Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The revolution will be supervised.

No one could have predicted…

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

This blog will pay for itself.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Enhanced Protest Techniques / Chicago, Illinois, 1968 Ferguson, Misery, 2014

Chicago, Illinois, 1968 Ferguson, Misery, 2014

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“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

I had just finished the eighth grade when the 1968 DNC happened. Not sure if any of the other front-pagers, apart from Kay, had even been born…

Reader Interactions

247Comments

  2. 2.

    Botsplainer

    A Washington Post and HuffPo reporter were arrested by SWAT at a Ferguson McDonalds while recharging, eating and working. At least one was roughed up.

  4. 4.

    Belafon

    From the Huffington Post article about the arrest:

    “They essentially acted as a military force. It was incredible,” he said. “The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald’s and then sarcastically apologized for it.” – Ryan J. Reilly

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    Not sure if any of the other front-pagers, apart from Kay, had even been born…

    Not a FPer, but I was there. I was four, but I was there.

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    So where are Rand and Ron Paul on the quasi-fascist police tactics in Ferguson, MO?

    How about Glenn Greenwald and the rest of The Intercept staff?

    I guess some police state tactics are more worthy of contempt than others.

    I’m sure it has nothing to do with the race of the demonstrators vs. the pigs.

  9. 9.

    raven

    I was in the barracks at Ft Lewis waiting to ship out to Vietnam watching it on the tube. I’m from Chicago and I remember being in Seattle that summer and people handing out flyers urging people not to go because it was a setup.

  10. 10.

    JoyfulA

    There were many unbelievable things happening around that time. But I’m not that young, married in 1967.

  12. 12.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I would think if you want the public to hear your side of the story, arresting the press isn’t the way to do it, but what do I know?

  14. 14.

    MattR

    @Botsplainer: Wesley Lowry was a little pissed about being released without being arrested because it meant that the police would not have to fill out a police report. So now they don’t have to justify their actions or identify those officers involved.

  15. 15.

    CarolDuhart2

    10 and 11, riots of 1967 and 1968. Haven’t forgotten the National Guard trucks roaring through our neighborhood, or the trashed businesses I walked past on the way to one that was open. Or turning out the lights and laying on the floor so that we wouldn’t be a target for stray bullets.
    Or the eerie silence that night as the streets were empty.

    I haven’t forgotten the school assembly where we had some sort of singing and things to do to calm down the situation for us kids.

    Policing like this was why the Black Panthers wanted self-policing in the community. Same thing with the Nation of Islam. No more racist stop and frisks. No more rigged cases. We would handle our own.

  17. 17.

    Botsplainer

    @Belafon:

    “They essentially acted as a military force. It was incredible,” he said. “The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald’s and then sarcastically apologized for it.” – Ryan J. Reilly

    But they probably called him “sir” when they apologized.

    The new professionalism, you know.

  19. 19.

    Botsplainer

    @MattR:

    @Botsplainer: Wesley Lowry was a little pissed about being released without being arrested because it meant that the police would not have to fill out a police report. So now they don’t have to justify their actions or identify those officers involved.

    There had to be a squawk. It’ll take a while to dig out, but dispatch has to have something.

  20. 20.

    Suffern ACE

    While there are many problem police forces, there’s something really wrong with this particular police department.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @Cacti:

    How about Glenn Greenwald and the rest of The Intercept staff?

    Greenwald’s been tweeting about this since yesterday. Not like he could add much value by flying into Ferguson and getting arrested too, IMO.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Botsplainer: I imagine he’s in an awkward position with regard to a civil suit (if there are grounds?) as a reporter. I could see Arianna making a stink on the other guy’s behalf

    Ryan Reilly, whose head got bounced, on MSNBC right now

  25. 25.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Percysowner: There’s a realistic risk of mid-air collision with media choppers, especially after dark, regardless of whether the shooting at a police helicopter actually happened. I dont find it particularly sinister. The Boston Marathon, e.g. takes place under a similar set of restrictions — 3 mile radius, 3,000 AGL — and did so before the bombings.

  26. 26.

    Belafon

    @Suffern ACE: With the clothes, the guns, and the equipment they have out, this group seems to think it’s got to be threatening, like it’s got to prove something.

  27. 27.

    Suffern ACE

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Probably. But the no fly zone means that either the police called the FAA worried that the the people in the neighborhood were armed with the types of weapons that could damage planes, or the police are planning on rolling out the drones.

  29. 29.

    lamh36

    ‏@jbendery 59s
    .@trymainelee now on phone with O’Donnell, sounds like he’s running, says street filled w/ smoke, can’t see 20 ft in front of him. #Ferguson

  30. 30.

    MattR

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Same basic problem though. None of the officers would identify themselves to Reilly and since they weren’t arrested there won’t be a paper trail (or it will be hard to find the needle in the haystack)

    @Suffern ACE: Well, the Ferguson police chief justified the use of mine resistant vehicles by saying that people have bombs now.

  31. 31.

    scav

    @Suffern ACE: But, wasn’t Scalia all in favor of people having access to such launchers, so long as they carried them as the founders envisioned? Aren’t these crowds assembled to protest the oppressive hands of over-bearing oppressive government authority exactly those oft-cited holy responsible militias?

  32. 32.

    lamh36

    Son of a bitch. the reporter now is saying that the St Louis Police Chief says he’s proud of the restraint of his fuckin’ officer.

    When asked why the severity of the police force, that it’s because there are “good people” in these neighborhoods and they “deserve to be protected”.

    WTF!

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    Imani ABL ‏@AngryBlackLady 3m
    wow. RT @TallyAnnaE: People in #Gaza are tweeting information on how to handle tear gas to the citizens of #Ferguson. Mind blown. #MikeBrown

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    The reporter from @MSNBC on the ground in Ferguson is talking and you can here the effects of the tear gas

  38. 38.

    lamh36

    @JillEBond 3m
    We’d ALL like to know, Governor! RT @CapehartJ: Who is in charge in #Ferguson? Where is @GovJayNixon in all this?

  40. 40.

    Mike J

    @Suffern ACE:

    or the police are planning on rolling out the drones.

