Mo. Teenager Shot by Police, Riots Ensue

[StevieWolfe]

The title of the thread is already bad enough, but it wasn't the civilians who initiated the riots.

http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/08/mike-brown-case

Michael Brown was 18 Highschool graduate who was basically gunned down in the middle of the street in front of his family, neighbors, and friends. Then, he was left there, in the street, for hours and hours while cops just stood around idle until people started to peacefully protest. In the last 24 hours, this entire thing has practically escalated to a damn civil war, and there are reports of local police going up to peoples homes there and firing tear gas grenades into their homes even if they're not at all involved with the protesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/michael-brown-shooting-the-police-s-military-like-response-to-missouri-riots-1.2735588

Police have also initiated a complete and total media black out of the entire town and have been seen stripping off their badges and ID tags, armed to the teeth in military tactical gear.

I think this situation is a very twisted one, and unfortunately not a very uncommon in our country anymore. Police routinely act like the thugish para-military they are to every situation they encounter now, and police against civilian violence cases are commonplace. For those that don't know I do YouTube rants and such and I did a video on this particular situation and the subject of police overpowering and brutality in general:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdDtqfnTud0

The fact the US is basically finally becoming a dystopia is personally terrifying, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this entire subject.

[mrthejoshmon]

Crushing opposition with an iron fist...

Sounds like the USA have finally become what they always hated:

Communists.

[StevieWolfe]

I can't agree with that more.

[Doomkid]

Police State Rising

[Technician]

B-b-b-b-but they're risking their lives for our safety.

#YesAllCops

[geekmarine]

I think the worst part is that... well, we're kind of okay with it. Not me personally, but as a nation, it's like, "Well yeah, that happens, the police gotta do what they gotta do." Certainly even if people are upset, it's being treated as a one-off thing, and it's not going to actually result in any change. We are a nation where it's okay for the police to run things as if they were in the middle of a warzone. In fact, many people see this as sensible. If things are out of control, it's those uncivilized savages in the town that are the problem. I just... Ugh. The whole thing makes me friggin' mad, that apparently we've embraced fascism and living in a police state.

[Jaxxoon R]

American police make Axe Cop look like Gandhi.

[Doomkid]

[Technician]

I love that image. All that black on black violence.

[StevieWolfe]

Doomkid said:

picture

Is that dude literally wielding a fucking axe or am I developing seriously bad cataracts...

[Necromancer-AMV]

Bu-bu-but the Supreme Court ruled that racism no longer exists in America! And as such, we could get rid of the legislation that was just crippling those poor states from reinstating 'Jim Crowe' laws! How could the five white right-wing males who make up the majority of the Supreme Court ever be wrong?

[Blastfrog]

I'm tired of all the fucking police apologists in this country. This is in regard to the public response to police brutality in general, not just this particular situation. They always make excuses, oh, the victims were animals, the cops were stressed and snapped under pressure, and other such bullshit that misses the point of what the role of the police is supposed to be. Even if they're dealing with relentlessly violent people, it is their job to act respectfully, rationally, and emotionlessly. It is their job to neutralize (not escalate) the situation at hand in as little time as possible with the least disruptive/destructive means possible.

If they can't handle that, they have no business being in the police force. Not just any old schmuck can be a cop, they must be near inhuman in their level of dedication to compassion and keeping a cool head. Obviously, we're all human and it is impossible to be an absolute saint, but cops had better try their damnedest to be one.

And when they slip up, they should be held highly accountable in the court of law. Most of these pigs get off with a couple months of paid leave and come right back to terrorizing innocents on the streets. Even utterly destroying their career by firing them and barring them from any future police jobs isn't enough, try and convict them for their crimes in court with real consequences, just like the rest of us.

They are to be efficient problem solvers, not typical street thugs with the only difference being their uniform and legal immunity. Standards must be held extremely high, no more thugs, please.

