This is like the LA riots all those years ago... As much as I would love to make an opinion, I would get bombarded into non-existence by anybody trying to argue at me. Justice will be served eventually, but it's too early to say at the moment exactly 'what' sort of justice is going to occur
My first thought was that it was some hand me down equipment from another police department that got newer versions. So they wanted to use it cause it's always fun to bust out the gear. Second thought is that it's not hand me down stuff but indeed their own they purchased. The reason is the same, probably just want bust it out cause you never know, this may be the only chance to use it. Third though, the police are become more militarized and they are showing off. The real reason though is probably because just by being black the protestors are putting police in danger. You know, good ol fashion racism. Then you have white people and their open carry nonsense that gets no police action.
The third is the most likely. But what happened to the state police? Did they leave and the other police come back?
Oh yeah. I forgot the news report that fox ran about that. Then I guess the cops just wanted to play with their new toys. No idea. Everything was good for like 26 hours and then they came back. I think it could be linked to looters though. For what I understood the police didn't do a thing about them. Now as of yesterday the full suited police were back.
Actually, the reason why the police is heavily militarized is one reason and one reason why; since the war in Afganistan is winding down and Iraq is over (beyond the current airbombings to stop attacks on a city with heavy American diplomatic presence), the military has a ton of specialized military gear it doesn't need anymore, so they basically give it to local police forces and SWAT who request it for almost nothing. My guess the reason why they busted out the gear was for A): intimidating any potential rioters after that night of violence, B): intimidating the protestors themselves, and C): showing off all this fancy equipment they got
I live in Florissant which is pretty much right next to Ferguson. My view on the whole situation took a whole 180. I do agree the police around here are pretty corrupt in the fact they stop blacks a lot more often, but you can't really single out their department. A lot all over the USA is just the same. People in Ferguson were always saying that Brown was a sweet innocent boy which is prob not the case. I've seen the videos/pics, the guy choking out the store clerk is obv Brown, the people saying its shopped don't give any reasons as to why it really is shopped. I was hoping that **** would settle down, but now Nixon called for a curfew, which I don't believe is the right decision. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a turn for the worst. Those protesters won't stop because of some curfew.
Well, it's kinda like the whole Travon Martin thing, media and people potrayed him as a sweet innocent kid who did nothing wrong when in fact he was connected to a string of robberies that recently happened in that area(even though that Zimmerman guy definitely shouldnt have followed but that's another story). However, the police have admitted even though he was in that robbery, the officer did NOT stop him in connection to the crime, don't even know why he stopped him. And people need to stop looking at the statistics about the number of stops and such. Black and latino groups both have significantly higher average crime rates than the white population and tend to live in poorer, more crime-ridden areas than white folks. Does it have to do with racism? If by that you mean the hugely discrimitory treatment that existed naught 50 years ago, them yes, it has a LOT to do with racism, but most of it(while yes there is racism and corruption in the system, it isnt near as bad as people try to make it out to be) is just really...well business sense. Tell me; imagine you're a police officer and you have a stop quota to meet as a lot of departments have, are you going to stop person A who is from a group who doesn't have nearly the crime rate as person B's group, or are you going to stop person B because that means you have a better chance of catching him with something and looking like you're useful. HOWEVER; That still doesn't excuse pretty much emptying your pistol's magazine into a person who eye witness after eye witness say had their hands up in surrender.
Yup, they're starting to use live rounds. I thought this was riot control, not a military occupation.
There are no reports of live rounds except from some of the looters. Where are you getting this from? Sent from my XT1080M using Tapatalk
Yeah; I read a report earlier this year that the government manufactured a whole warehouse full of armored vehicles despite the fact that they were told they didn't need them, just because there was a budget for them. Seriously, the disgusting amount of money we pour into our military and into war is going to get us in a lot of trouble one of these days. None of the Republicans who scream about cutting government spending really seem to say anything about the fact that over half of the money our government spends in a year is for our military. In some recent years, actually, it's been around two-thirds of the budget.
Building on that; in fact the military themselves requested a smaller budget, as they just have more money than they knoe what to do with and they HAVE to spend it, but the House Republicans obviously know better than the military themselves, so they gave them MORE money the next budget
It's the privately owned companies that get the defense contracts that want that budget so high. There's money to be made in making weapons. or more simply... and it sucks for everyone else while the few get rich off death.
