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Ferguson

ElkiElki get busyModerator, ClubPA mod
I am creating a separate thread to discuss Ferguson, outside the policing thread because it's deserves its own topic.

Ferguson, a St. Louis, Mo. suburb, was the site of the shooting of Mike Brown by an unidentified police officer, and subsequent violent confrontations between the police and citizens of that community. An effort is underway to for a takeover of security and investigative responsibilities by various state and federal organizations.

Please direct all your Ferguson specific comments to this thread.

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Posts

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    edited August 2014
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    The highway patrol are taking over operations. It seems like they might actually understand how to deescalate the situation (which, really, seems to be stop fucking using force on peaceful protestors). I'm hopeful that this goes well.

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    here's a direct link to the video from the WashPo reporter who was arrested

    http://wapo.st/Y6Mii7

  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    The Gov ordered it

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    Clearly the regular police force has no idea how to handle this, so I mean

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    The governor put them in charge. They're the next tier up from local police.

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited August 2014
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    As far as I know, Missouri Highway Patrol is actually the state police.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_State_Highway_Patrol

    Blackjack on
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    3DS: 1607-3034-6970
  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular
    Blackjack wrote: »
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    As far as I know, Missouri Highway Patrol is actually the state police.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_State_Highway_Patrol

    oh, ok, that makes sense.

  • ShadowenShadowen Snores in the morning LoserdomRegistered User regular
    Isn't that why Highway Patrol units are also called state troopers?

  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular
    Shadowen wrote: »
    Isn't that why Highway Patrol units are also called state troopers?

    Only in some states.

  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular


    hey look, police instead of soldiers

    maybe ferguson will get the rule of law instead of a military coup now

  • KonphujunKonphujun Illinois, USARegistered User regular
    eD5Ct2V.jpg

    I feel like this is a pretty accurate assessment of the current Ferguson situation.

    Everything: Konphujun(#1458)
  • hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    Surely Ferguson will descend into complete anarchic chaos shortly.

    Wait...

  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    Wow. My firm has an office in St. Louis and they sent out an email announcing an early office closure due to the situation. I'm a little surprised. They're very loathe to do that kind of thing normally.

    This situation still obvs has a long way to go before it comes even close to resolution, of course, but at least something is being done in a less shitty direction

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  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited August 2014
    This is the new officer in charge of the situation on the ground. Meet MHP Captain Johnson.







    My good feelings about this change continue to intensify.

    Dehumanized on
  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    edited August 2014
    I have little faith that anything will be done besides hanging one or two of the well documented and most egregious police offenders out as a sacrificial lamb, plus a comment on "retraining our officers" and the always wonderful "it was hard on them to!"

    Buttcleft on
  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    taking away their unecessary military toys would be a good first step

  • ComradebotComradebot Lord of Dinosaurs Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    Delmain wrote: »
    I don't see how the HWP have any jurisdiction at all.

    The governor put them in charge. They're the next tier up from local police.

    http://youtu.be/risVoGLlru0

  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    I have little faith that anything will be done besides hanging one or two of the well documented and most egregious police offenders out as a sacrificial lamb, plus a comment on "retraining our officers" and the always wonderful "it was hard on them to!"

    I agree with those concerns, I'm just glad as hell that maybe tonight the people seeking justice aren't going to get the shit kicked out of them by the same cops responsible for the protests for another night.

  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    taking away their unecessary military toys would be a good first step

    Try that, and I promise you the events Ferguson has seen today will be mild. Police love their toys, it enables them to live out their army man fantasies, and they wont give it up.

  • Harry DresdenHarry Dresden Registered User regular
    edited August 2014
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    taking away their unecessary military toys would be a good first step

    Try that, and I promise you the events Ferguson has seen today will be mild. Police love their toys, it enables them to live out their army man fantasies, and they wont give it up.

    The public haven't been reminded about how the police react for a while. Maybe it'd be good for them to learn how much the police love their toys from the military.

    Harry Dresden on
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Thank god there is someone in charge now with a fucking brain in his head parts.

    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited August 2014
    Washington Post with a great article all about correct protest response: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/08/14/after-ferguson-how-should-police-respond-to-protests/
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    taking away their unecessary military toys would be a good first step

    Try that, and I promise you the events Ferguson has seen today will be mild. Police love their toys, it enables them to live out their army man fantasies, and they wont give it up.

