Ferguson
 

Nobody is talking about this? It's mayhem in Ferguson right now. I was watching a live feed for hours tonight. Fires, looting, police being attacked by protesters, protesters being attacked by police. It's a circus and nobody is having fun.

No matter what your stance is on this whole ordeal, one thing can be certain, something is wrong and something needs to change. The protesters suck. The media sucks. The cops and military sucks.

I'm just at a loss for words right now. Anybody live in the area? You guys okay?

Cops can sometimes be trigger happy *******s and dumb kids can sometimes be thugs, but rioters are always stupid and counter productive.

• Cops need to wear cameras.
• These protesters need to go home or learn how to protest correctly.
• Military action for this is unreal. It looks like Fallujah right now.
• How do you not AT LEAST have a trial? Even if ther was evidence against Brown, wouldn't a trial be safer? They KNEW this was going to happen but made the announcement at 8 o'clock? Are you serious?
• I saw photos of Wilson. Not a scratch on him. Brown was unnarmed. How the hell did he end up shot six times?

People say this is the greatest country in the world? All I see is chaos brought on by ignorance.

A few here care but most here...don't.

But yes it is very sad and heartbreaking.

I called my mom to vent. We don't usually chat much and these kinds of issues (sorry mom, I love you but...) tend to go over her head. It's pretty ****ed up. I'm always unsure how to react to this stuff and take it pretty hard. It's a weird way to respond but it truly is heartbreaking.

I can't imagine what his family is feeling like right now. More than anything I'm sure they miss their son. But justice would've been nice... it's not too much to ask for.

I just keep out of the current news because of the sheer annoyance that people are suddenly interested in how this country works. In a week or two, this will be old news, and nobody will say anything else about it.

inb4 omg ki you're so insensitive.

I get physically sick and I am a cry baby so I cry.

It is very sad.

I understand what you are going through, its okay *hugs*

I think this may be a little different. This has been going steady for months now and this is the first night that nothing will be done about the officer who may or may not have killed a kid for no reason.

It's a bunch of angry people being angry with no answers right now.

This is one reason I stand by what I said. If people actually waited to see what happens y'know...tomorrow, maybe the reactions would be different.

I don't really want to spend energy getting into the topic, not that I don't care, but it's just not worth the time when the outcome could potentially be turned around tomorrow.

This supports my point in all this.

People shouldn't have to wait in a situation like this. They've been angry for months. They should have made the announcement with specific details on WHY they made the announcement. Right now, they kind of just said "Nope, no jail." and everybody is asking "why?" and are left with "We'll tell you later". That's incredibly irresponsible by the justice department. This could be a case where this officer ACTUALLY had his life in danger and the shooting was on good grounds. How many businesses are going to burn? How many injuries are going to occur? How many houses will be looted? How many deaths are going to happen until we know the truth?

It's completely irresponsible.

This is pretty much my thoughts on this. Now I am going to bed.

I'm having a hard time buying that as a possibility dude. It would be very unfortunate if the riots were in vain but I just can't see how. The kid ran for it and was shot at at least 6 times. In the open goddamn street no less. And left there, dead, for what was it? 5 hours? The circumstances are so unbelievably shady I find it hard to believe anything other than a hot-headed cop got worked up and shot a kid without warning is what happened.

I'm so pissed I can barely write properly

According to the officer and several eyewitness (we know nothing of the forensic evidence yet), Brown turned back and rushed at Wilson. If this is true, Brown wasn't running away when he was shot but was rather rushing up to attack Wilson. If this isn't true (meaning, if the forensics told a different story), then Wilson would have been discovered as a liar. And then he would've been indicted. Since he wasn't indicted, we can reasonably guess what the forensic evidence showed...or the forensic evidence did indeed show that Wilson lied, the grand jury shrugged, and didn't indict him anyway.

I don't know why people are on your case so much. Most of what you're saying makes sense. We need to know what they know.

