Racist Police Response to Ferguson Protests

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There's no why to it; that's not the point. It's an expression of anger, not an attempt at justice. Forgive me if I don't really care about CVS having to re-build a store. I care about Freddie Gray getting his spine shattered and getting ignored when he begged to get medical attention.

This should not and cannot be about the riots. They're not what matters. Concerning yourself with the riots takes the discussion away from the real issue: police brutality.

Really? What if 5, 10 or 15 people had died in the fire at CVS? This type of violence threatens the safety and security of a half a million people living in Baltimore. I'm sure you would feel differently if your place of work and home were trashed and burned to the ground.
 
CVS is not the issue here.

systemic police brutality is.

Its that type of attitude that lets people loot, burn, rape, and murder. "I'm not going to stop my friend from breaking into the store and taking the TV because, you know, the police did a terrible thing." "I knew that guy who died at the hands of the police, lets burn that McDonald's down"
 
Its that type of attitude that lets people loot, burn, rape, and murder. "I'm not going to stop my friend from breaking into the store and taking the TV because, you know, the police did a terrible thing." "I knew that guy who died at the hands of the police, lets burn that McDonald's down"



no. it's the attitude that property crime is more important than systemic police brutality that leads to more violence.

you're doing what the police want you to do -- lose sight of the real issue by being distracted by the fiery images.

read the article posted earlier: Undue force - Sun Investigates - The Baltimore Sun

also, were there rapes and murders last night? did i miss something?

who was murdered? other than that kid by the Baltimore Police?
 
no. it's the attitude that property crime is more important than systemic police brutality that leads to more violence.

you're doing what the police want you to do -- lose sight of the real issue by being distracted by the fiery images.

read the article posted earlier: Undue force - Sun Investigates - The Baltimore Sun

also, were there rapes and murders last night? did i miss something?

who was murdered? other than that kid by the Baltimore Police?

That is pretty naïve to believe this is just some petty property crime, like a bunch of students play mischief on the weekends. These are acts of violence that could have led to the deaths of hundreds of people. How many lives and damage to the city is a single act of police brutality worth?
These are not actions that will in any way solve the problem of police brutality or bring justice for anyone who was a victim of police brutality. These people running into stores and stealing vast quantities of goods are not doing it for a man they didn't know, they are doing it for themselves and its wrong. Mass crime is wrong because it hurts mass numbers of people and threatens the lives of everyone who live in the city.
 
no. it's the attitude that property crime is more important than systemic police brutality that leads to more violence.

you're doing what the police want you to do -- lose sight of the real issue by being distracted by the fiery images.

read the article posted earlier: Undue force - Sun Investigates - The Baltimore Sun

also, were there rapes and murders last night? did i miss something?

who was murdered? other than that kid by the Baltimore Police?

If someone pelted you with stones do you think your life would be in danger? Could that be called attempted murder? Does it make it all ok just as long as you don't die? What if someone set fire to your home, place of work, would you consider that a threat to your life or the lives of people you know? Because no one died does that make it ok?
Also, just because you have not heard that anyone was raped or murder last night does not mean it didn't happen. Lets not forget that Baltimore is a city where 211 people were murdered in 2014. On average, someone is raped or murdered in Baltimore every other day.
 
That is pretty naïve to believe this is just some petty property crime, like a bunch of students play mischief on the weekends. These are acts of violence that could have led to the deaths of hundreds of people.

How come we only hear about how dangerous riots are when they are carried out by minorities in response to systemic injustice, and not white people in response to... oh I don't know, winning and/or losing a sporting event?

Besides, these hypothetical hundreds of deaths (talk about hyperbolic fear-mongering) did not occur, and shifting the focus from ACTUAL deaths at the hands of police to hypothetical deaths is disrespectful to those who were ACTUALLY killed or permanently disabled at the hands of police.

How many lives and damage to the city is a single act of police brutality worth?

That is pretty naïve to believe this is the result of merely a single act of police brutality.
 
If someone pelted you with stones do you think your life would be in danger? Could that be called attempted murder? Does it make it all ok just as long as you don't die? What if someone set fire to your home, place of work, would you consider that a threat to your life or the lives of people you know? Because no one died does that make it ok?
Also, just because you have not heard that anyone was raped or murder last night does not mean it didn't happen. Lets not forget that Baltimore is a city where 211 people were murdered in 2014. On average, someone is raped or murdered in Baltimore every other day.



did you know, STING, that it IS possible to condemn violence while, at the same time, understanding where it comes from and why it happens, and also to condemn systemic racism and police brutality that created these conditions over decades to begin with?

please, go ahead and connect last nights murders and rapes in Baltimore to the tiny percentage of protestors who rioted. because that's what they want you to do so you can continue to feel good about ignoring the deeper, more troubling issues.
 
How come we only hear about how dangerous riots are when they are carried out by minorities in response to systemic injustice, and not white people in response to... oh I don't know, winning and/or losing a sporting event?

