Riot erupting in St. Louis after police shooting of Ferguson youth

[GregNYC]

Yes, this is your pleasure in life.

[marceline]

What can I say? It's fun! Like watching my cats chase the light from the laser pointer.

[GregNYC]

Enjoy being a bully.

[Juliajms]

I actually think the tragic death of these officers will not derail the protest movement. I'm not a huge optimist when it comes to people, but I do think we've reached a critical mass when it comes to people realizing we have a problem and there are ways to make it better.

One of the cases that fits into this pattern of over zealous police action is the little boy who had a flash grenade thrown into his crib.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/baby-in-coma-after-police-grenade-dropped-in-crib-during-drug-raid/

It's different from Eric Garner in the sense that harming someone wasn't intentional (and they couldn't have known he was mixed race), but the same in the sense that there was no pressing need for police to take things to the level they did. No one was about to be murdered or raped, but they still used a lot of force to arrest people. In fact, in this case the person they were after wasn't even there.

[marceline]

I'm hoping this continues although, I can't lie, I'm not looking forward to summertime protests. If things are "heated" now, it's going to be really problematic come July/August. Another thing that will be necessary, will be training people in techniques of civil disobedience. People need to be taught exactly what is and isn't an effective form of protest and how to respond to harassment, especially if the cops go into "wartime" mode. In the days of the civil rights movement, churches and SNCC used to do those trainings. I had to do a few to prepare me for clinic defense (which is how I learned I don't have the temperament for clinic defense. LOL!) A lot of these folks are trying to re-invent the wheel. They don't need to do that.

[DeeeDee]

Except when the county refuses to pay for the child's medical bills

[marceline]

That's always been an issue though. You hear about cops kicking in the wrong door and tearing the place apart then leaving the law-abiding citizens they terrorized to clean up the mess.

[Juliajms]

Yeah, the whole thing is nuts. Over drugs? Why not just stake out the place and wait until the actual drug dealer comes out? Same thing with Eric Garner. Why put some guy in a choke hold when he wasn't even threatening anyone's life? OK, he was resisting arrest, but there has to be a better way to bring situations like that under control without resorting to brute force.

[DRW50]

Fox strikes again.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-wbff-edit-protest-kill-a-cop

[marceline]

Bill DiBlasio asks that the protests be put on hold until after the officers funerals.

Based on the initial reaction I'm seeing in the protest community, that's not going to happen.

[katie_9918]

I know I said I was done here, but I've been seeing some ridiculous stuff today.

Greta Van Susteren of Fox News has cut her vacation short to spew hatred and ignorance tonight on her show. Stay home, Greta. You don't care about these two guys.

Meanwhile, there are many local outlets all suddenly coming out with heartwarming stories of cops saving children by resuscitation, cops saving kittens from trees, etc. Basically backtracking on their anti-cop agendas of the past few months.

The media, liberal and conservative, truly don't give a [!@#$%^&*] about the Mike Browns, the Trayvon Martins, the Rafael Ramoses, the Wenjian Lius, killer cops, or cop killers; it's all just a political game to them.

If there weren't real people dying out there, it would be disgustingly amusing how the media absolutely jumps for joy every time these avoidable tragedies occur. As it is, I think we'd all be better off if real people who did give a damn, like many of the people here, could get together and have an honest, open, and productive conversation about what's happening here.

[Juliajms]

Yes, it's pretty clear that the media is salivating over all of this. They are clearly trying to promote and us v them narrative, which I am not buying at all. I'm very pro police. I think it's an incredibly hard job, one which I could not do mentally, never mind physically. I also think we desperately need reform.

[alphanguy74]

You have very good points there, I always felt that yes, there are certain people who will feel that way, no matter what, but then there are others who are more "on the fence" about it, and these are the people whose minds could be turned, and then there would be less of all that crap handed down to the next generation.

[marceline]

I'm glad you came back. We may not agree on much but I thought you made good points and offered a unique perspective.

Regardless of political orientation, I think most of us can agree on this.

I've gotten to the point where I go to the BBC and Al Jezeera before almost any American news source.

[DeeeDee]

The same reason police storm into a sleeping family's house, shoot a little girl in the neck, then make her father lay face down in her blood