Officer kills unarmed, black teen; St. Louis riots

[smizzy]

Well there are serveral unfortunate things happening 2 hours north of me here in Missouri. I'll be brief in my OP because as of right now, I'm not 100% positive about much of the details but this is what I have heard to this point:

Around noon yesterday, in Ferguson, MO., a police officer shot and killed an unarmed, black teen in front of an apartment complex, with a couple of witnesses on hand. Almost immediately, outrage broke out. As of today, riots have been incited, including a QuickTrip being completely destroyed.

There has been an extreme emotional response to this shooting, with race being the main focus. It's terribly unfortunate for those involved; the community, the families of the kid, and the officer. I'm interested to see how this situations develops as it's gaining more and more hair. I'd like to hear more on what caused the officer to shoot before I make any judgment.

I know there's a few STL guys on here; has anyone else heard about this developing story?

 

[Thriller Ant]

What happened to the kid is an absolute tragedy and I hope that the officer does get punished if he is found to have done anything wrong (which probably will happen).

What happened last night is disgusting though. It's shitting on the memory of the guy who got murdered by perpetuating the stereotype that got him killed.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Also, here's a photo gallery of the aftermath of the riots:

http://www.ksdk.com/media/cinematic/gallery/13885193/photos-ferguson-riot-damage/

 

[Reflection]

One person's poorly-thought out act can lead to so much loss of life and property. The London riots come to mind in that aspect, hopefully it doesn't cause nearly as much damage though.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I'll never understand the mentality one must have to incite a full scale riot. The cop deserves to be nailed to the fucking wall no question but what's a riot going to solve? It's taking a problem and making a much bigger one. I don't blame people for getting mad but to cause a riot because of an asshole cop doesn't make any sense, there's just no need for it. At this point all you can hope for is the cop gets what he deserves and the riots don't go any further than they've already gone.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

Cos people have had enough with cops abusing their authority that's why.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

And how does burning down a quiktrip solve this issue?

 

[The Butcher]

That's it, everybody hand in your guns. You too, police. You can all have them back when you can act like big boys.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I hate to take this situation lightly because its an absolute tragedy, but riot and its your chance to possibly be Youtube famous for a few weeks. Get interviewed on the news during a riot, say something that will make for a funny soundbite and an autotune dubstep remix and revel in your fifteen minutes. I'd be willing to bet that it is pretty close to a 1:1 ratio, for every person that is legitimately pissed off, there is one guy there to try to get on TV by putting a brick through a window.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Cos people have had enough with cops abusing their authority that's why.

Please, Doug, explain to all of us sheeple how burning down a QuickTrip and looting small businesses helps to fix that.

 

[The Butcher]

Rioters are simply displaying their outrage or celebrating a sports championship. It's a reaction. They aren't burning and looting to fix anything. They're burning and looting because emotions.

 

[Nate DaMac]

It's Quiktrip.

 

[Lee]

Cos people have had enough with cops abusing their authority that's why.

The big man abusing their authority? I'd hate if that happened. Especially between countries.

 

[Барбоса]

The big man abusing their authority? I'd hate if that happened. Especially between countries.

Especially when a small minority of one side is advocating violence against the other...

 

[Shocky]

The police are saying Brown assaulted the officer and went for the officer's weapon. If that's the case, tough shit. Amazing the difference in stories.

 

[Dirk]

Please, Doug, explain to all of us sheeple how burning down a QuickTrip and looting small businesses helps to fix that.

Hey, man... "Fuck the Po-lice" is a cool song.

 

[Loveless]

The police are saying Brown assaulted the officer and went for the officer's weapon. If that's the case, tough shit. Amazing the difference in stories.

Of course that's what they're saying. You expect they'd admit fucking up?

 

[Shocky]

Of course that's what they're saying. You expect they'd admit fucking up?

I also expect the same thing to be said from the other side and their Persecution Complex. The FBI is investigating, so the truth will come out.

 

[The Butcher]

 

[Slash-LN]

Police shoot possibly innocent person.

Let's retaliate by looting and destroying buildings of completely innocent people.

That logic isn't flawed at all.

 

[The Butcher]

Another fatal police shooting incident, but the victim/suspect was armed this time:

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/d/...near-ferguson-mo/13438/wQ_GBd9Ewk22AhH1R50e9Q

 

[Loveless]

Police shoot possibly innocent person.

Let's retaliate by looting and destroying buildings of completely innocent people.

That logic isn't flawed at all.

Would you be talking about it, or even be aware of it, if they'd just quietly accepted what happened?

 

[Slash-LN]

Would you be talking about it, or even be aware of it, if they'd just quietly accepted what happened?

I'd most likely be aware of it because stuff like that makes the news all the time.

Are you actually condoning what these people did in "protest"?

Why loot and burn down buildings of people who had nothing to do with it?

What does that solve? It's not going to bring the dude back to life. It's not going to hurt the officer that shot him.

 

[smizzy]

What does that solve? It's not going to bring the dude back to life.

And on that note, it's actually only making it harder for the kid's family to grieve. Read the other day that Michael Brown's mother is furious over the riots and pleading for non-violence.

All I know is that if I were shot and killed unexpectedly, my family is going to want peace and time to grieve, not deal with their community burning down the town and attracting horrible, national press.

Edit: Awh here we are, found it.

“I just want everyone to know and understand that the stealing and breaking in stores is not what Mike would want, it is very upsetting to me and my family. Our family didn’t ask for this but for justice and peace…. Please let my family grieve in Peace in stop the violence in the street tonight, we don’t want this happening when we protest for justice for Mike Brown, please get this message out to the people the Brown family do not want this.”

 

[The Butcher]

I already explained how this works, and I'm sure everyone here is familiar with emotions and the concept of mob mentality. Stop trying to look for rationale and just accept it. Folks routinely fuck their town up after a local team wins a championship. Emotions. Mob mentality. That's it. That's all. This is neither the first or last riot, and it won't make any more sense next time.