(I don't know enough to express an opinion as to whether there should or shouldn't be an indictment.)

Mass rioting. I feel sorry for the store owners there.

I feel sorry for the cop and his family. He was obviously attacked through the window of his patrol vehicle. A struggle for his gun ensued. The wound pattern corroborated this. I feel sorry for the perpetrator and his family as well. A young man who could have lived a full life and been a great man if he hadn't fallen victim to thug culture.

There will be quiet, peaceful demonstrations concerning the apparent lack of justice.

Hey, I can dream, can't I? :)

Folks from out of town will arrive en mass to assist in looting er, I mean peacefully demonstrating.

.....this thread will be deleted in 3...2...1...

I hope not. In a time when so many want to claim racism doesn't exist, why erase the evidence?

I live in the heart of the south, and racism comes and go's. I have some very close friends that are black, and like at the state house where the battle flag hangs at the confederate war memorial their have many blacks that have stood up for it since they know that is not a matter of hate more than a matter of history, while others seem that is all about hate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2014 08:49PM by scmormon.

...of Montgomery, Alabama, "the cradle of the Confederacy." We went through the "white flight" era of the late '60s, where lots of white residents moved from their inner-city neighborhoods further out of town, because so many black people began moving into the lower-income neighborhoods because of cheaper housing.

My high school, for instance, went from all-white to 1/3 black between 1968 and 1973. Today, all the public schools within the city are virtually 100% black students. Most white kids go to school in suburban areas or to private schools.

But the interesting thing that's happening now is that working, law-abiding black citizens are leaving the inner city for the suburbs too. They don't want to be around the crime, drugs, and welfare culture any more than white residents do.

Are the drug using white kids from the suburban areas and private schools moving back into the city now?

it doesn't stay off politics and hate speech.

Last Monday, I heard on the news, for the first time, the actual police dispatch calls.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/special/darren-wilson-s-radio-calls-show-fatal-encounter-was-brief/html_79c17aed-0dbe-514d-ba32-bad908056790.html

This case is a good example of how facts about incidents are twisted or omitted to give a false impression of what actually happened. From the beginning of this incident, we've been told that Officer Wilson accosted the two men for nothing more than walking in the street. But now, the audio of the police dispatch calls have been released, and they reveal that Wilson received the report of the store robbery and was given Brown's description by which to search for him.

When Wilson realized that the two men matched the description, he called for backup and accosted them. Michael Brown had just robbed the store and assaulted the clerk, so he knew that cops were likely to come after him. That's why he assaulted Wilson and tried to grab his gun. He then tried to leave the scene, and refused Wilson's commands to stop. Sounds to me like Wilson had every right to use deadly force. I don't see where Wilson did anything that could be misconstrued as racist. It was simply a matter of a criminal who had just committed a robbery trying desperately not to get arrested, and his bad decisions and his arrogance cost him his life.

If this police dispatch call had been released within days of the incident, this rioting and accusations of racism may have never occurred. I don't know if there are legal reasons why the calls weren't released, but they could have prevented the crap that's gone on over the last three months.

There will be mass looting. Al Sharpton will give a speech about the poor blacks being picked on and will leave still owing over four million dollars in back taxes. He will probably go directly to the White House.

And we have a winner....No politics or hate speech here, nosireee!

The national guard is ready to stand guard. I suppose that says we've learned something from our past.

When the indictment is handed down, no one will be happy, it doesn't matter which way it goes.

There will be riots.

Everyone expects the police officer to not face charges. That's what usually happens in these situations. My guess is there will be some protests -- but not the Rodney King type of rioting.

Pray for snow. With lots of snow and cold weather, may well come peace.

Um, "the victim" is on tape robbing a convenience store a few minutes before the cop stopped him walking down the middle of the street. "The victim" walked up to the window of the patrol car, punched the cop in the face and tried to take his gun. The multiple black witnesses all corroborated the cops version and autopsy results confirmed powder burns on "the victims" hands. The parents smell money.

The one thing that's never ever made sense to me since the Detroit riots.

How does looting and burning down your local businesses help the situation? All that does is leave YOU without a place to get food and necessities in the future. It also sends a message to anyone thinking of doing business in that area. You will end up living miles away from the nearest business. I went to Detroit and saw for myself how that worked out.

30 years later there was nothing but burned out buildings. The buildings were taken over by homeless and turned into drug dens. The people ran from building to building like rats. It was worse than any 3rd world country i've seen. Why the blocks of burned out buildings weren't leveled, I don't know. I'm assuming it's all about money. That was in the 80's. I don't think anything has changed. Most people don't go visit Detroit. If they did, they'd be shocked to find they were in America. Also, if you're white, you'll be escorted to the closest freeway ramp. You're not even close to being safe in most of Detroit.

"How does looting and burning down your local businesses help the situation? All that does is leave YOU without a place to get food and necessities in the future."