    Please don’t be this stupid.

    Droooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeees.

  41. 41.

    burnspbesq

    @Suffern ACE:

    But the no fly zone means that either the police called the FAA worried that the the people in the neighborhood were armed with the types of weapons that could damage planes, or the police are planning on rolling out the drones.

    Maybe. But an equally plausible and simpler explanation is that they don’t want news choppers with cameras in places where they can film what the cops are about to do.

  43. 43.

    lamh36

    @WesleyLowery 10h
    Ppl in #Ferguson v sensitive to media descriptions of rioting, so worth noting: only behavior accurately described as such happened Sun.

    @WesleyLowery 10h
    Monday &last night protesters clashed w/police in riot gear who deployed tear gas. I saw nothing close to “riots” or “looting” #Ferguson

    @WesleyLowery 10h
    That said, the town is tense. There have been some troublemakers out and about. Others who are just overcome with emotion #ferguson

    @WesleyLowery 10h
    But the residents have not been “rioting.” It just isn’t true. Protesting: yes. Outraged: yes. Clashing with police: yes. Rioting: No

  44. 44.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    You probably already figured this out but it looks like the city police are not coordinating with or actually in control of the county police agency, and the county police agency are running the “op”.

    If city/county is there like it is here it would be better if the city police were running it, even given that the city police obviously have big problems of their own.

  47. 47.

    Davis X. Machina

    @burnspbesq: Or someone’s concerned about the results of putting half a dozen news helicopters into a small area, in the dark, putting them all on 122.8 or 122.75, and tell them, “Be careful. See and be seen.”

  48. 48.

    burnspbesq

    What are the odds that at least one cop has “The Ride of the Valkyries” playing in his car?

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @burnspbesq:

    But an equally plausible and simpler explanation is that they don’t want news choppers with cameras in places where they can film what the cops are about to do.

    That’s my guess.

    Jesus, there is no reason that this needs to be handled this way.

  51. 51.

    Suffern ACE

    @lamh36: Oh. I’ll bite. I’d be really happy if Putin made a statement that the loss of legitimacy of the government in Missouri means that it is time for Governor Nixon to go, and then offer up a Russian friendly candidate to take over.

  52. 52.

    burnspbesq

    @Davis X. Machina:

    That’s a legitimate concern, but to some extent you can rely on the professionalism and self-preservation instinct of the news crews to keep things sorted. And you’re right, it does help if they’re all on the same frequency.

    None of this speculation is mutually exclusive. It could be “all of the above.” It could be A, B, and D, but not C.

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Kay: The county folks pretty clearly see their job as riot suppression and not crisis deescalation.

  55. 55.

    Anoniminous

    @rikyrah:

    People in #Gaza are tweeting information on how to handle tear gas to the citizens of #Ferguson.

    I find that rather touching.

    Granted I have a well-developed sense of the sardonic.

  57. 57.

    lamh36

    @Suffern ACE: I believe I read that allegedly a police chopper was fired upon so Ferguson PD or St Louis County (at this point it appears STL county SWAT is in charge now) asked FAA to avert planes.

  59. 59.

    burnspbesq

    @lamh36:

    It’s telling that even us white middle-class suburban folks have no trouble believing that the cops are lying about that.

  61. 61.

    burnspbesq

    @Poopyman:

    Heard that before. It wasn’t an effective deterrent in Chicago in 1968. Not sure there’s any reason to believe it will be effective this time.

  62. 62.

    BGinCHI

    Coverage right now on MSNBC is just fucking crazy.

    Someone tell me this is different from apartheid SA. White military/police suppression of black expression. The cops ordered everyone to turn off filming devices.

    WTF?

    I think we need nationwide protests over this. This is not a democratic way of doing things.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Boing Boing @B oingBoing · 8m
    #Ferguson—Police over loudspeakers now: “Please turn off your cameras.”

  64. 64.

    Dog On Porch

    The good people of the Show Me state (who recently enshrined Rush Limbaugh in their Hall of Fame of Great Missourians) know what they’re doing. Americans can rest assured just-us will prevail.

    That’s a bitterly cynical thing to say, but it’s all I got to contribute. If there’s a silver lining in America’s ever rightward drift, I don’t see it.

  66. 66.

    PaulW

    the banned airspace was to keep the media from flying helicopters over the crowds and streets. the police were trying to control the type of pictures that would get out.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @scav: I agree. Sadly. More people are likely to be injured or die to justify a hamfisted response to a crime.

  72. 72.

    MattR

    @burnspbesq: Fuck that. It is obviously A, C and D, but not B.

    @burnspbesq: Agreed. Also think it is telling that no TV police drama would ever allow a main character to act as any of the officers have done in the rash of recent incidents across the country.

  74. 74.

    Occasional Reader

    Just imagine if a gaggle of those open-carry types showed up and tried to reassure everyone.

  76. 76.

    MomSense

    @Suffern ACE:

    Chris Hayes tweeted that the cable networks can’t run live feeds on their broadcasts because the authorities ordered the satellite trucks to leave Ferguson. I would like to know why the cable networks chose to comply.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Kay: The Columbus police used to do shit like this against OSU house parties. The would form up threateningly and move in. the would tell people to leave, but not let them out. At some point, some kid would do something provocative and the CPD would have a “riot” to suppress.

    I hope everyone there is filming and tweeting and posting every second of this. We need a record of what is happening/has happened.

  79. 79.

    PaulW

    I know the comparisons are being made to 1968 Chicago, but we had a major riot in LA in 1992, again in response to police overkill (beating Rodney King into a pulp) and a sense of injustice (the cops were acquitted after the trial was moved to a whiter suburb). The riots themselves did harm, but the LAPD’s overreaction to that contributed in the worst ways.

    The thing about now is, we’ve got twitter, we’ve got smartphones, there’s wifi and livestreaming. And we’ve got a police force that’s pumped up into a self-defense “we’re the victims” mode that’s adding to the cycle of violence rather than cooling things down.

  80. 80.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I was 11. My family had just purchased our very first color TV, and we got to watch the baby blue helmets of the Chicago PD as they proceeded to riot in the streets.

