All's Quiet (So Far) on the Ferguson Front

As we await the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson, police agencies are making their presence known around Ferguson, Missouri in expectation of protests. Freelancer Aaron Malin took the photo for Reason, below. He reports seeing two dozen or more Department of Homeland Security vehicles staging in Chesterfield, Missouri. 

Aaron Malin

Comments

[Hyperion]

I'm not sure what to think about this. I think it's just rotten potatoes all the way down.

On the one hand, if they convict the guy, it's probably just a lynching by the PC crowd. The guy may or may not be guilty as opposed to the many cops who are definitely guilty of murder and got away with it.

On the other hand, if they let him off, it's just more of the same.

I can't really decide which is worse. Probably the latter though.

[Anonymous Coward]

We haven't even gotten to the trial phase yet. Still waiting for the grand jury to come back.

I've been telling people around here that Bob McCulloch, the Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, will not prosecute a cop if he can help it. In 2000, McCulloch lied to a grand jury to prevent the indictment of two cops who shot two unarmed men in a non-moving vehicle who were "attempting to escape" (see the Jack in the Box shootings). When proof came to light that McCulloch had lied his response was "those guys were bums anyway."

[PapayaSF]

I think it's pretty clear from the store robbery, the autopsy, and other known facts that there is, at the very least, enough reasonable doubt to say that Wilson should not be convicted, and probably not even indicted.

So get those riot police ready, and I hope the local shopkeepers have roof access and plenty of ammo.

[Griffin3]

And if a civilian shot someone in the same scenario, they would walk free / no bill?

[PapayaSF]

If they had been attacked by Brown the way Wilson was, I hope so.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Alledgedly..?

[PapayaSF]

I'm going by the autopsy report, reconstructions of the scene, and several witness statements. And common sense: I doubt if Wilson suddenly decided to murder Brown for no good reason.

[Ghetto Slovak Goatherder]

But how will I find out the verdict now that Reason 24/7 is gone?

[WTF]

Now if only they would kill those obnoxiously stupid Taboola ads.

[sarcasmic]

Firefox + Adblock Plus = What is a Taboola ad?

[WTF]

Ah - Thanks!

[Hyperion]

Or Chrome + Ghostery. What's an ad?

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else had a quiet front?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Helen Keller?

[mr lizard]

Damnit, I got nothing after that. You win

*/kicks rocks and skitters off

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mullet wearers. Party's in the back.

[JEP]

Erich Maria Remarque?

[PapayaSF]

Who was married to Paulette Goddard. Lucky guy.

[JEP]

Wow. She was also married to Charlie Chaplin apparently.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ferguson is the wrong hill to die on. I'm not saying the cop is innocent or guilty, I wasn't there, but it's at least a borderline case - the dead guy *was* just walking away after a robbery, after all.

People outraged about clearer cases - like the mentally ill guy that got crushed to death - don't have riots and race-baiting to hold over the country, which seems to be what's needed to Start a National Conversation over police conduct.

And even if the Ferguson cop gets convicted, the message will be "black people are getting persecuted, whites are unfairly advantaged," not "police behavior needs to be reined in across the board."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

To repeat what I said on another thread, the kind of people who tend to riot over police brutality won't focus on the homeowners brutalized in wrong-door raids or the white homeless guys who get crushed to death under several tons of pork, but on the cases of people whom potential rioters can sympathize with - black gangsters or crooks who confront the police - eg, Rodney King leading cops on a high-speed chase, Trayvon Martin slamming a guy's head into the pavement, the Ferguson guy fighting a cop while leaving the scene of one his (the guy's) robberies.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

(Trayvon Martin didn't confront the police, but he did confront a white cracker oppressor)

[Heroic Mulatto]

white cracker oppressor

Surely, by "cracker" you mean "tortilla chip".

[Free Society]

His name was white. That's all that matters.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"White Hispanic"

[Free Society]

No bueno.

[db]

"No es bueno.

[PapayaSF]

This seems true. It's not merely that the "racial justice" types have bad luck in focusing on the wrong victims, it's that they tend to prefer to champion the gangsters and crooks.

[sarcasmic]

"He was turning his life around!"

[PapayaSF]

I suspect that we'll eventually learn that he was a gangster or gangster wannabe.

[Tony]

To paraphrase Matthew McConaughey, now imagine they were white.

Is "the dead guy *was* just walking away after a robbery, after all" an excuse for execution without trial?

