Missouri chaos continues post-Michael Brown's death

[No Angel 128]

So now that everything is jolly with a side of rainbows, here's what's important:

 

Right now in Ferguson:

 

• Protests are getting bigger and bigger as the night moves on.

• There's no longer a curfew similar to last night.

• National Guard is taking the streets to secure.

• Arrests still taking place. (both Peaceful and Rowdy protestors)

• Pres. Obama spoke about the recent events in Ferguson, but most likely won't be visiting any time soon. If more things unfold, we'll probably be expecting more announcements.

 

 

Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein (90 years old, wow!) was arrested for blocking Mayor Nixon's door.

 

Edited August 19, 2014 by No Angel

[MahoganySnitch 67]

So now that everything is jolly with a side of rainbows, here's what's important:

 

Right now in Ferguson:

 

• Protests are getting bigger and bigger as the night moves on.

• There's no longer a curfew similar to last night.

• National Guard is taking the streets to secure.

• Arrests still taking place.

• Pres. Obama spoke about the recent events in Ferguson, but most likely won't be visiting any time soon. If more things unfold, we'll probably be expecting more announcements.

 

 

Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein (90 years old, wow!) was arrested for blocking Mayor Nixon's door.

 

:o

 

Anderson Cooper will also be there for a live broadcast. 

[Logan 20,835]

I think very few people have been keeping an open mind, from both sides. 

 

What Brown did before he was shot was disgusting and should have been punished. The fact that the officer put multiple bullets in him (I believe the report said he was shot 6 times...? Just caught a glimpse of the autopsy report on the news it at the gym today) is unprofessional and inexcusable.

 

Brown should be held accountable for the cigars he stole and his assault on the police officer. He also should have been arrested for violence against a police officer.

But death?

Being shot, fatally, while in a non-threatening position is not appropriate. Had the cop shot him while he was being attacked I'd probably be more willing to side with the cop, but Brown was shot and killed while he was unarmed and with his hands in the air. The police officer overreacted and was in the wrong. 

 

I think the people calling this 18 year old thief a "kid" and ignoring his actions are being ignorant, and anyone saying he deserved what he got need to think about what is considered appropriate conduct by our police force. 

 

 

 

EDIT: People need to hop off Allison's D.

I've met her in person and she's one of the sweetest girls you'll ever come across.

She's not racist, and she's not being insensitive.

She supports peaceful protesting, but disagrees with the looters taking advantage of the situation.

She thinks Michael Brown's actions before his murder were wrong and criminal (which, they were), and also believes that the officer should be held accountable and punished for the murder if the investigation reveals him to be guilty (which, he should). 

 

There are two sides to this story, and there would be no story if only one side was completely right. We need to acknowledge this. Choosing a side does not mean you have to see everything about the opposition in a negative or "wrong" light. 

 

I totally agree. I too have met Allison and she's one of the sweetest people I know. She's being jumped on because of her views, when in reality she didn't even say anything offensive or too far off. I think we're chastising the wrong people. Like I said earlier, I think we can all agree that what has happened isn't good in any way. That's something we can all come together on. Between the peaceful and destructive riots, the good cops and the bad cops, and the craziness in the media, I don't think the "right" side is so black and white. What's important is that we keep an open mind to the situation. 

[No Angel 128]

Believe it or not, this was allegedly the first homicide of 2014 in Ferguson.

[MahoganySnitch 67]

Getty Images photographer Scott Olson was arrested by police for not being in the designated area for press, according to him. 

 

 

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/HuffPostPol/status/501505631065767936/photo/1

 

 

 

Update  Aug. 18, 8:50 p.m. ET: Getty Images VP of News Pancho Bernasconi released the following statement on Scott Olson’s arrest:

Getty Images staff photographer Scott Olson was arrested this afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri, while on assignment documenting the events there. We at Getty Images stand firmly behind our colleague Scott Olson and the right to report from Ferguson. Getty Images is working to secure his release as soon as possible.
We strongly object to his arrest and are committed to ensuring he is able to resume his important work of capturing some of the most iconic images of this news story.

SOURCE: http://www.mediaite.com/online/police-arrest-getty-photographer-in-ferguson-for-taking-pictures-of-protest/

[Willy Wonka 4]

I have little to no respect for the manner in which the police force has handled ANYTHING about this.

[Morphine Prince 109,692]

Stun grenades and tear gas were fired again tonight.

[Logan 20,835]

When they're arresting credible media sources you know something's up. 

[VioletGaGa 1]

I'm sorry no, when a Holocaust survivor gets arrested I stop being civil and quiet...to begin, thank God people are waking up to how corrupt Americas police force is, I could go on for hours about this but I'm going to keep it short. If they truly think that putting a 90 year old woman in prison for peacefully protest is going to help in any mater, they are mistaking, to add on to this, she escaped the Holocaust in the 1940's, half of her family were killed in the gas chambers in Auschwitz in Poland. The fact that she is still here and spreading the message of freedom. I thought Nazis fell in the 45'... I guess not. It's a damn shame.

[Morphine Prince 109,692]

They just told CNN reporters to get out because there's been a gun shot victim on the scene.

[No Angel 128]

People in pickup truck offering protestors a ride home, was stopped by police with their guns drawn at them.

[No Angel 128]

An hour ago

 

Amnesty International just got "kicked out" of Ferguson.

Edited August 19, 2014 by No Angel

[craig 680]

I'm sorry no, when a Holocaust survivor gets arrested I stop being civil and quiet...