  81. 81.

    MattR

    @lamh36: Wow. If he has a PR person and he hadn’t fired him/her before this evening, that should be the final straw. Nothing says “I’m really trying to work towards a peaceful resolution” like going on Hannity’s show to discuss the situation. I guess Alex Jones would be worse, but we are scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

  82. 82.

    PaulW

    @MomSense:

    Chris Hayes tweeted that the cable networks can’t run live feeds on their broadcasts because the authorities ordered the satellite trucks to leave Ferguson. I would like to know why the cable networks chose to comply.

    Because nobody wants to get shot at.

  83. 83.

    MazeDancer

    Michael Brown’s body has been released to his parents. They are having an independent autopsy performed. Seems like the truth will be revealed by forensics. And that the police already know that truth. Their autopsy is done.

    Also seems unusual that they released the body so quickly.

  84. 84.

    PaulW

    At this point, to hell what the wingnuts scream about, time for Obama to call in the National Guard and put the Ferguson police force and the county police force on suspended leave. The local authorities are blowing this out of proportion.

  85. 85.

    jnfr

    In 1968 I was just entering high school and I remember Chicago pretty well though I didn’t really understand it all (I was only 13 then).

    But I was also a kid in Mississippi in the Jim Crow years, from 1959 to 1964, and I understand exactly what’s happening in Ferguson.

  86. 86.

    lamh36

    Just an FYI, the reports are that it’s is “St Louis County Riot Police” who’s firing tear gas. I assume that means that the Ferguson PD it’s mostly St Louis PD on the ground now.

  87. 87.

    MattR

    @PaulW: I was listening to King’s lawyer earlier tonight as he is now representing the family of Ezell Ford. Was disturbing to see how little had really changed in LA in the past 20 years.

  88. 88.

    PaulW

    @MazeDancer:

    Michael Brown’s body has been released to his parents. They are having an independent autopsy performed. Seems like the truth will be revealed by forensics. And that the police already know that truth. Their autopsy is done.

    Hate to be the conspiracy nut here, but… the Ferguson PD could have altered the physical evidence. After all, their forensics people are trained on what to look for and can disguise the physical evidence or remove it without leaving a trace…

  89. 89.

    fleeting expletive

    Not much attention has been paid to Why they will not release the name of the cop who killed him. I bet it’s because, True Detective style, ferguson is wired up. This cop has scope, man. It also nears a tipping point. This is a big deal and I’m glad MSNBC seems to be staying on it. Laurence O’D seems to be on it, although I’d “also know the name of the officers filing the incident report.”

  90. 90.

    Liquid

    Was watching that livestream. Some cop comes up to the reporter and says “We had the rescue team out looking for you. We thought they got you.”

  91. 91.

    wonkie

    I don’t have TV. How is the corporate TV media covering this? If they are covering at all? I remember the Chicago police riots. That was my intro to politics. I was fourteen. My parents, who never owned a TV, rented one to watch the convention. They were McCarthy supporters. We watched hours of riots.

  92. 92.

    burnspbesq

    @MomSense:

    I would like to know why the cable networks chose to comply.

    Speculation on my part, but what do you expect would happen if a cop stuck a gun in a driver’s face and told him to get his fucking satellite dish the fuck out of this fucking city?

  93. 93.

    MomSense

    @PaulW:

    Because nobody wants to get shot at.

    Exactly why the cable networks should stay and keep the cameras rolling.

  94. 94.

    aangus

    PzFeed Top News @PzFeed · 15s

    RIGHT NOW: Ferguson Police officer injured after Molotov cocktail fired at him. Yard fires started from tear gas.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @PaulW:

    After all, their forensics people are trained on what to look for and can disguise the physical evidence or remove it without leaving a trace…

    I doubt it. This is a pathologist in a Midwestern suburb, not a CIA lab.

  96. 96.

    Citizen Scientist

    I’m in the middle of ready Nixonland right now, and the events in Ferguson eerily parallel the circumstances surrounding the civil rights movement (Watts riots, etc.) up to MLK’s assassination, Chicago ’68 and the aftermath in the way that “the Establishment” went after anyone and anything that wasn’t considered anti-commie or truly American. I guess we really don’t learn from our history here in ‘Merca. That, or the left never really had a chance against the authoritarian establishment; they just let us think we did.

    What depressing thoughts after a great evening hanging out with my family in beautiful weather. Just makes me angry.

  98. 98.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Yup

    Paul Waldman @ paulwaldman1 · 14m
    Right now on CNN, MSNBC: Live shots from Ferguson showing tear gas, etc. On Fox: Hannity interviews Ferguson police chief.
    ReplyReplied to 0 times RetweetRetweeted 140 times140 FavoriteFavorited 39 times39

    They’re choosing up sides

  100. 100.

    fleeting expletive

    I just posted because I had something to say so I just read the intro to this post. Kent State is very real to me. The following month my 22 year old self and my little older first husband went into the Peace Corps and I was so grateful to be able to leave the US for a while. I thought there would be a huge conflagration after Kent State. Woodstock? I’m unclear what happened during those years to dissipate the momentum.

    This feels like Chicago 68, Rodney King, Detroit. Something is slouching this way.

  101. 101.

    Cacti

    Joaquin Castro lets ’em have it on Twitter:

    I’m sure that Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are going speak up for the liberty and freedom of the ppl of Ferguson against govt overreach soon..

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    from POU:

    JB20005

    Fact: Michael Brown had no criminal record.

    Fact: Michael Brown was walking to his grandmother’s house.

    Fact: Michael Brown was detained by a Ferguson police officer for no clear reason, shot dead, and his body left to molder uncovered in the August sun for 4-hours.

    Fact: Ferguson PD will not identify the officer who killed him, how many shots were fired, or where the bullets entered.

    Fact: Ferguson PD is a 94% white force in a 67% black town.

    Fact: Ferguson PD have a history of race-based law enforcement discrepancies, searching black motorists in routine traffic stops at twice the rate of white motorists.

    Fact: Ferguson PD are now detaining and harassing journalists, and tear gassing people standing in their own yards.

