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Police shooting, protests put Ferguson back on edge

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By JIM SALTER and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

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"so kindly keep your fascism to yourself. - I second that." - comments

Some here are moved to rage that the observation: "The presence of a white gang toting automatic weapons under the banner of a radio talk show bigot (vigilante gangs sponsored by Alex Jones) isn't illegal?" . . . is their idea of fascism.

Obviously, the innocent people of Ferguson are beset with their own demons. Somehow, for the wise commenters here, merely pointing out that adding vigilantes armed with automatic weapons without legal authority sponsored by a radio show bigot to the mix, is fascism.

Perhaps they will contrast that characterization with what the Americans commonly consider their First Amendment Rights.

In any case, the ability to grasp at that hardly alters the impact of gangs of white vigilantes sponsored by Alex Jones in Ferguson. If the good reader is looking for fascism one of the traits is armed, unauthorized gangs acting at the behest of bigots. Germany had one of those long, long ago. Some may think of that as the 'good ole' days'. Sad actually.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The (npo) Oath Keepers wouldn't harm a soul. Same cannot be said about looters and young armed crip/bloods.

so kindly keep your fascism to yourself.

I second that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@kcjapan

During the LA riots, Korean shop-owners camped out on their roofs with rifles. When the police allow rioting and looting without even attempting to stop it (see Baltimore), it's completely necessary and justified to arm oneself. The oath keepers haven't looted stores, the 'peaceful protestors' did. The oath keepers haven't tried to assault police officers, the 'peaceful protestors' did. The oath keepers have violated no crime, and have every right to go where they please, so kindly keep your fascism to yourself.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Only solution to guns problem is ... MORE BIGGER GUNS!!

Ahahaha- funny you mention the "gun" thing cause it was the unemployed guy who fired first. Or coulda' been the burger flipper or the gangbanger. The Obama supporter.

It was definitely the republican (how most cops vote) who returned fire, leaving the guy in critical condition.

What a great country.

It is. But only if you're not from the ghetto.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

^ No, Flipping burgers is for Republicans. They find a job that they actually qualified for.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

No, the solution is reducing entitlements and "real" job creation. Flipping burgers is for students.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"Seems like some in the USA would prefer we appear as a third world nation led by a corrupt dictator."

No, USA is first world country with third world mentality. Only solution to guns problem is ... MORE BIGGER GUNS!! What a great country.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Seems like some in the USA would prefer we appear as a third world nation led by a corrupt dictator.

Laws and respect for others may be lacking with those citizens or illegals.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"“Of course I’m worried,” said Sandy Sansevere, a retired health care worker who volunteers at the retail store operated by the nonprofit group I Love Ferguson, which was formed after Brown’s death, to promote the community. “What scares me are the guns.” - article

Let's look at who and why some of those in Ferguson were heavily armed . . .

Also on the scene overnight: Members of a citizen militia group known as The Oath Keepers.

The men — all of them white and heavily armed — said they were in the area to protect someone who worked for the Web site Infowars.com, which is affiliated with talk-radio conspiracy theorist and self-described “thought criminal against Big Brother” Alex Jones.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/11/who-are-the-oath-keepers-and-why-has-the-armed-group-returned-to-ferguson/

The presence of a white gang toting automatic weapons under the banner of a radio talk show bigot isn't illegal? Ferguson police might go after the most obvious violation of public safety, The Oath Keepers.

From the historical documents, these self appointed armed militias are more a threat than the demands of civil rights by the citizens of Ferguson.

