 protest in my city, and it was very cool. Good people there. Glad I went.
<3 <3 <3 to everyone.
And fuck racists. Seriously, fuck them.
What?
No, no, really, what? What condolences should the president offer this person who is still alive, was not apparently either hurt badly or traumatically wounded? “Sorry you had to shoot someone?”? You give a condolence because someone died, and then you say you feel the keen loss that person’s familiy and friends must feel, you can’t give a statement of condolences to someone who isn’t in a situation where that is required?
That is seriously like asking why, oh why, didn’t Obama run a marathon while tied to a tree. The question itself makes no sense.
You could probably ask why you don’t make a statement of regret that the level of violence in some cities is so high that police officers on duty occassionally have to use lethal force, yes, but… I just… you what… he…. What condolences exactly? I can’t… it’s not… shooting someone is tragic. It’s a loss of human life. It’s a terrible, dreadful thing, but you either do it as a murderer, in which case you don’t get condolences, you do it as a hunter, in which case why the fuck is someone giving you condolences or you do it as part of your job in the line of duty, in which case, I don’t understand why you’d want condolences for… I…
what
what
what
the what?
This is a like a bee in my brain. Is it like a “Sorry we’re all in this tragic, terrible situation” kind of deal? That can’t be it. That’s not what they mean. Argh, my head. Argh.
No, seriously, did someone just straight up state that a homicide is a tragic misfortune worthy of condolences being given to the person who killed someone else?
Who does that? You can’t do that. That is literally on the level of saying “Sorry, you stepped on a bug and I think you might have to wash your shoes”. It’s… that’s…
That’s the most racist thing I have ever read. Even the Stormfront people at least acknowledge that everyone else is human, albeit a sub level. It takes a whole other load of solipsism to turn everyone else into background props for your personal vendetta.
Again. Argh.
I wonder if it’s like how in publicized rape cases the media always has people pitying the perpetrators, because the crime will ~follow them forever~ and ~ruin their lives~. So like them, we should feel sorry for the poor cop whose ~momentary lapse in judgment~ sparked the whole thing and will have it hanging over his head for his whole life. Because his future potential employment and peace is what’s important here, not the kid that he killed. The victim’s just incidental, a statistic. The real human interest story is with the perpetrator.
There is a nonzero possibility that the cop is, in fact, sitting at home right now feeling poorly about himself. My grandpa once killed someone – he was driving at highway speeds, on a highway, and a dude stepped into traffic for reasons we’ll never know, and Grandpa struck and killed him. Grandpa was very broken up about this and had PTSD about it for a while.
However, these situations are not the same, and I’m not sure why Obama, or I, or anyone else should be asked to sympathize with someone who shot an unarmed young man in the back multiple times. Even in the Wild West that kind of thing would have been called murder. Having one’s back turned and being shot in the back is THE stereotype for “killed while it was impossible to be threatening in any manner.” Then the cop pulled the trigger a few more times for good measure.
If he’s at home feeling bad, GOOD. He should feel bad. And he should be prosecuted for murder. Only someone who is so focused on faulting Obama for literally everything he does would make a statement saying or implying otherwise. Obama ate breakfast this morning? DIDN’T HE KNOW THERE IS VIOLENCE GOING ON IN ST. LOUIS???? How can he possibly eat at a time like this????
Thanks to everyone on this thread for the links and the anger. I’ve wanted to join in, but I just can’t.
I’ve signed petitions, and I’ve written my congresspeople and my state reps. I live in the sticks, so there are no protests for me to attend and I don’t have the bandwidth right now to organize one myself. I did the same things after the killings of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis (yay, home state), and things are just getting worse. Is there anything else a white woman can do to help end all of this? Is there anywhere I can donate money, more people I can bother, anything else I can do?
Fox stooge Starnes wants to know why Obama didn’t offer condolences to the killer? Um, because Obama is not a fucking idiot, nor does he share your fear and loathing of young black men?
Sometimes I wonder if being clinically diagnosable with anti-social personality disorder is a requirement to get a job at Fox.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/15/us/missouri-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
The Ferguson police chief’s press conference was a disgrace. First, he was trying really hard to link Michael Brown to a convenience store robbery by including it in his “timeline” of events. He completely leaped over the shooting itself. Finally, he couldn’t even remember Michael’s name and was nervously flipping his papers trying to find it. What a fucking racist asshole.
Fox is a propaganda machine run by long-time Republican’t operative Roger Ailes. That is all it is — a means to keep the Republican’t base hot and bothered. A big part of their mission is to mindlessly spin every thing Obama does as some sort of abomination.
Flying Mouse: Thanks for supprting that community as best you could, but really, all that is required is that you let your voice be heard by them and just be a decent human being who cares about other people’s lives.
Thanks, lkeke35.
So, black women being effected by the loss of their children and living in fear of the police or other racists murdering their sons is misandry. Women caring about men being gunned down in the streets is misandry and MRAs are angry and complaining about accusations no one has leveled at them.
Just when you think you cannot possibly like misogynists less…
Here’s another:
Can you believe it? Usurp. Caring about an issue and recognizing that that issue also deeply effects women and that feminists should take up as a cause is “usurping”.
Yeah, those mourning black moms, just usurping and exploiting men by loving their sons.
…and a black man wrote that. Presumably he has a mother. I wonder what she’d say to her son if he told her his safety meant nothing to her?
*SMASH ALL THE THINGS*
I guess these dudes don’t think any women are living in the neighborhoods being tear gassed either.
There have been plenty of people arguing that this is only a Black issue. Now you’ve got these guys arguing that it isn’t a Women’s issue, although women are involved. I’m going to have to disagree with both arguments. I have long argued that it’s an American issue.
People fail to believe that just bc it’s not an issue for them right now, doesn’t mean that police misconduct and authoritarian abuse won’t become an issue for them later. This kind of crap starts in Black neighborhoods, but they need to understand, that these guys will soon be branching out to a suburb near them and the excuse they’ll be using is that White people need to protected from the dangerous thugs and gangs of the inner city. (They’ve already created the rhetoric for this.)
And people are so mentally inert, and just accept whatever they are spoon fed by Faux News that not a one of them will lift a single voice in protest as they’re rights are rolled up and done away with.
I hated the Star Wars prequels but still that is a classic illustration of people signing away their sovereignty “to thunderous applause.” If Americans keep it up, that’s how it’s going to happen here..
QFT.
I’ve had that Martin Niemöller quote running through my head for three days now.
They then contradicted their statements in court, claiming he hadn’t bled on them. I don’t even know what to say. :/
I’m just so full of rage and sadness for all of you living in the US right now. You deserve better than police forces like this.
I think being shot for being black is a black issue.
My kids are white. One of my kids walked up to a restaurant to get some grub with her friend. I’m not remotely worried that those two will be shot by the cops. As a white mom, I will never feel the fear black moms have to live with everyday.