    Fact: white right wingers consider the Ferguson PD the good guys in all of this.

    Conclusion: scratch a right winger, find a fascist underneath

  104. 104.

    Mike in NC

    Cracking minority skulls could land Ted Cruz in the White House in 2016, if he plans it will a touch of subtlety. In our area, we’re seeing lots of dumb shit about bad behavior in Atlantic Beach and nearby areas where decent white people are being targeted by ‘those people’.

  105. 105.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    They’re really reaching. They arrested the reporters for “trespassing” in the McDonalds. That was the charge.

    I listened to the city police chief on the radio earlier this evening and he didn’t sound insane, but if he’s really making the FOX News rounds and appearing on Hannity while the St Louis county police go completely nuts in his city I’ll have to reconsider that opinion.

    The ACLU made a demand for the incident reports of the shooting. They have to be released w/in three days after demand under state law but city/police can claim an exception and then it’ll have to go to court.

  107. 107.

    Judi

    Where is the Governor of Missouri? Where is Claire McCaskill? It’s just crickets from Missouri leaders to ratchet back the situation in Ferguson. It’s almost like they want the worst to happen.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    There is no reason for this. Michael Brown should never have been killed. And even after that crime was committed, the area authorities could easily have handled things professionally. But the kid was killed and the authorities are handling as poorly as possible. So fucking unnecessary. So fucking criminal.

  109. 109.

    lamh36

    @eyokley
    Inquiry out to @GovJayNixon’s office about what he’s seen/done re: #Ferguson tonight. No reax. 8 am event tomm, open press. Will learn more.

  110. 110.

    fleeting expletive

    I think I remember from the Occupy era, the remedy for tear gas poisoning is wet bandanas over your nose and mouth and milk of magnesia soaking it. I don’t recall where I heard that.

  111. 111.

    Cacti

    @Kay:

    I listened to the city police chief on the radio earlier this evening and he didn’t sound insane, but if he’s really making the FOX News rounds and appearing on Hannity while the St Louis county police go completely nuts in his city I’ll have to reconsider that opinion.

    He perked up my bullshit detector early on when he said, he’s tried to make his lily-white force more diverse, but gosh darnit he just can’t get any black applicants.

    Even if true (which I doubt), maybe the utter lack of black applicants in a 2/3 black city ought to raise a red flag about the quality of his existing officers.

  112. 112.

    lamh36

    @tbogg 4m
    Last thing: this is just a prelude of what will come when an all-white jury acquits the cop who killed Michael Brown.

  113. 113.

    MattR

    @burnspbesq:

    Speculation on my part, but what do you expect would happen if a cop stuck a gun in a driver’s face and told him to get his fucking satellite dish the fuck out of this fucking city?

    Not saying I would have the courage to do it, but it would have been nice if one driver and cameraman had forced the police to do that on tape.

    @Cacti: I posted it earlier, but for me it was when he said they needed to deploy a mine resistant vehicle because people use bombs now.

  115. 115.

    Origuy

    @aangus:

    Ferguson Police officer injured after Molotov cocktail fired at him.

    More likely a tear gas canister thrown back at him.

  117. 117.

    max

    @Percysowner: The FAA has just declared Ferguson a NO FLY ZONE What the hell is happening to our country?

    “Revolt from above” – Bundy ranch situation except run by the local cops.

    @BGinCHI: I think we need nationwide protests over this. This is not a democratic way of doing things.

    Well, yeah. That’s the point. Some of those Pentagon folks making plans for dealing with civil unrest were thinking of guns and bombs and guys waving Confederate flags and seceding. And some of those Pentagon folks were worried about the blacks looting.

    This is just political suppression for because some one doesn’t understand the concept of democratic protest. They see ‘the apes’ revolting and they want ‘the humans’ to stomp them down.

    max
    [‘Interesting how in theory the right-wing vision of revolution always has themselves as powerless victims, even when they’re revolting against democratic norms.’]

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Cacti: That is why I hope every person there is recording events and uploading in as close to real time as possible. The cops won’t be able to hide. Those who do their job well (if any) will be seen and those who are out of control will be seen as well. The world should be watching.

  119. 119.

    Kay

    @Cacti:

    I don’t understand why they haven’t “interviewed all the witnesses” yet. That’s what he said. Why not? How many witnesses to the shooting could there be? Is it even double digits? How could it possibly take this long? They managed to arrest, process and release 40 protesters but somehow they can’t get the witness interviews done.

    Michael Brown had no criminal record.

    If they have another trial like the Zimmerman trial where they convict the victim who isn’t there to defend himself this country is going to explode.

  121. 121.

    Dog On Porch

    @Villago Delenda Est: I was 11 in August 1966, and probably ate in a Little Black Sambo restaurant near the California-Oregon border that year. Once every summer I’d eat lunch there on my way home from Salem, Oregon to San Francisco (in a fucking Rambler). Again, that was the liberal left coast of the mid-’60’s. The moral being while laws and sensibilities change, intolerance abides. But then that’s hardly a news flash, is it?

  122. 122.

    Cacti

    @Kay:

    If they have another trial like the Zimmerman trial where they convict the victim who isn’t there to defend himself this country is going to explode.

    I strongly suspect that if the cop is charged, a white judge will grant him a change of venue to a white exurb or white rural area.

    Because as we all know, only white people are fairly equipped to adjudicate acts of violence by white people against people of color. Much the same as only men can be trusted to fairly discuss issues unique to women.

  123. 123.

    Suffern ACE

    @Kay: if he did Facebook, he obviously didn’t do much of anything, or we would have heard about it by now.

  124. 124.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Cacti: I think the very close eye that the DOJ is going to have on this case will prevent that.

  125. 125.

    fleeting expletive

    @PaulW: Also because they don’t care to commit journalism. If they were, they’d be in Somalia or Iraq, and actually be exposing him/her self to something outside their bubble.

  126. 126.

    MattR

    @Kay: It wouldn’t shock me if at least one witness was not immediately cooperative because they were (wisely) seeking legal representation before speaking with the police (and the lawyer wanted to have enough time to thoroughly review everything before the meeting)

  127. 127.

