Via the NYT, the latest developments in Ferguson, Missouri:
FERGUSON, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon lifted a curfew in this embattled city on Monday, hours after deploying the Missouri National Guard, as officials struggle to control unrest that has paralyzed the community since an unarmed black teenager was killed by a white police officer.
The role of the National Guard will be limited, Mr. Nixon said in a statement. Troops will protect the police command center here, which the authorities said came under a coordinated attack on Sunday night.
“With these additional resources in place,” Mr. Nixon said, “the Missouri State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement will continue to respond appropriately to incidents of lawlessness and violence, and protect the civil rights of all peaceful citizens to make their voices heard.”
Also, the cops did a super-fast tox screening and found that Michael Brown had pot in his system, which explains everything because reefer madness?
The NYT also had a piece over the weekend about leadership on the ground in Ferguson, or the lack thereof, and a possible generational split. I’m going to plagiarize and also paraphrase my own comments from the earlier thread because I’m curious about the general take on this:
Article summary: There’s no unified front, and the “community leaders” — older folks, clergy members, etc. — are trying to get people to protest non-violently. Some younger folks are saying screw that, we need to take on the cops directly.
Are the people who are tossing Molotov cocktails and looting opportunists? Or are they just fed up with non-violent tactics that they don’t see as effective and trying to shake things up another way? My guess is both.
Who will prevail? Damned if I know. I can understand the anger driving the younger people, but as a middle-aged, second-generation hippie, I’m pulling for the old guard’s non-violent tactics to prevail because 1) I don’t want to see anyone else die, including cops, and 2) it damn sure won’t be the people with power who will suffer the brunt of an escalation.
It never is the people with the real power who suffer, not unless this is a Bastille moment. And I don’t think it is.
PS: The president spoke. What did he say?