The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[garbon]

No, I think she was concerned I might have been caught out while it was happening.

My Mom used to do stuff like that all the time. 

"I heard there was a shooting."
"That was two counties away, and it was last night."
"I know, I was just worried..."

I'm lucky my mother doesn't hear any of the local stuff. I'd have hell to pay if she heard about when those crazed lesbians got beat down by with a metal pole in that McD's around the corner, or the woman two blocks away that was killed/stuck under a truck when run over on her foot scooter, or just a few blocks away when that gay kid was shot/killed, or the middle of the day shootout with the police...etc.

[Martinus]

No, I think she was concerned I might have been caught out while it was happening.

My Mom used to do stuff like that all the time. 

"I heard there was a shooting."
"That was two counties away, and it was last night."
"I know, I was just worried..."

I've only protested really once and that was a gay protest, so does that even count?

I've seen gay protests, and if all protests were like that, the world would be a much happier place.

Jesus, your mother is so much like mine it's not even funny.

[Martinus]

Speaking of gay protests, they are usually peaceful but depending on a place, they can meet with violence from others. I remember there were rocks wheezing by my head at one of the early gay marches in Warsaw.

I stopped going when the ratio of gay protesters to counter-protesters reached about 20:1. Not exciting any more.

[derspiess]

Then you missed my post about the Sharpton news conference.

You watch more Sharpton then Seedy does.

What can I say?  The man entertains, if often unintentionally.

[Sheilbh]

Speaking of gay protests, they are usually peaceful but depending on a place, they can meet with violence from others. I remember there were rocks wheezing by my head at one of the early gay marches in Warsaw.

I stopped going when the ratio of gay protesters to counter-protesters reached about 20:1. Not exciting any more.

If you're looking for a thrill support your brethren in Serbia

[derspiess]

If you're looking for a thrill support your brethren in Serbia

What's going on there?  Is Serbia emulating Russia?

[Sheilbh]

If you're looking for a thrill support your brethren in Serbia

What's going on there?  Is Serbia emulating Russia?

The Balkans aren't very gay friendly. Bits of Croatia are okay because they're very touristified. But Serbia and Bosnia are pretty conservative.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

The Ferguson Post

I have been avoiding writing this post because I think I'm going to lose friends by publishing it.

From my Facebook feed it seems that everyone needs to declare their membership in Team Michael Brown or Team Darren Wilson.  Well, you know what? If these are my choices I am choosing Team Absolutely Fucking No One.

Or, rather. I choose Team Equality. Team Respect. Team Empathy. Team Honesty. But not fake "honesty" like, "I don't see color! I just see people!" or "Sure, sometimes there are bad cops..."  I mean "Team Brutal Fucking Honesty." And that team requires us to join Team Empathy. You know empathy: the ability and willingness to feel and understand another person's pain without ever having experienced it yourself. The willingness to believe that such pain exists even though you have never experienced it yourself. The willingness to let go of your sense that "Such things have never happened to me so therefore I do not believe they happen." The willingness to recognize that the pain exists even if the person expressing it is an imperfect messenger.

Read the rest at the link.

[derspiess]

Things in Cincy have been pretty calm, apart from a crowd of mostly hipsters making a lame attempt to emulate what other cities are doing.  That said, I'm staying out of OTR the next several days as a precaution.

[CountDeMoney]

People don't realize when you're shutting down the main artery into the city, it creates a domino effect throughout the region.  I heard traffic was jacked up all the way to Howard County.
Definitely not the way to win the hearts and minds of Whitey.  Not when he just wants to get the hell home from a job he hates at the end of the day. 

Hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Baltimore to voice frustration and solidarity with protesters in Ferguson, Mo., marching through downtown streets and shutting down the entrance to Interstate 83.

At Morgan State University, students blocked several intersections near campus, forming a giant square at Loch Raven Boulevard and Cold Spring Lane, shouting "No justice, no peace."

Protesters lined Mount Royal Avenue holding black umbrellas near the Maryland Institute College of Art, while someone used black spray paint to write "R.I.P. Michael Brown" on the side of a mobile Baltimore Police command center in South Baltimore.