    Cacti

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    That is why I hope every person there is recording events and uploading in as close to real time as possible. The cops won’t be able to hide. Those who do their job well (if any) will be seen and those who are out of control will be seen as well. The world should be watching.

    In the digital age, there are way too many people with cameras for the police to effectively hide what they’re doing. I suspect there will be plenty of video and audio of “racist cops gone wild, middle America edition”.

  131. 131.

    Kay

    @Suffern ACE:

    Oh, God, don’t get me started. Did you know he was suspended from high school? They once searched his backpack for “criminal tools”

    This is “criminal tools” in Ohio:

    “Possessing criminal tools.
    (A) No person shall possess or have under the person’s control any substance, device, instrument, or article, with purpose to use it criminally.”

    For juveniles, it means “I can search your backpack and I’ll find something” and that’s all it means.

  132. 132.

    scav

    @Cacti: Facts and evidence probably won’t matter. They’ll claim they were “in fear of their lives”, because if their is anything apparently more potent than white woman tears, it is white mens’ fears for justifying all actions. Especially heavily armed white guys in uniforms. They decide if they’re scared. They decide what constitutes rioting or resisting arrest. They decide who are the “good people” that should be protected by the law and those others to whom the whole system doesn’t apply.

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Kay: @MattR: I have already heard that at least one witness, the dude who was with Brown when he was killed, will not speak to anyone but the feds.

  136. 136.

    max

    Enough is enough in Ferguson

    Anyone familiar with the history of race and policing in the United States had to suspect from the beginning that the shooting of Michael Brown was not just a tragedy, but a crime. Yet presumption of innocence prevails and sober minds know both the need to wait for an investigation and the reality that we may never really know what happened that fateful Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri. But watching events unfold Wednesday night in the St. Louis suburb, there can be no doubt that what happened on August 13 was an outrage.

    The local authorities clearly have no idea what they’re doing, and higher powers from the state or federal government need to intervene before things get even worse.

    max
    [‘He’s right.’]

  137. 137.

    fleeting expletive

    This has been just about the best bj thread ever.y’all can be pretty astute sometimes.

  139. 139.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @rikyrah:

    Conclusion: scratch a right winger, find a fascist underneath

    This is not rocket science. It has always been this way.

    I’d go beyond fascist, and get specific, to the German fascist movement that was just slightly tinged with naked racism.

  140. 140.

    Shalimar

    @Cacti: “Chris Hayes interviewed a local black attorney on his regular show earlier. She said she applied to the county attorney’s office out of law school and they were very interested in hiring her. Then the interviewer told her that she would hear the n-word used by co-workers and asked her if that bothered her. She didn’t take the job.

  143. 143.

    rikyrah

    Ed Bott ✔ @edbott
    Follow

    More people have had their civil rights violated by the Ferguson police in the last 24 hours than by the NSA in the last 10 years.
    8:00 PM – 13 Aug 2014

  144. 144.

    sharl

    Looks like Radley Balko done went Twitter-fishin’ for a specific kind of fish. I’ve been admiring his catch

    rolandsmartin @rolandsmartin
    Where are the libertarians shouting from the roof tops about the lack of following the U.S. Constitution in #Ferguson?

    chimezie @iloanya1
    May be libertarians only care when it affects the right color #Ferguson

    ACME Sales Rep. @ACMESalesRep
    White “libertarians” are apparently able to threaten the police without recourse. Why aren't they stepping in to defend #Ferguson? #racists

    Steve Dowdy @Steverocks35
    All you silent libertarians? Just stay silent from now on, you no longer have credibility. #Ferguson

    Max Berger @maxberger
    I'm looking forward to libertarians who warn of a police state speaking out against the state violence and repression in #Ferguson

    Anton Chigurh @Gaffitoff
    Libertarians & conspiracy theorists are okay with a police state as long as that police state is harassing black people. #Ferguson

    Mary @MFL1956
    Where is the screaming from "libertarians" about Ferguson family getting gassed in their own back yard? @RachelDecoste @divineem @Sherrea_D

    Amanda Ann Klein @AmandaAnnKlein
    this/RT @BrookeObie: Hey, Libertarians! That #PoliceState you've been fearmongering about is actually happening in #Ferguson. Why so silent?

    Grungy for Gaza @GrungyBerns
    Lol at libertarians and anti-surveillance bros so quiet while police state is [actually] happening in #Ferguson. Traitors.

    May @MayTMyint
    Where did all those white libertarians going on about the police state go? #Ferguson

    Oh, well… should help sales of Mr. Balko’s book, Rise of the Warrior Cop.

  145. 145.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    Years ago, I interviewed for a position with the Madison, WI, City Attorneys’ Office. More than half of the questions I was asked dealt with how I would respond to protest situations and consultations with the police about them. As I answered the questions, the panel kept coming back to “How can you make sure that the protestors’ rights are protected?”* Madison is more familiar with and friendly to protests than many cities, but it was an informative interview.

    *I ended up in a different job.

  146. 146.

    john fremont

    @Cacti: Also, the 2nd Amendment backs up all of the other ones, so where are the NRA, and the Open Carry crowd? The right to peaceably assemble and redress the government for grievances is getting shoved aside right now. So where are the 2nd Amendment guys?

  148. 148.

    MattR

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): @Kay: Pretty sure you are both talking about Dorian Johnson. From what I saw of him on MSNBC he spoke very little and only answered a couple short, factual statements and let his lawyer do most of the talking. Definitely a good move not wasting his time talking to the local police if the FBI/DOJ are taking over the investigation.

  151. 151.

    max

    St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via TPM):

    One big problem with convening such an investigative panel is that it’s not clear who has jurisdiction. The same problem plagues the entire response in Ferguson: Who has command authority? Who is accountable for the decisions that are being made?

    The fragmentation may be deliberate; it certainly mirrors the fragmentation that is the bane of the entire region. But the first rule of restoring public confidence is to earn it. Someone must step forward and take responsibility — both for the law enforcement effort that’s currently underway and then for the investigation that must follow.