People just want the cop to be made into an example. No matter my opinions on his innocence, no one, civilian or officer, should ever be jailed for a crime in which there is insufficient evidence.

This is an issue with complexity in its roots, anyone who expected a "correct" outcome is a fool.

First I was angry, then I laughed way too hard at this. Damn Fergface.

This wasn't a trial though, so it wasn't about deciding guilt or innocence.

You're right, my mistake. But I think the nature of my comment still stands - we can't make exceptions in the justice system based on emotion if you want the justice system to work.

I'm curious how many of the rioters are actual residents of Ferguson and how many are from out of town.

Our riots in Oakland were pretty violent last night, but everyone was talking about Rodney King.

Because people got the feels real bad. People feel he is guilty. They're not thinking.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...rown-case.html

All that plus reading the autopsy report makes me feel like that officer did the same anyone else would have done. This shouldn't even be seen as a race issue, what if Brown was white or Hispanic, would anyone give a **** about this case? Black people are treated unfairly by the police everyday, but why make this case the posterboy for the struggle when you dont know what the hell really happened.

Case in point.

Unarmed White Kid Shot and Killed by Black Cop in Salt Lake City

To the gun people:

The cop claimed that Michael Brown grabbed the barrel of the gun to prevent him from firing the first 2 attempts. Seriously, is that reasonable? I always thought that was some Hollywood bullsh*t.

Yes. Here's a possible scenario based on what I've read so far.

* Cop backs up in the SUV and tells Brown to step towards the vehicle.
* Brown comes close, words are exchanged, and Brown punches the cop in the face through the car window (the pictures of the cop prove the punch)
* Cop draws gun - gotta be really hard to do while sitting in a car seat.
* Brown intercepts the gun with his hand.

The forensics report noted that the gunshot wound to Brown's hand was from extremely close range.

No, I mean can you really grab the barrel of a gun and prevent it from firing? I mean he was a bigger kid but he wasn't some strongman.

No, in that you can't prevent the gun from firing. But yes, in that you can interfere with the ability of the person holding the gun to get off a shot.

Well the cop claimed in his interview he pulled the trigger 2x and the gun didnt fire because Browns hand was holding the barrel, and the 3rd shot it finally fired. So, yeh..

I think he's totally tripping over his words because he's so lawyer-ed up and being coached.

Possible, he also may not remember the event correctly like anyone in such a crazy situation. I'm still kinda torn over how I feel about this case. I don't appreciate witness testimony because people interpret things differently. Show me the forensics! (not you, just sayin)

I daresay if Mr. Brown had been any other race and/or the police officer had been black, this case wouldn't have received much news coverage or attention outside of the local area where it happened.

just put the f'ing cameras on them already

Just shut all of the cameras off for f*cks sake.

you disallow it?

Paterson, Jersey City and Newark plan to equip cops with body cameras - News - NorthJersey.com

Looks like we're trying to set the example. For those of you who don't know NJ, these areas are very crime riddled.

cool.

It's not even meant as a slight on cops. police complaints could be effectively discredited through the use of cameras as well.

Several police stations across the nation are installing body cameras as a result of Ferguson. I haven't gone through all of the evidence yet, but I'm about halfway through and it looks like Wilson was justified albeit that he used excessive force on everything but the first shot. However, I think the heat of the moment kept him from pulling mace or a tazer instead of his gun, which he already had in hand. If I still have the same opinion when I'm done, at least the media hype is resulting in some good.

Ja ja I know I'm racist, you don't have to say it Soulflower.

He wasn't carrying mace or a taser if I remember correctly from reading his testimony. I agree with you though, his reaction was excessive, but the entire encounter lasted about 60 seconds. It was an unfortunate case of succumbing to the heat of the moment. Is that excusable? No. Nor does it mean the race issue is not still present. But there is nothing to justify criminal charges based on the evidence.

Also re: the gun not firing initially - in his testimony he said Michael's hand wrapped around the barrel of the gun as well as his own hand, so he physically could not pull the trigger, even though his finger was on it and he intended to shoot.