I'm shocked I tell you that some libertarians, who side against the cops by default, are torn on this particular case.

[sarcasmic]

Oh, how cute! The imbecile is throwing around veiled accusations of racism!

[Free Society]

Because we don't side against cops as a knee-jerk reaction but out of a genuine sense of justice. Nor does the barbaric response from some less than intelligent people do much to garner sympathy for a dead guy who was clearly a thug. There's lots of cases to hang your hat on if you want to decry heavy handed policing and qualified immunity, this is not one of them.

There are lots of innocent blacks getting gunned down by bad cops with no regard for life, but they keep focusing in on cases where the victim put themselves in that position instead of legitimate cases of injustice. That's what happens when a media narrative is used as a moral compass.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"To paraphrase Matthew McConaughey, now imagine they were white."

Yes, from that John Grisham novel/movie where the black guy murders his daughter's rapist. And where McConaughey endorses this vigilante justice on the grounds that a white father would have gotten away with a similar crime.

I know, let's dispense with the formalities of indictment and trial and just gun down anyone who looks guilty.

But wait, I thought that's what you were accusing that cop of doing?

Social justice can be so confusing.

[DesigNate]

Oh, I see what your problem has been all along. You think Eddie, a self-proclaimed not libertarian, IS a libertarian. No wonder you've never been able to actually figure out what it is we are about.

Oh, and go fuck your not so subtle accusations or racism.

[PRX]

considering the 2 tier justice system cops enjoy, I'm not going to stand between them and the pitchforks ever.

[mr lizard]

Ya, it's pretty much how they would treat us. If you happen to be the wrong kind of "us", or if you just piss them off.

[Free Society]

You don't need to stick up for the cops just because you deny the validity of the race hustling narrative.

[Boomer]

Chesterfield is at least a 25-minute drive from Ferguson, and that's assuming no traffic. DHS maintains a Fusion Center in Saint Louis. How does Mr. Malin know these vehicles have anything to do with Ferguson?

[mr lizard]

Maybe they are just waiting for the laser tag to start.

[abbyhamedini]

My buddy's step-aunt makes $89 every hour on the laptop . She has been without work for 8 months but last month her check was $14034 just working on the laptop for a few hours. check out here. ???? http://www.jobsfish.com

[db]

Which is why my plan to provide laptops free of charge to all disadvantaged youth in the nation is key to eradicating street crime. Why would anyone ever rob a convenience store or place themselves in opposition to the authorities when they could make such an income on the internet?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

working on the laptop for a few hours

40 hours a week working on the laptop is more than a few hours; but they'll be too burned out to go rob convenience stores.

[DesigNate]

Whether the shooting was justified or not, the disproportionate response to what supposedly started as peaceful protests (and turned into riots and looting following that response) were grossly inappropriate for a society that claims to hold those values close.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Which was the entire fucking point that got buried under a shit-pile of race hustling and authority fetishism.

[PapayaSF]

I think you may be being overly generous to the protestors by blaming the violence on the police response.

[Free Society]

Yeah they're an irrational lot. They weren't interested in justice, they're interested in "social justice" i.e. "mob justice". Ferguson deserves the poverty that follows from widespread disrespect for property rights. I sure as shit wouldn't keep my business there if I could avoid it.

[R C Dean (fka Clown Hunter)]

Yeah they're an irrational lot. They weren't interested in justice, they're interested in "social justice" i.e. "mob justice".

The protestors, or the cops?

[Free Society]

The rioters and their race baiting handlers.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

My answer is 'yes'.

[DesigNate]

Obviously some people just wanted to loot and riot. But I doubt that everyone that initially was protesting had that as a goal.

[PapayaSF]

Of course not, but such protests tend to get out of hand, and they should all know that by now.

[Tim]

Our justice system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk6_7DTVN8Q

[R C Dean (fka Clown Hunter)]

So many goonmobiles, so few Molotov cocktails . . . .

/kidding!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I suspect that the authorities are trying to sooth the "community" in preparation for the cop not getting indicted. I wouldn't be surprised if the grand jury already has its report ready but is holding it until all the neighborhood-pacification measures are in place.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And my inner cynic wonders if the grand jury wasn't prepared to issue its report before the election but was discouraged from doing so.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Really, if there was going to be an indictment, I think we would have had one by now. The nervousness of the authorities signals what the grand jury is planning to do.

[PapayaSF]

And wait for colder weather, which discourages riots.