Doesn't this imply that because she's an old white women she should be given easier treatment than the younger protectors of color?

[norcalmonster 0]

The whole situation causes me to feel sad, angry, overwhelmed, and some emotions I feel I don't have words for.  I am a small, unassuming, white woman.  I will never be able to truly understand the complete dehumanization of black life and degradation of black spirit by mainstream society beyond a concept.  But, situations like these do tend to give me flashes of just a tiny bit of the visceral pain I imagine black Americans are burdened with every day of their life, simply for existing. 

 

I do not identify as a racist person, but I certainly have racists thoughts flying through my brain every single day.  To be a white person in America means to have hundreds of years of dehumanizing beliefs about black people fundamentally weaved into my default, unconscious mindset of experiencing every day life, whether the situation immediately seems "race-related" or not. (Hint: EVERYTHING in America is race-related....)  And that's just a reality of the white collective consciousness, whether we like it or not. And until enough white people stand up and DEMAND and FIGHT that we begin, collectively, to wake up to that fact and actively work against it, it will stay the same.

 

There are definitely reasons to be upset over looting and vandalizing, but the vigor in which many (not all) people speaking out against those activities express their upset or anger concerns me.  Property damage seems much more personally hurtful/offensive to many folks than the actual loss of a human being's life. Again.... complete degradation of black life and existence.

 

And, frankly, at this point in history, I think a violent uprising is becoming quickly inevitable, and, unfortunately, necessary.  The aggression in Ferguson is not simply for Michael Brown's life.  It is an inevitable expression of anger after HUNDREDS of years black people being told they are literally sub-human.  Folks say we don't have slavery and Jim Crow anymore so racism isn't a problem, but if an absence of literally the most disgusting possible forms of dehumanization are the only evidence we have of living in racial harmony, we have a looonnnnnnggggg way to go.  Black anger is never justifiable to mainstream America, and it's always just a version of whites getting uncomfortable with blacks getting too "uppity."  

 

The conversation around race and valuing human life needs to shift away from the white perspective and be dominated by black and brown voices. For the first time ever.  It is long past due for us to sit down, shut up, and listen without giving any commentary on people of color's actual every day lived experiences.  Violent revolution is probably necessary for that shift to actually happen, so that most white folks actually FEEL some of the pain people of color live with every day, and begin to see that institutionalized racism not only hurts POC, but ALL people.  It's sad that black and brown life isn't valued enough on its own to merit louder and more widespread white outrage, but we do tend to be a self-serving bunch, so if we see and feel the pain and how it affects us directly, that might be the turning point needed to really shift things in this country.

 

Just doing my best to stay positive, trust in the human spirit, and sending prayers/thoughts of safety to everyone in the Ferguson area, and all American people of color.

[FATCAT 60,888]

The whole situation causes me to feel sad, angry, overwhelmed, and some emotions I feel I don't have words for.  I am a small, unassuming, white woman.  I will never be able to truly understand the complete dehumanization of black life and degradation of black spirit by mainstream society beyond a concept.  But, situations like these do tend to give me flashes of just a tiny bit of the visceral pain I imagine black Americans are burdened with every day of their life, simply for existing. 

 

I do not identify as a racist person, but I certainly have racists thoughts flying through my brain every single day.  To be a white person in America means to have hundreds of years of dehumanizing beliefs about black people fundamentally weaved into my default, unconscious mindset of experiencing every day life, whether the situation immediately seems "race-related" or not. (Hint: EVERYTHING in America is race-related....)  And that's just a reality of the white collective consciousness, whether we like it or not. And until enough white people stand up and DEMAND and FIGHT that we begin, collectively, to wake up to that fact and actively work against it, it will stay the same.

 

There are definitely reasons to be upset over looting and vandalizing, but the vigor in which many (not all) people speaking out against those activities express their upset or anger concerns me.  Property damage seems much more personally hurtful/offensive to many folks than the actual loss of a human being's life. Again.... complete degradation of black life and existence.

 

And, frankly, at this point in history, I think a violent uprising is becoming quickly inevitable, and, unfortunately, necessary.  The aggression in Ferguson is not simply for Michael Brown's life.  It is an inevitable expression of anger after HUNDREDS of years black people being told they are literally sub-human.  Folks say we don't have slavery and Jim Crow anymore so racism isn't a problem, but if an absence of literally the most disgusting possible forms of dehumanization are the only evidence we have of living in racial harmony, we have a looonnnnnnggggg way to go.  Black anger is never justifiable to mainstream America, and it's always just a version of whites getting uncomfortable with blacks getting too "uppity."  

 

The conversation around race and valuing human life needs to shift away from the white perspective and be dominated by black and brown voices. For the first time ever.  It is long past due for us to sit down, shut up, and listen without giving any commentary on people of color's actual every day lived experiences.  Violent revolution is probably necessary for that shift to actually happen, so that most white folks actually FEEL some of the pain people of color live with every day, and begin to see that institutionalized racism not only hurts POC, but ALL people.  It's sad that black and brown life isn't valued enough on its own to merit louder and more widespread white outrage, but we do tend to be a self-serving bunch, so if we see and feel the pain and how it affects us directly, that might be the turning point needed to really shift things in this country.

 

Just doing my best to stay positive, trust in the human spirit, and sending prayers/thoughts of safety to everyone in the Ferguson area, and all American people of color.

So, you're racist?