    It will have to be Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a man whose every instinct is to dodge bad news whenever possible. Sorry, governor. But you asked for the job.[…]

    Mr. Nixon is the only public official with the authority to create an independent investigative commission. Public confidence demands that he announce plans to do so immediately. Its membership should be diverse and of unquestioned integrity. Its members should come from law enforcement, civil rights, academia and civic leadership. It’s time to step up.

    The police agencies may know who’s in charge, but the public deserves to know, too. At whose order were police dogs brought in? Who authorized the use of tear gas and non-lethal baton rounds?

    What central command authority is making sure that officers from multiple jurisdictions are singing from the same hymnal? Is anyone up to speed on the latest thinking in law enforcement about dealing with mass protests?[…]

    Individual officers generally have shown great restraint. But those images are doing incalculable harm, and not just to community relations in Ferguson. The nation and the world have seen horrible images from St. Louis that suggest that race relations here have a long way to go.

    They’re not wrong.

    max
    [‘Nope. They ain’t.’]

  152. 152.

    sharl

    @sharl: Of course, some libertarian folks – like lawyer “Popehat” – have been screaming loudly about Ferguson, as have some of the anti-surveillance, “pro-Snowden” folks I follow. But a lot of self-identifying “libertarians” do seem rather quiet about Ferguson.

  154. 154.

    SatanicPanic

    @Mike in NC

    : Cracking minority skulls could land Ted Cruz in the White House in 2016

    ,
    I don’t know, I’m skeptical

    if he plans it will a touch of subtlety.

    Ted Cruz and subtlety don’t really go together so well

  155. 155.

    Cacti

    @john fremont:

    Also, the 2nd Amendment backs up all of the other ones, so where are the NRA, and the Open Carry crowd? The right to peaceably assemble and redress the government for grievances is getting shoved aside right now. So where are the 2nd Amendment guys?

    Indeed.

    Where are Cliven Bundy’s militia pals who were totally not racist fringe nuts, just concerned with the creeping police state?

    They were willing to use their wives and daughters as human shields over some redneck’s trespassing cattle. Where were they tonight and this past week?

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @MattR: Yep, Dorian Johnson is the guy.

    @rikyrah: State jurisdiction will give murder charges against the cop. This would be the best result. If a jury acquits, federal charges violating Michael Brown’s civil rights could follow.

  158. 158.

    Mart

    Local news Channel 5 in the Lou had a field camera during the 10PM newscast panned on a soldier, er officer; who is taking aim while hiding behind a large stone street marker. Then they pan over and show a live feed set-up for a broadcast of al-jazeera, America. Then a loud pop and the al-jazeera boys are running from the tear gas canister that blew up right under their feet. The fuck am I, my home in St. Louis county, or Qatar?

  160. 160.

    browser

    @Davis X. Machina: Difference here is that the FPD specifically asked for the restrictions by claiming that shots were fired at police helicopters. Restricting it to handle media chopper traffic makes sense, but that’s not why they wanted it.

  163. 163.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    You can blow out a candle
    But you can’t blow out a fire
    Once the flames begin to catch
    The wind will blow it higher
    Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
    Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja
    -The man is dead

    And the eyes of the world are
    watching now
    watching now

  164. 164.

    max

    @Villago Delenda Est: the German fascist movement that was just slightly tinged with naked racism.

    The problem with the Nazi narrative is that people need to understand that Hitler was emulating the United States, specifically people like Andrew Jackson. He was just modernizing up and speeding up the operation. The kind of brute force crap you see he preceeded Nazism by a long stretch and if it has anything in common with Europe, it comes from the ideology-free low-rent fascism of Italy, France, Spain and eastern Europe, (‘fuck all the theories, let’s just find us a strong man on horseback and get out there and bash some heads’) and not much to do with the ‘scientific’ racism of Nazism.

    max
    [‘Just to be pedantic.’]

  165. 165.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): If he wants to avoid being cast as a very selective proponent of civil liberties, he’d better do a lot more than tweet his disapproval.

    If you’re worried about a police state, you need to be jumping up and down and screaming about what is going down in Ferguson. No excuses. Sean Hannity has chosen his side, the side of authentic jack booted thugs.

  166. 166.

    skerry

    The twitter machine is saying that Alderman Antonio French has been arrested and is in the Ferguson jail. Source is his wife. Ferguson is his district.

  168. 168.

    burnspbesq

    @Kay:

    No person shall possess or have under the person’s control any substance, device, instrument, or article, with purpose to use it criminally.

    That’s hilarious. If I’m reading that correctly, possession of a pencil is illegal if I have a purpose to poke you with it.

    I remember spending a day each in Crim Law and Con Law talking about “void for vagueness.”

  169. 169.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @max: Well, yup. Hitler often cited racial policies of the United States as the way to go. His euthanasia/”racial hygiene” policies, for example, were explicitly modeled on some American precedents. And we all know that those lead to, eventually.

  170. 170.

    Cacti

    @max:

    Individual officers generally have shown great restraint.

    The line that let’s me know this editorial was penned by a white person.

    Always give the badges the benefit of the doubt, even when it’s wholly undeserved.

  172. 172.

    James E. Powell

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    I was caught in exactly that situation on an OSU-Michigan Friday night. They cordoned off a rectangle on High Street, ordered all the bars to close and empty out, then shot tear gas into the crowds as they poured out onto the street. The beat with nightsticks and forced everyone down one street where the wagons were being loaded. It was the only time I ever went out on Michigan weekend.

  174. 174.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @browser: Sorry, but the claims of the Ferguson PD IRT shots at police helos have about as much to do with reality as the WMD of the great Mesopotamian adventure.

    They want to act without the media looking over their shoulder.

  175. 175.

    rikyrah

    this is truth

    ………………………..

    john r stanton ✔ @dcbigjohn
    Follow

    how bad, and for how long, have things been in #Ferguson if the cops are willing to be this draconian with the world watching?
    8:37 PM – 13 Aug 2014

  176. 176.

    mai naem mobile

    Can’t be bothered to wade through the thread but I hope the cameras at the mcd s were on and they save the tape. Seriously, fuck these cops. Enough. I can’t watch this stuff. Its too depressing. I just know my mom would have been utterly and completely devastated if my brother had been killed in any manner, forget about in this way.