What we read in historical documents is presented here as perspective on the presence of armed gangs in Ferguson with no legal authority:

OBJECTS AND PURPOSES ( ARTICLE II, THE CONSTITUTION ) I. Mobilization This is its primary purpose: "To unite white male persons, native-born, Gentile citizens of the United States of America, who owe no allegiance of any nature or degree to any foreign government, nation, institution, sect, ruler, person, or people; whose morals are good; whose reputations and vocations are respectable; whose habits are exemplary; who are of sound minds and eighteen years or more of age, under a common oath into a brotherhood of strict regulations." - Klansman's Manual (1925)

source: http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/227kkkmanual.html

While the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, whose conduct included theft, assault and charging a police officer, is provocative, there is a greater danger from the armed vigilante embodiment of the paranoid visions of Austin, Texas-based radio talk-show host Alex Jones (who) has made a career pumping out bigotry and conspiracies for profit.

source: http://irehr.org/issue-areas/race-racism-and-white-nationalism/item/376-who-is-alex-jones

Gov. Jay Nixon would be well advised to call out the National Guard, instate a curfew and expel and/or arrest the armed vigilante gangs sponsored by Alex Jones. Ferguson has much bigger problems than the unfortunate death of a known street thug. When the bullets start flying there's no guarantee the The Oath Keepers aren't the cause of the next round of mayhem.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Yes, if cops had guns, this would never have happened...oh, wait...maybe cops need BIGGER guns to make USA safe.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Smith

We require neither your sympathy or pity. Nor your understanding. But it would serve you set aside your bile for the US, in order to understand it.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

No sympathy for the US. You dug your grave, now you're starting to lie in it. And notice the police, conveniently enough, had no body cameras again? Surprise, surprise.

What's worse is that now you have this group of old white men called the "Oath Keepers" walking around black neighbourhoods all carrying military machine guns as well as openly brandishing sidearms. It's ALL legal in the US, and if they start shooting a bunch of black people, and people panic and think they are the bad guys (which they in part are), everyone is innocent because they were 'defending themselves', even if some of them were not being shot at at all. The US is getting more and more ridiculous every day, and the answer to this for some people is ACTUALLY to 'get more guns out there' if you can believe it!! Hence, no pity, except for the people who agree it is pure insanity.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

True, but that still doesnt justify the actions, as you seem to be saying here

You are right. The action, of course, at focusing on the outlier of 'thug violence' and not at the peaceful protest against documented institutional racism against the people living in that town.

The disconnect betweeen conservatives and well, the rest of America is that. You focus exclusively on 'black on black crime, and 'gangster thugs' and so forth.

And we look at cops pushing around people in a manner that we simply would not tolerate. And we can see this parade of horrible intimidation and harrassment and killing everyday because of cell phones and the internet. That is a reality available to us that simply was not 10 years before.

Cops are gonna have to wear body cams, and once that happens, all bets are off.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This man opened fire on what he hoped was unarmed citizens. Well he was wrong and shot at undercover police. There are tests to determine if he really fired that weapon.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

But the thug elements in communities like Ferguson are the worst and really bring down america.

This is the the old Law and Order line. A line that worked for many years.

And no longer doesn't.

Social media spreading images of out-of-control police to young minds is a game changer.

So, conservatives, you better come up with a better counterargument, or your finished.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

True, but that still doesnt justify the actions, as you seem to be saying here.

I'm not.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yeah, but white people generally don't have to worry about being shot by police in the states for the color of their skin.

True, but that still doesnt justify the actions, as you seem to be saying here.

Oh and tell it to the "white" guy that got shot twice through the back by a cop and was killed for lord knows what. (South Carolina I believe it was, and NO ONE is protesting....)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Yeah, but white people generally don't have to worry about being shot by police in the states for the color of their skin.

White people die at the hands of police twice as much as black people, in total. Now you could say that whites are 60-70% of the population, but considering that blacks commit 1/3 to 1/2 the violent crime despite representing 13% of the population, the discrepancy between white and black deaths at the hands of police isn't very significant if you look at it in terms of deaths versus criminal apprehensions.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Michael Brown was a common street criminal who was out of his depth when he attacked an armed police officer.

Right and so was Rodney King and counless others. Don't get me wrong, there are bad cops out there (ever saw Denziel Washington in TRAINING DAY? -based on true events @LAPD's Rampart Division). But the thug elements in communities like Ferguson are the worst and really bring down america.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Its a pity that the death of a thief and a thug is commemorated? Michael Brown was a common street criminal who was out of his depth when he attacked an armed police officer.