Besides, these hypothetical hundreds of deaths (talk about hyperbolic fear-mongering) did not occur, and shifting the focus from ACTUAL deaths at the hands of police to hypothetical deaths is disrespectful to those who were ACTUALLY killed or permanently disabled at the hands of police.



That is pretty naïve to believe this is the result of merely a single act of police brutality.

I never said anyone died, I said hundreds of peoples lives were at risk because of this mass violence.
I've never heard of a CVS store being burned down because of someone winning or losing a sporting event. Have you?
This violence was not happening 3 days ago or last week or last month. It started after the funeral of one man.
The focus naturally moves far away from single act of police brutality when an entire American city Is under the threat of violence. Yes, the lives and welfare of all 620,000 Baltimore citizens is a greater priority.
 
I never said anyone died, I said hundreds of peoples lives were at risk because of this mass violence.
I've never heard of a CVS store being burned down because of someone winning or losing a sporting event. Have you?
This violence was not happening 3 days ago or last week or last month. It started after the funeral of one man.
The focus naturally moves far away from single act of police brutality when an entire American city Is under the threat of violence. Yes, the lives and welfare of all 620,000 Baltimore citizens is a greater priority.



wait, A SINGLE ACT of brutality? please, do read the Baltimore Sun article.
 
But guys, one of the rioters mom's gave him a smack down in the street. This is the actual story to be talking about this morning
 
wait, A SINGLE ACT of brutality? please, do read the Baltimore Sun article.

Ok, so where were the riots in 2014 when the article was written? If Freddie Gray was still alive that CVS would still be serving customers today. Police would be having a typical day in Baltimore.
 
Ok, so where were the riots in 2014 when the article was written? If Freddie Gray was still alive that CVS would still be serving customers today. Police would be having a typical day in Baltimore.


you do understand that years of anger and resentment and poverty and police violence and lack of opportunity and shattered communities and bad schools and drugs and violence -- as detailed in the Baltimore Sun article i encourage you to read -- often come to a head after a specific, triggering incident?
 
you do understand that years of anger and resentment and poverty and police violence and lack of opportunity and shattered communities and bad schools and drugs and violence -- as detailed in the Baltimore Sun article i encourage you to read -- often come to a head after a specific, triggering incident?

Life exists in a vacuum, Irvine, everyone knows that.
 
I never said anyone died, I said hundreds of peoples lives were at risk because of this mass violence.
I've never heard of a CVS store being burned down because of someone winning or losing a sporting event. Have you?
This violence was not happening 3 days ago or last week or last month. It started after the funeral of one man.
The focus naturally moves far away from single act of police brutality when an entire American city Is under the threat of violence. Yes, the lives and welfare of all 620,000 Baltimore citizens is a greater priority.

I take it you've never heard of a tipping point?

Also, the entire population of Baltimore is under threat of violence from what amounted to about 100 violent protestors? No hyperbole there whatsoever.

The violence was a vast minority of the people. Over 10,000 peacefully protested in downtown Baltimore, and yet all the media is reporting is the 100 who were violent.

http://blackwestchester.com/2015/04/27/10000-peacefully-protest-bmore/
 
Really? What if 5, 10 or 15 people had died in the fire at CVS? This type of violence threatens the safety and security of a half a million people living in Baltimore. I'm sure you would feel differently if your place of work and home were trashed and burned to the ground.
No one died, no one was even hurt at the CVS. No one raped, no one murdered. The only murder was Freddie Gray, by the police of Baltimore, who have been brutalizing minority citizens for decades. So stop leaning your silly, white-as-shit argument on made-up scenarios and slippery slopes.
 
I take it you've never heard of a tipping point?

Also, the entire population of Baltimore is under threat of violence from what amounted to about 100 violent protestors? No hyperbole there whatsoever.

The violence was a vast minority of the people. Over 10,000 peacefully protested in downtown Baltimore, and yet all the media is reporting is the 100 who were violent.

10,000 Strong Peacefully Protest In Downtown Baltimore, Media Only Reports The Violence & Arrest of Dozens | BLACK WESTCHESTER

I think you're right. I grossly overstated the danger that was present. Its bad, but there has been much worse in the past. It might be a tipping point, but to me it just sounds more like a moment of opportunity for people to do certain things. Although schools have been cancelled most people are being encouraged to go about their daily routine.
 
People were sending out photos of city streets a couple of blocks from the burning CVS and it was literally just like a normal day. The CNN cameras were present only in the few blocks where property damage was occurring, because it's a much easier story for them to report that way. It lets Miguel Marquez condescend to people live on a Baltimore street for an hour.
 
I think you're right. I grossly overstated the danger that was present. Its bad, but there has been much worse in the past. It might be a tipping point, but to me it just sounds more like a moment of opportunity for people to do certain things. Although schools have been cancelled most people are being encouraged to go about their daily routine.