Doomkid said:

Police State Rising

I want to get out of here so badly. This country's government, despite many good founding ideals (that are often ignored and subverted by those in power), has been interfering with and damaging the rest of the world and even their own people. What's worse is that many here are brainwashed into supporting this madness even though we're all victims if we're not part of the 1%. Violence, surveillance, insane education costs, low wages, the merging of the private and public sector (private prisons are modern slave labor). We're fucked.

Many people's complacent and condoning attitude of this government's actions make the less insane of us look bad to the rest of the world. I fear that I and others like me would be stigmatized and shunned by any foreign society that we try to enter. What we're subjected to here at home is bad enough, I don't want to be hated on for circumstances that aren't my fault that I wish to escape.

Eh, oh well.

I know all of the above probably sounds very hyperbolic, but I hope that my points still stand past the pissy tone that I wrote them in.

StevieCybernetik said:

Is that dude literally wielding a fucking axe or am I developing seriously bad cataracts...

It's pretty clearly a regular old baton.

[Doomkid]

Sodaholic said:

I'm tired of all the fucking police apologists in this country. This is in regard to the public response to police brutality in general, not just this particular situation. They always make excuses, oh, the victims were animals, the cops were stressed and snapped under pressure, and other such bullshit that misses the point of what the role of the police is supposed to be. Even if they're dealing with relentlessly violent people, it is their job to act respectfully, rationally, and emotionlessly. It is their job to neutralize (not escalate) the situation at hand in as little time as possible with the least disruptive/destructive means possible.

I especially hate the BUT U ARNT A COP SO U CUNT EVN IMAGIN HOW IT FEELS WID ALL THE STERESZZ arguments, people just need to stop apologising for police brutality and cold blood murder. There's no excusing that shit.

If you wanna come to Australia for salvation, you gotta deathmatch a minimum of once per week. Also, be warned that Tone Abet is trying his hardest to follow America's every footstep.

[Jaxxoon R]

At this point we'd probably be safer around cold unfeeling machines than most members of the police department.

[Nomad]

I am really upset about this whole thing myself. It feels so surreal after seeing similar unrest popping up around the world in the last couple years. The militarization of the police force in the US is clearly getting out of hand.

I'm actually kind of glad that even the media is getting treated like shit, because that at least gives them incentive to report what's actually going on. Al Jazeera had a gas cannister fired at them and the police reportedly were firing rubber bullets in their direction while dismantling their equipment after they ran away. One of the local news outfits was directly across the street at the time and filmed the whole thing.

Again, it's all just so surreal.

geekmarine said:

I think the worst part is that... well, we're kind of okay with it. Not me personally, but as a nation, it's like, "Well yeah, that happens, the police gotta do what they gotta do." Certainly even if people are upset, it's being treated as a one-off thing, and it's not going to actually result in any change.

Maybe its because I live in California and it really wasn't THAT long ago since the LA riots back in the 90s and still in some people's memories, but I don't know a single person in my social circle that isn't upset about this whole thing.

[Blastfrog]

How is the foreign media covering this, if at all? I'm curious to know.

Random thought: how about rename the state to Misery if this oppression keeps up?

[myk]

Sodaholic said:
How is the foreign media covering this, if at all? I'm curious to know.

Over here:

Right:
Racial tension continues in a town in Missouri
Policemen kill a black teenager in the US. Protests repressed. Obama, preoccupied over the violence.

Riots in Missouri reignite racial tension in the US
Violent clashes after the killing of a black person by a white policeman; uneasiness in the White House

Center left:
Obama criticized looting and crackdown
After four nights of unrest in Missouri

Obama called for "reflection" over racial conflict
Tension subsists after the murder of the Afroamerican teenager. The police refuses to reveal the identity of the agent that shot him.

[Philnemba]

Wow this makes the NOPD seem tame & innocent.

[Platinum Shell]

I first heard of this right after I finished Fear Factory's "Securitron (Police State 2000)". I've heard exaggerated reports of the capability of the sound weapon they have, but the fact that a PD has one just leaves my jaw agape.

[TwinBeast]

Just recently I was at videogamename generator and generating names and got:"American Police Planet" and "No One Can Stop the Police Encounter"...

[geo]

Teens get shot by cops here in Chicago a lot. Peaceful protests ensue.