Indeed. Often, stores in inner-city areas will close down because too much theft and other crime in the areas kills their profits. And then, leaders of those communities complain about "food deserts."

In Ferguson, nothing will happen. The "demonstrations" are all planned to occur at the nice malls in wealthy parts of town. Why? the looting is better there.

As for racism in America...Try being white and dealing with a black customer service person at a store or government agency. You will see racism in full force. But its the kind of racism the media doesnt talk about. Its the racism perpetrated by blacks on whites. But, what ever...

You're totally right. White racism is a thing of the past. It ended . . . I don't know, somewhere around 1978. All gone now.

Apparently most posters here think this happened in a vacuum.

Perhaps someone should consider asking why the local residents are upset and do not have confidence in their local law enforcement.

Having lived through both the watts riots of the sixties and the Rodney king civil unrest I would put my money (if I gambled) on a outbreak of violent.

Maybe we will learn the hard way yet once more that police violence, particularly against Blacks, has to stop. It won't, of course. There's something about porky white bullies with guns that just doesn't allow a clear-thinking head. And in Missouri the police have more latitude than in most states and even allow a policeman to gun down a fleeing person. So all this "hands up! don't shoot!" crap is for nothing, anyway, since Missouri allows that.

Remember the Watts riots? I was down in the LA area when it was happening and we could see the smoke for miles. That is what will likely happen. I hope it doesn't, but it likely will. Since there is little hope that things will change, the people will feel justified to do it. But it would make more sense if the people affected did not burn down their own areas this time.

Yet another US state to stay away from. While I never have to drive through Texas and have been able to avoid it since the 1970s, unfortunately I frequently have had to drive through Missouri. And Utah. I'm really hoping I'll still be alive when the states split up and the Pacific Northwest becomes its own sovereign space.

"Maybe we will learn the hard way yet once more that police violence, particularly against Blacks, has to stop. It won't, of course."

Considering the fact that Michael Brown slammed the cop's car door on him, tried to take his gun, and bloodied his face, I don't see where the cop did anything wrong. What Brown did would get most criminals killed, regardless of their race. Perhaps Michael Brown should have followed this advice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igQDvYOt_iA

"There's something about porky white bullies with guns that just doesn't allow a clear-thinking head."

I don't know where you're getting "porky" or "bullies." The photos I've seen of Wilson show him to be slim, and I've seen no evidence that he acted like a bully. Exactly what was Wilson supposed to do after the 290-pound Brown reached into his car and tried to wrestle his gun away, and then tried to leave the scene, refusing commands to stop?

"And in Missouri the police have more latitude than in most states and even allow a policeman to gun down a fleeing person. So all this "hands up! don't shoot!" crap is for nothing, anyway, since Missouri allows that."

I don't know that Missouri's police policies are any different from any other area. Brown wasn't merely "fleeing," he had assaulted the cop and tried to take his gun. That alone justified Wilson in using deadly force, as it would just about anywhere else.

"Remember the Watts riots? I was down in the LA area when it was happening and we could see the smoke for miles. That is what will likely happen. I hope it doesn't, but it likely will. Since there is little hope that things will change, the people will feel justified to do it. But it would make more sense if the people affected did not burn down their own areas this time."

What will make these things stop happening is for people to obey the law and stop blaming other people for their own bad behavior.

"Yet another US state to stay away from."

Please. The state of Missouri isn't the problem here. This incident could have happened in any city in the nation.

Not familiar with this case beyond what I read here. Seems like there are two issues: a criminal being shot by the police and a significant part of the community that has no faith in their country's justice system.

The rule of law is an essential element of a civilized society. You will always be in trouble if a significant portion of society no longer subscribes to that notion.

Better start boarding up...

I love it when y'all white folks try to think it through . . .

If Michael Brown had not robbed that store, assaulted the clerk, slammed the cop's door on him, tried to take the cop's gun, and tried to flee the scene, he'd be alive today. If anyone of any color had done what Brown did, he'd probably be dead too.

America's greatest national security strength is also its greatest social weakness. We are insulated from the rest of the world, and don't have the benefit of seeing what other countries and cultures are like. I have been lucky to travel and live all around the world, and what I have seen amazed me. Most countries are far more racist and prejudiced than the US. What makes the US unique is the amount of effort we as a nation have put into correcting the mistakes of the past.

That said, partly because we don't see how great an effort we are making (especially in comparison to the rest of the world), the whites in this country are self loathing about racism, and the minorities (typically blacks) are telling us how awful America is.

America has its issues to be sure, but we are actually working for a more just society. Most places I have seen in the world have no problem with embracing and holding on to their biases.

dislike of individuals should be on a case by case basis. The same is true of evaluating allegations of police misconduct. Forgiving or justifying unrest in the Ferguson case because of a generalized complaint about police misconduct in America is as stupid as disliking individuals based on a perceived stereotype of their racial group.

Look at all the facts before you condemn the cop in the Ferguson case.

How did you determine other countries are far more racist? Did you observe it, experience it . . . ?