Like when the police took a moment of opportunity to brutilize another human being when they could do so unobserved?
 
I take it you've never heard of a tipping point?

Also, the entire population of Baltimore is under threat of violence from what amounted to about 100 violent protestors? No hyperbole there whatsoever.

The violence was a vast minority of the people. Over 10,000 peacefully protested in downtown Baltimore, and yet all the media is reporting is the 100 who were violent.

10,000 Strong Peacefully Protest In Downtown Baltimore, Media Only Reports The Violence & Arrest of Dozens | BLACK WESTCHESTER

Figures how skewed the media is reporting this. All we've heard here was about the violent protests.

I'm glad to hear it's not quite like that in reality, but it's a shame the mass media are jumping on the small minority that's ruining things for the majority here.

So what do you guys think should be done now? Since it doesn't seem like this is an easy to fix situation. Replacing the heads of the police departments or firing racist cops doesn't quite solve the deeper lying issues. It could be a start though..
 
So what do you guys think should be done now? Since it doesn't seem like this is an easy to fix situation. Replacing the heads of the police departments or firing racist cops doesn't quite solve the deeper lying issues. It could be a start though..


it's interesting -- what's amazing to me about social media and a smartphone in the hand of nearly every citizen is how these issues that we once heard about but which were easily swept under the rug are now impossible to ignore.

even the murder of Gray would have probably been a local issue if not for the footage of him being dragged by police -- obviously unable to move his legs in the video -- from the sidewalk into a van.

it's much more visceral now, and hopefully, it lets the masses know that poor minority communities aren't making this stuff up. it DOES happen. and in some ways, once you really see it, it drives it home in a way that reading about it really doesn't. and it also helps you understand exactly why the police aren't trusted in these communities, and it's a complex problem that goes back decades upon decades. and it's complex, every city is different, every community is different, and every police force is different.

one practical solution is body cams on law enforcement. in theory, only bad cops should fear this, and it can also help exonerate good cops in bad situations. a more complex solution has to do with police-community interactions, and rebuilding trust that has eroded, if it was ever there at all. it may mean recruiting members of said community to be part of the police force. it can mean the police working with churches and schools and rec centers. it also means reducing crime through means other than law and order -- universal health care is a good step, so is not locking people up for minor drug crimes. reducing the number of children born to teenagers and/or out of wedlock is also good. opportunity, mixed-income housing, etc.

what's also important to remember is that people living in these areas are just that -- people. even though the vast majority of violent crime in the US happens in small pockets of cities, most of the people in these small pockets are just trying to live their lives and don't like the drug dealers on the corner any more than you do. and we also have to understand that suspicion of the police is rooted in reality. one of the more interesting conversations i've ever had was with a co-worker of mine. she grew up in Los Angeles, and in communities that were always highly distrustful of law enforcement because of the experiences her family members had had with the LAPD in the 1980s. while i grew up irritated at suburban cops who would lie in wait to bust you for going 10mph over the speed limit, she grew up worried that getting pulled over would automatically mean getting arrested, or cuffed, or worse. she remembered how in her high school everyone cheered when OJ was found not guilty not because anyone actually thought he was not guilty, but because a black man had beaten the LAPD. such was the historical resentment.

i'm thankful that these are discussions that are now being had -- i don't think a lot of this was possible to such an extent before social media.
 
Wolf's argument represents the small part of me that considers riots to be an excuse for testosterone-addled shitheads to be themselves for a day. This can be the case (aforementioned sports rioting) but it doesn't apply here, not to the degree that it offsets the potential benefit of giving widespread exposure to this REALLY FUCKING DISGUSTING instance of police brutality.

My feelings on this are, uh, complicated.
 
Ok, so where were the riots in 2014 when the article was written? If Freddie Gray was still alive that CVS would still be serving customers today. Police would be having a typical day in Baltimore.

I may have only been a teenager when the '92 LA Riots happened, but I still remember them vividly. Yes, it was the Rodney King verdict that lit the fuse, but the fuel had built up over many, many years. It's the same thing in Baltimore. The murder of Freddie Gray was just final straw.

The big picture is even more chilling. Michael Brown, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray are just the tip of the iceberg. I will never truly understand what it's like to be afraid of the police, as a latina woman, but there is something very wrong. The rise of cell phone cameras has helped, and I believe body cameras used properly will also be a good thing.

Irvine is right that there also needs to be major overhaul of the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Here in LA, most LAPD don't even live within city limits, let alone in the neighborhood they patrol. Community based policing is ideal, but how do we even implement it at this point?

Again, my heart breaks for the victims of police brutality and the citizens of Baltimore.
 
I think community based residency makes sense for some employment, like pastors.

People live where they can afford to live. I don't believe Beverly Hills police live in that city.

I think a 10- 15 mile radius might be more realistic.
 
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