Police said the demonstrations were mostly peaceful. Hourlong traffic backups caused the most commotion, with officers shutting downtown streets to allow marchers to make their way around the Inner Harbor and City Hall. Demonstrators said they just wanted people to stop and listen.

"That's the only way we're going to be heard," said Davon Perry, 26. "We have to be loud. We're just a scratch. We want to be an annoyance."

Police spokesman Detective Howard Ruganzu reported no arrests and no property damage Tuesday evening. He said one protester was hit by a truck, and officers called an ambulance to the scene. The injuries were not life-threatening.

[Grey Fox]

The righteous people will quell those savages.

/mono

[derspiess]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2849736/Church-attended-Michael-Brown-s-family-destroyed-Monday-night-s-protests.html

Missouri church attended by Michael Brown's father family was one of a dozen or so buildings burned to the ground during Monday night's protests

Pastor Carlton Lee said he believes that white supremacists rather than protesters were to blame for the destruction

[The Minsky Moment]

Appointing a Black Avenger special prosecutor suffers from the same drawback as just charging the copper and proceeding to trial: it sets a precedent that street violence affects the workings of the criminal justice system.

Except that instead they set the even worse precedent that different prosecutorial rules apply when "friendly" law enforcement is in the dock as opposed to ordinary citizen.

This odd GJ process seems to have been an utter fiasco.  It doesn't excuse rioting but it does lend credence to the charge of a fix-up.

[crazy canuck]

It was a great move on the prosecutor's part, when you don't want to indict a police officer.

Right.  If he had just announced he was not going to press charges all hell would have broken loose.

Maybe, maybe not. I personally think the option that would be most just (while not perfect) and most conciliatory would have been for McCulloch to step aside for a special prosecutor appointed by the Governor. A prosecutor not from the same county and someone with basically an unassailable, "I hate fucking pig cops and want to bathe in the blood of their children" reputation who also probably should be black. Likely if that person was a competent attorney they'd have to come to the conclusion Wilson would not be beatable at trial due to the witness evidence which appears contradictory (or supports Wilson's version of the events) and the physical evidence (which largely supports his version of events.)

I think if people riot after that then they were going to riot no matter what. With McCulloch's show grand jury designed from the get go not to indict a riot was guaranteed. It may have been guaranteed no matter what, admittedly.

In this jurisdiction we have a independant police investigation office which investigates all cases of death when police are present.  It was put in place to avoid the conflicts inherent in police (or those associated with the police) investigating the police in order to promote public confidence.

[Barrister]

It was a great move on the prosecutor's part, when you don't want to indict a police officer.

Right.  If he had just announced he was not going to press charges all hell would have broken loose.

Maybe, maybe not. I personally think the option that would be most just (while not perfect) and most conciliatory would have been for McCulloch to step aside for a special prosecutor appointed by the Governor. A prosecutor not from the same county and someone with basically an unassailable, "I hate fucking pig cops and want to bathe in the blood of their children" reputation who also probably should be black. Likely if that person was a competent attorney they'd have to come to the conclusion Wilson would not be beatable at trial due to the witness evidence which appears contradictory (or supports Wilson's version of the events) and the physical evidence (which largely supports his version of events.)

I think if people riot after that then they were going to riot no matter what. With McCulloch's show grand jury designed from the get go not to indict a riot was guaranteed. It may have been guaranteed no matter what, admittedly.

In this jurisdiction we have a independant police investigation office which investigates all cases of death when police are present.  It was put in place to avoid the conflicts inherent in police (or those associated with the police) investigating the police in order to promote public confidence.

The trouble I have with "independent police investigation" units (and, for that matter, to special prosecutors being appointed) is that you get these things being handled by people who have no idea how to do a proper investigation (or a proper prosecution).  Investigating potential criminal activity is a very specialized and difficult area, and that expertise lies entirely within the hands of the police.  Unless you're going out and only hiring retired police officers (which takes away from the supposed independence of the agency) you're just not going to get proper investigations done.

About the best we can do is have independent police agencies do these investigations, or at least have other police agencies do them.  It's not perfect but it's the best we can do.