  177. 177.

    burnspbesq

    @john fremont:

    Where did you get the idea that other-than-white people have rights under the Second Amendment? Were other-than-white people permitted to join the militia in 1789?

    /originalist

  178. 178.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I never saw you as musical before. Nice selection for a debut.

    @Villago Delenda Est: I was just making the observation. FWIW I am jumping up and down about Ferguson. Near tears of both rage and sadness. I mean my parents fought this kind of obvious shit. I thought that was gone and we were just working on the insidious shit. The more fool me.

  179. 179.

    rikyrah

    he’s had some of the best tweets during all of this

    …………………..

    Joel D. Anderson ✔ @blackink12
    Follow

    St. Louis alderman @AntonioFrench has apparently been arrested tonight during the protests in #Ferguson, according to his wife and friends
    10:53 PM – 13 Aug 2014

  188. 188.

    Anne Laurie

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Glenzilla is not interested in the problems of dark people. Only dudebros.

    Greenwald’s been tweeting about Ferguson since yesterday. Repeating your stale mantra won’t change that.

    Of course he’s not yet flown to MIssouri, to get in on the action personally, but then neither have I… or you. And if he did, you’d probably say — not without reason — that he was showboating for the media!

  190. 190.

    SatanicPanic

    @Villago Delenda Est: Hitler was doing that hoping to get support in the South. In their defense (yikes), the south were mostly have none of it, and refused to see the parallel. Make of that what you will. But the South were early and strong supporters of FDR’s moves to get ready for war with Nazi Germany.

  191. 191.

    rikyrah

    Angie Coiro @Angie_Coiro
    Follow

    If you don’t see by now that white Americans live in an entirely different country than black Americans, it’s willful ignorance. #Ferguson
    9:05 PM – 13 Aug 2014

  192. 192.

    Cervantes

    @Cacti:

    [1] So where are Rand and Ron Paul on the quasi-fascist police tactics in Ferguson, MO? [2] How about Glenn Greenwald and the rest of The Intercept staff? [3] I guess some police state tactics are more worthy of contempt than others. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the race of the demonstrators vs. the pigs.

    Re [1]: ask them. Re [3]: your opinions; comment seems unnecessary.

    Re [2]:

    Our short-term mission is to provide a platform to report on the documents previously provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. […] Our long-term mission is to produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues. […]

    Make of that what you will.

    And see also here.

    And here for more important questions than are raised in [1] through [4].

  193. 193.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Anne Laurie: Well, it’s what the guy does nowadays. Showboat.

    Good that he’s tweeting, but when he brings more of his patented endless blog posts to bear, I’ll be much more impressed. His repeated failure to be concerned about things like voting restriction and stop and frisk with the same fervor he brings to the NSA’s hoovering I find to be…disturbing.

  194. 194.

    danielx

    Remembering the bad old days….I do get a very distinct sense that the rough beast is stretching its muscles.

  196. 196.

    Cacti

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    If he wants to avoid being cast as a very selective proponent of civil liberties, he’d better do a lot more than tweet his disapproval.

    If the Ferguson PD had gotten a hold of some white guy’s internet hentai collection, he’d be posting a 20,000 word jeremiad on The Intercept.

    Black people getting their heads cracked is worth a few Tweets only.

    But it’s still better than black people’s new best Republican friend, Rand Paul has done.

  197. 197.

    MomSense

    @lamh36:

    And now twitter is broken. I think there is a bail fund that was set up by archdefenders but I can’t get on twitter right now to grab the link.

  200. 200.

    PurpleGirl

    I was a junior in high school. Aware of politics but not really active or interested. I had other priorities and problems to consider.

    ETA: Among the books I read at the time was “The Late Great State of California.”

  202. 202.

    Mandalay

    @Villago Delenda Est: @Villago Delenda Est:

    His repeated failure to be concerned about things like voting restriction and stop and frisk with the same fervor he brings to the NSA’s hoovering I find to be…disturbing.

    Priceless. You’re certainly making someone look like a fucking idiot, but it’s not Greeenwald.

  203. 203.

    some guy

    Is there anything Glen Greenwald would or could do that would lessen the irrational hate he brings out on some folks around here? Weird.

  205. 205.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Cervantes: The questions regarding the Pauls are quite reasonable and should be allowed to resonate. They don’t care; anyone who pays attention knows that. It does not make it wrong to put the question out there. The lack of answer speaks loudly.

  208. 208.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @some guy: And yet you comment about it rather than the substance of the issue. I have a grip; I’ve been watching the events in Ferguson all night.

  211. 211.

    Matt McIrvin

    The claim that someone was throwing Molotov cocktails seems to have gotten traction. Is there any evidence that the Molotov cocktails existed?

  212. 212.

    ruemara

    @Matt McIrvin: I saw one shot from a local photoJourno of a pathetic looking molotov. Probably about a 2 on the molotov scale. But it was surrounded by black people, in whose hands it would be capable of nuclear warhead potential.

  213. 213.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @some guy: My only comment directly about GG was that I had been told that he was tweeting about it.

    Your anger issues are your own. Not my problem.

  214. 214.

    tokyo expat

    @lamh36: @Judi: @aangus: The thread’s probably dead, but where the hell is Jay Nixon? I read an article that was 2 hours old (Business Insider) that said he’d been to a 4H meeting and some other event and his spokesperson said he had already addressed the community the day before. Idiot. He’s got a very short window of opportunity (if that) to get control of this situation.

    I was just short of my 3rd birthday in ’68. I’m appalled and horrified that we seem to be refighting battles in civil rights and women’s rights all over again. What is happening to America?

  215. 215.

    Suffern ACE

    @Matt McIrvin: there was a picture on the bbc and guardian site that looks like it could be one. Although the bbc site indicates that the photo was from Tuesday. Also it looks like it could be a flare of some sort. If it is a Molotov cocktail, it is leaky.

  217. 217.