[Maes]

Why are y'all complaining? As long as you are not;

• Black
  
• Gay
  
• Poor
  
• Muslims
  
• Activists
  
• Communists
  
• Hippies
  
• Junkies
  

you have nothing to be afraid of, amirite?

[DeathevokatioN]

Awesome:

http://libertyviral.com/the-government-in-ferguson-tried-respecting-civil-liberties-guess-what-happened/#axzz3ANWKdqGv

[dew]

Maes said:

list

Add "randomly walking around when the cops are dealing with any of the above" to the bottom of the list.

[geekmarine]

DeathevokatioN said:

Awesome:

http://libertyviral.com/the-government-in-ferguson-tried-respecting-civil-liberties-guess-what-happened/#axzz3ANWKdqGv

Wait wait wait wait wait... this totally contradicts the Fox News narrative that they're all a bunch of lawless savages who need to be beaten into submission. We can't have this story, someone fix it.

[geo]

Maes said:

Why are y'all complaining? As long as you are not;

• Black
  
• Gay
  
• Poor
  
• Muslims
  
• Activists
  
• Communists
  
• Hippies
  
• Junkies
  

you have nothing to be afraid of, amirite?

Yeah its a long running joke that the best thing you can do in your life is be born a straight white man. Those are all created equal.

[gggmork]

Everyone who was beaten or killed by a cop was forced to pay, via tax, for the service of being beaten or killed, probably by the same bullies in the prison schools they were also forced to pay for. People who wear costumes have more rights than people who don't; they don't have to pay parking meters for example in that one of many veiled theft revenue generation schemes which also includes street sweeper parking tickets. Maybe that's why anonymous wears a costume. Having Mr. Pubeit hump scientology books is a defense service I would voluntarily pay for.™

[Bucket]

They released some details today; apparently, we're supposed to infer that being a suspect in a robbery is sufficient cause to be gunned down in the street like a dog. I don't particularly care what the cop's name is; I only care when the trial will happen, because felony murder has been committed.

mrthejoshmon said:

Sounds like the USA have finally become what they always hated:

Communists.

I fail to see how this resembles a class-less, state-less and money-less society.

DeathevokatioN said:

Awesome:

http://libertyviral.com/the-government-in-ferguson-tried-respecting-civil-liberties-guess-what-happened/#axzz3ANWKdqGv

"libertarian politics are informing policies in places such as Ferguson"

Give me a fucking break. The preservation of human rights is not the sole domain of libertarians. Civil rights have always been a leftist issue which the Libertarian Party (AKA Koch Suckers) has co-opted in the past ten years.

[Maes]

gggmork said:

People who wear costumes have more rights than people who don't;

Actually, the tendency worldwide is to make uniformed people believe that they are part of an elite. You may call it "the healthy part of the nation", "super-citizens", "better citizens", "the guardians", "those entrusted with keeping the Law and Order" etc.

This is reinforced by the benefits they often receive, and even outright segregation practices (e.g. bonding/kamaraderie during academy/training years and during actual service, special housing and healthcare provisions for them and their families, various small and big privileges etc.), which further strengthen the feeling that they are different/better than common citizens. Politicians also tend to be much more light-handed with uniformed citizens when it comes to deal tax blows, hikes etc. Wouldn't want to displease your bodyguards, after all...

Sometimes, this feeling of superiority is partially justified: e.g. in Greece, to access military, coast guard, fire brigade and police academies at the NCO and Officer level, there are strict age limits (no older than 26) as well as above-average academic and athletic requirements, while the academic regime in those schools is way more demanding and less permissive of errors and slacking than "civilian" universities. The result? You get classes of young officers in the prime of their lives that are not simply brainwashed to believe they are better than everybody else: they might actually be.

[Technician]

Maes said:

Why are y'all complaining? As long as you are not;

• Black
  
• Gay
  
• Poor
  
• Muslims
  
• Activists
  
• Communists
  
• Hippies
  
• Junkies
  

you have nothing to be afraid of, amirite?

And in Sweden the hole thing's flip-flop.