[mousefeathers]

They need to release it today, then, because our low temp tonight could to set a record. The weather apps are forecasting 12deg for overnight, but temps will be warming back up by Wednesday. Not warm, precisely, but much easier on mammalian bodies.

[db]

A co-worker's relative was shot and killed last night in Pittsburgh. The initial reports show he had a gun and may have been involved in the shootout. Pittsburgh cops, true to their reputation for stunning competence, didn't find the other body involved until this morning.

They say multiple guns were used and that dozens of casings have been found, and witnesses report a "shootout."

So pray tell, what does a 17-year-old *do* out on the streets at 0020 on a Monday morning, especially in weather like we had last night?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Pittsburgh cops, true to their reputation for stunning competence, didn't find the other body involved until this morning.

They were securing the perimeter meticulously. Jeez.

So pray tell, what does a 17-year-old *do* out on the streets at 0020 on a Monday morning, especially in weather like we had last night?

The question answers itself.

One of the major benefits of having a contemporary youth given to video-game culture is that they no longer have to leave their living rooms or bedrooms to work out a macho hierarchy among themselves.

[jmomls]

*A co-worker's relative was shot and killed last night in Pittsburgh.*

But how much did he make working on his laptop at home for Google?

[sarcasmic]

Piers Morgan got something right for a change.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....worst.html

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

I'm glad to see that Docks has found work.

If he put pictures of hot women in his articles, he'd probably get some traffic, too.

[PapayaSF]

The Daily Mail is, I believe, the most popular newspaper website in the world.

[Boomer]

I don't get it. First he says there are no statistics on police shootings, then goes on to list a bunch of statistics about police shootings.

[jmomls]

Whiff of grapeshot, baby...whiff of grapeshot.

[kelseleyuta]

my classmate's step-mother makes $76 hourly on the laptop . She has been out of work for 5 months but last month her pay check was $21931 just working on the laptop for a few hours. visit the website....

?????? http://www.payinsider.com

[userve32]

Those cops in that town are clearly dumb as the day is long.

http://www.Safe-Anon.tk

[sarcasmic]

You misspelled loin.

[Free Society]

How about the woman who got shot up by DC police with her kid in the car. Are you denying that there exist instances where cops kill unjustifiably?

[Juice]

The kid in Walmart with the airsoft gun just off the top of my head. The dude looking for directions who was gunned down by a cop (not the one on the doorstep).

[Juice]

Oh yeah, the poor dude that was shot reaching for his license after being stopped for a seatbelt violation in a parking lot.

[Free Society]

The entire point....of what?

If you care to read up the thread one whole post, you'd have answered the question before you asked it. But don't strain your little finger.Here it is reposted for you.

Whether the shooting was justified or not, the disproportionate response to what supposedly started as peaceful protests (and turned into riots and looting following that response) were grossly inappropriate for a society that claims to hold those values close.

[sarcasmic]

Manuel Ramos, Jay Cicinelli, and Joseph Wolfe immediately come to mind.

[Free Society]

I'm sure you've compiled a list?

You ask others to present these other cases of police injustice with such confidence that it seems you really believe such cases are mythological. How delusional can you be?

[sarcasmic]

I'm guessing that loin is a LEO.

[PapayaSF]

She was driving in a crazy manner, refusing to stop, and (IIRC) attacking people with her car, all near the White House. No wonder they shot her.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

We've had a pseudo-cop troll around the past couple of weeks insisting that we do his research for him, as though he's unaware of the hundreds of articles that Balko has written on the subject. This is the same gentleman.

May be T funning with us, may be the traditional psychos. Or if we're lucky, a new one!

[Anonymous Coward]

Lon Horiuchi.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

As in 'Tow the Loin'

aka... Pull my dick?

[MJGreen]

I'm going with Tulpa. He's also weighed in on the immigration thread. Though American is a possibility too (which... have we ever discussed if Tulpa is American!?).

[Free Society]

It stinks of Tulpa.

[Free Society]

No wonder they shot her.

Didn't they open fire after the car had crashed into a concrete barricade? But nevermind. It doesn't take away from the hundreds, if not thousands, of police murders that take place annually.

[Free Society]

Just don't say his name and his trolling won't find you...

[PapayaSF]

the hundreds, if not thousands, of police murders that take place annually

Citation needed.

[PapayaSF]

And remember, a "murder" is by definition an unlawful killing, so self-defense, etc. doesn't count.