Police use tear gas on protesters in Missouri

[hannahbanana]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/12/police-use-tear-gas-on-crowd/

[Tree Frog]

I have been following this, apparently the press is not allowed into the riot zone. A Huffpo journalist was arrested trying to enter. 

[Magnus]

I expect the media to cover this story as accurately as they did the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin incident. 

 

That said, the police have been increasingly militarized, especially since 9/11.  The idea that police are civilians, with no more authority to use force than any other person does, is an idea that has essentially died.

 

The whole thing is such a dysfunctional set of responses to issues of authority.  Taking to the streets to "protest" is meaningless, at best, and is for many of the "protesters" just a cover for looting.  There is literally nothing good that could possibly come out of any "protest" over a murder committed by a cop. 

[shirgall]

What's amusing to me is that tear gas is defined as a chemical weapon... but only if used in a war.

 

Well, the War on Poverty™ and the War on Drugs™ seem to apply here...

[hannahbanana]

I expect the media to cover this story as accurately as they did the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin incident. 

 

That said, the police have been increasingly militarized, especially since 9/11.  The idea that police are civilians, with no more authority to use force than any other person does, is an idea that has essentially died.

 

The whole thing is such a dysfunctional set of responses to issues of authority.  Taking to the streets to "protest" is meaningless, at best, and is for many of the "protesters" just a cover for looting.  There is literally nothing good that could possibly come out of any "protest" over a murder committed by a cop. 

Yes, I was upset to hear that many people were using the chaos to loot, as well as use violence on others. It sort of messes up the whole point of a protest for other people. And yes, the situation has been made very racial as well. But the people in this country are so sedentary and allow basically anything to be done to them, it gives me some hope that there is at least some sort of line that people are not willing to allow the government to cross without any complaint.

...Although now I hear things have calmed down a bit, now that the government has thrown us the bone of the name of the cop who killed the boy. I guess that's all it takes to get some people to comply with violence and corrupt power.