    They'll riot in riot gear to protest the removal of their military riot gear?


    And on a nice note, more Captain Johnson being awesome:

    TOGSolid on
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  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    I just hope that as things hopefully get better in Ferguson the conversation about getting rid of the cop's toys doesn't fall to the wayside.

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  • Kid PresentableKid Presentable Registered User regular


    hey look, police instead of soldiers

    maybe ferguson will get the rule of law instead of a military coup now

    Just you wait! Without all that firepower and aggressive preventative use of force, the city is going to deteriorate into apocalyptic chaos aaaannnyyy minute now....

    Any minute.





    Just keep waiting.

  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular


    hey look, police instead of soldiers

    maybe ferguson will get the rule of law instead of a military coup now

    Just you wait! Without all that firepower and aggressive preventative use of force, the city is going to deteriorate into apocalyptic chaos aaaannnyyy minute now....

    Any minute.





    Just keep waiting.

    They'll send plain clothes infiltrators to start shit.

    It worked in NYC

  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited August 2014
    "Actual Military Veterans Say Cops In Ferguson Are Excessively Armed, Untrained Wannabes"
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/police-militarization-ferguson_n_5678407.html?
    Lots of great commentary here from various vets.

    In particular, I loved this opener:
    One of the things that has always bothered me most about states rights libertarians is that in American history, state and local governments have often been the ones most effective at suppressing the rights of Americans, specifically African-Americans while it has often been the federal government that has stepped in -- from Little Rock to New Orleans -- to restore both order and the rights of the citizenry.

    Ferguson is useful in that it separates those who actually worry about the power of the state from those who just hate Obama and want to wave a Gadsden Flag around with their friends. Americans of both parties and all races should be concerned when we see police forces on our streets that look like armies of occupation, not our fellow citizens.

    TOGSolid on
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  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    Also: http://instagram.com/p/rsk0_jkQdU/

    "I just want to know where you're going" "A quick trip" "We'll make sure you get there"

    Why couldn't these guys have been in charge since the start?

    We'll see how long this blog lasts
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    Characters
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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    HWP dude seems to know what's up. So that's encouraging.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    You know the reasons why.

    None of them are complimentary to the local government.

    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited August 2014
    Sounded like "We're going to Quiktrip and we're stopping."

    Regardless, fuck yeah, Captain Johnson.

    EDIT: I just noticed that at the end of that video Johnson embraces a protestor as they walk down the street. What an awesome dude.

    TOGSolid on
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  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_ed520699-99a4-5b13-9a74-ca6bc43ebbce.html#.U-0-i6sO2Jw.twitter
    WASHINGTON • Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, said Thursday that he considers Michael Brown's death a murder.

    "Here is why I call it a murder," Clay said in a telephone interview with the Post-Dispatch. "You have an 18-year-old young man, known as a gentle giant, who did not have a weapon on him, was not armed at all, and he is walking home and happens to be killed, and you have a cop unload a weapon into this young man. If that is not a murder you tell me what is."

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  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    that seems like political grandstanding.

  • JavenJaven Registered User regular
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    I have little faith that anything will be done besides hanging one or two of the well documented and most egregious police offenders out as a sacrificial lamb, plus a comment on "retraining our officers" and the always wonderful "it was hard on them to!"

    Yeah. I'm ultimately just extremely worried this will simply be dismissed as mourning.

  • DelmainDelmain Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    that seems like political grandstanding.

    Everything a politician does is political in some way or another, I'm just happy he's standing on the side of rational thought.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    Delmain wrote: »
    spool32 wrote: »
    that seems like political grandstanding.

    Everything a politician does is political in some way or another, I'm just happy he's standing on the side of rational thought.

    I don't think "it's obvious he was murdered because he was a gentle giant" is really rational. I feel like rationality looks more like skepticism and a willingness to examine the evidence in court, along with a desire to see true justice prevail even if it means dismantling the police department altogether or whatever other measures are needed.

    Automatically convicting the cop based on not much evidence is less than rational. But it plays well if your political base is chanting Fuck the Police and there's a bunch of good reason for them to be doing it.

This discussion has been closed.