If the black community leaders cannot find anybody better to raise awareness about black rights, its time for new leaders.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Thugs are thugs....they have no respect and proud of it. How can police do their job if they can't reduce thug-ism? Yes, black lives matter. Last I checked not all blacks agree with that. The black on black murders are astronomical.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

bla-sab,

you have an appreciated open window going there. But I have to give noble713 more audience. I caught on to this structure, but wider, in the 90's and did a few papers concerning this point.

The black thing is already in place the monster des not need time to create (as did communism) - regardless how one places their allegiance. zBut that is exactly the point. most everyone is putting time forth... the PTB (powers that be) know this. it keeps people busy. so yes, the PTB is sucking all into this vortex; keeping the whole in part or in full looking the other way ...

so, what didn't make the news today?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If anything, I try to bring attention to the murders of innocent white males by law enforcement. White cops killing black people is "business as usual" in America. White cops killing white kids, though? That's a sure sign that the abusive police state is in full force, and has no compunctions about cannibalizing its own tribe to enforce the authority of The State. That should be the sort of thing that unites white and black Americans alike against The Powers That Be.

Anything else is the oligarchs successfully keeping two different groups of sheep/peasants at each others' throats instead of directing their attention at the Fat Cats with the boot on their collective necks.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

BTW it's not just Black lives that matter, ALL lives matter, no matter the color of their skin. Hopefully people will remember that.

Yeah, but white people generally don't have to worry about being shot by police in the states for the color of their skin.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Groups of young men were breaking into storefronts, a reporter was beaten and robbed, and two groups exchanged gunfire. All this before the police were even involved. And these people wonder why BLM doesn't draw more sympathy.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

“My son was running to the police to ask for help, and he was shot,” he said. “It’s all a bunch of lies ... They’re making my son look like a criminal.”

Yeah, Uh huh. So it was the Officers who initiated that volley of fire. They even managed to shoot at their own windshield too. Remarkable.

They were not wearing body cameras

What does that have to do with anything? It was supposed to a "peaceful" protest.

“They were criminals,” he said of those involved in gunfire. “They weren’t protesters.”

Exactly.

Harris was in critical condition after surgery early Monday. Prosecutors announced 10 charges against him — five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge. All 10 are felonies.

But somehow, they will try to reverse the charges and or sue the officers civilly. Black lives matter.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Harry

Here's the thing: It is not necessarily that police are to blame. It is that non-black people can see the reason why so many blacks have had enough.

Said another way: White, Latino, Asian, et al American's under the age of 35 can put themselves in their fellow black American's shoes and think: that is f%%jd up. I wouldn't put up with that sh&t.

I do not support violence against police in any situation. For both practical (they can legally kill me) and for policy reasons (I like the idea of the rule of law, and I respect police for doing a horrendously difficult job and getting little monetary reward or respect for it).

But, I do understand why many hate the police. I don't necessarily agree with them, but I understand where they are coming from.

Do you?

0 ( +6 / -6 )

All Lives Manner. These protesters are just flaming racism for their own gain. Using a thug and criminal to do it.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

"Eventually, a few lobbed glass bottles and rocks at officers. One officer was hospitalized with cuts to the face after being hit with a rock. Two others had minor injuries after protesters sprayed them with pepper spray."

But the police get the blame.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Michael Brown's death was a watershed: Racism against blacks is now a thing again. Meaning: America isn't ignoring it, like it tried to for the past 35 years. A whole generation that views the 1960s as "history" now gets daily reminders through alternative media that the good work of making our nation a more perfect union has a bit more to go.

I, for one, welcome this.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Commemorating the death of a known criminal and thug. This is not the guy folks should be making into a martyr.

BTW it's not just Black lives that matter, ALL lives matter, no matter the color of their skin. Hopefully people will remember that.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

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