    Mart

    @Matt McIrvin: The question of what was thrown at the cops should be mute. They are dressed in combat gear behind armored vehicles with shields, batons, and machine guns. But yes, I am sure this will be the lede in the morning. Blame the one asshole who maybe did it, and ignore the 250 nice folks sitting with their hands up looking for answers.

  218. 218.

    gian

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    the greenwald stuff – well – I admit I haven’t followed him much since Bush, but IIRC he wrote books not just blog posts ripping Bush and Republicans in general.

    what has he done to fail a purity test since?
    is it being concerned about the same stuff he was in 2006?

    I looked into him on amazon – is it some tie in to the spy/traitor snowden that prompts the rage?
    (IOW he’s the same blowhard asshole he always was, on our side for some issues, not for a few others, but with serious attitude and arrogance problems)

    did you hate him in 2006 when he published this:
    How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok by Glenn Greenwald (May 15, 2006)
    or in ’08 when this was published?
    Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics by Glenn Greenwald (Oct 7, 2008)

    I mean I don’t like him ’cause I think he’s a pompous ass, but the notion he was birthed from the head of zeus in 2009 and only complains about Obama, I just don’t get.

    And to the actual topic. Fergusson needs the damn national guard to step in and police the police, they seem scared, and trigger happy and are making a bad situation worse. They’re running that town like a bad mix of Al Haig, Darrell Gates and Jeb Stuart

  221. 221.

    Suffern ACE

    @Suffern ACE: it looks like they threw the police’s flares.

    @Mart: agreed. It’s not like our government wouldn’t be issuing stern warnings to other governments in the same situation.

  223. 223.

    PurpleGirl

    @efgoldman: Ah yes. I remember fighting with my Grandmother about the Czechs and the Russians. Of course, her POV was still based on the Austro-Hungarian Empire (she was a royalist). She came to the US around 1908 or so.

  225. 225.

    tokyo expat

    @aangus: He’s toast. I don’t see how he can recover from this. And what sucks is he’s a Democrat. We need democratic governors and others in state power positions. He’s proving the old meme that Democrats are weak.

    I know this is a state issue, but do you think Obama will say anything further?

  226. 226.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Cervantes: I assumed that the Paul questions, at least, were rhetorical. The GG questions, less so as Greenwald does comment here on occasion. OTOH, I don’t really care about either the Pauls or Greenwald here. I am more concerned about what is actually happening in Ferguson.

  227. 227.

    Suffern ACE

    @tokyo expat: the election isn’t for two years. And what do you want him to say? I think it would be something like “go inside your homes and calm down”

  228. 228.

    Dave C

    So, um, has everybody involved with the governing of Ferguson, MO resigned from their posts yet? If not, why not?

  229. 229.

    Violet

    @tokyo expat: Saw on Rachel Maddow late night live show that Jay Nixon has canceled his visit to teh MO State Fair and is going to the protest county (North something?) to address the problem. “Statement to Follow” the tweet said.

  232. 232.

    Mart

    @Comrade Luke: I was trying to get the whole video on the Google of the St. Louis County Soldier taking aim behind a stone and concrete pillar, with machine gun drawn back-up County Militia men over his shoulder, aiming a canister at al-jazeera America’s live feed. All I found is the gas going off and the crew running. It was a pre-meditated attack. It makes me sick, and I am flowing adrenaline near 911 levels.

  234. 234.

    tokyo expat

    @Suffern ACE: He needs to be visible. He needs to show he’s on top of the situation. From everything I’m reading, there’s no clear chain of command when it comes to the law enforcement agencies in the ground and he’s the one who can lay that out.

    We nailed Bush to the wall for his response to Katrina. This is not on the same scale, but it is a crisis in his state. Attending a 4H event says quite a lot about the governor’s priorities and I believe it’s the wrong message to send.

  237. 237.

    Matt McIrvin

    …’Cause, yeah, what I saw was cops firing tear-gas canisters at people who were committing the terrifying terroristic public menace of standing in an intersection yelling.

    I mean, I suppose maybe they’d be blocking traffic, except that there was no traffic what with all the massive line of heavily armed cops advancing down every street shouting for people to turn off their cameras.

  239. 239.

    TS

    @PaulW:

    At this point, to hell what the wingnuts scream about, time for Obama to call in the National Guard and put the Ferguson police force and the county police force on suspended leave. The local authorities are blowing this out of proportion.

    Governor’s job – the President is not the person to micro manage everything that happens in every state. If the Governor did his job this would be OVER.

  240. 240.

    PhilbertDesanex

    Kent State my ass, that was white kids, so there was Concern.
    This looks more like Jackson State. ‘sniper’ report and all.

    .

  241. 241.

    RareSanity

    @Suffern ACE:

    And what do you want him to say?

    “I have advised the necessary persons in command of the law enforcement officers in Ferguson, to order their personnel to refrain from pointing weapons at citizens exercising their right to protest peacefully. Over the course of the next several hours, I will be monitoring the situation closely, to determine if State resources may need to be mobilized in order to relieve the local authorities, and attempt to reduce the growing tensions between the citizens and local law enforcement agencies.”

    I don’t know, seems pretty simple to me.

    Or, he could just sit around, completely tone-deaf to the situation dangerously escalating in his state, and tweet about some education bill.

  244. 244.

    Botsplainer

    @aangus:

    RIGHT NOW: Ferguson Police officer injured after Molotov cocktail fired at him. Yard fires started from tear gas.

    Not saying how I feel about this.

  246. 246.

    Botsplainer

    @RareSanity:

    “I have advised the necessary persons in command of the law enforcement officers in Ferguson, to order their personnel to refrain from pointing weapons at citizens exercising their right to protest peacefully. Over the course of the next several hours, I will be monitoring the situation closely, to determine if State resources may need to be mobilized in order to relieve the local authorities, and attempt to reduce the growing tensions between the citizens and local law enforcement agencies.”

    I’d go with: “I am deeming the police authorities of Ferguson and St Louis Counties to be in a state of insurrection, and have ordered elements of the National Guard into Ferguson in order to relieve those citizens of an out of control police presence. The police can choose to either stand down or fight the National Guard, but those citizens will be protected.”

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