How does vandalism and looting accomplish anything???

[TLSnell1981]

Yes but residents are still protesting and have been from the start. There are outsiders and a bad element that are rioting and looting but residents are trying to stop them. The voices of the members of the community are getting somewhat lost and its their voices which should be heard most.

I think there's a tendency to lump protestors and looters into one big group when they are not.

That what I said. It's the outsiders (and a few bad apples) causing the problem. The locals are trying to keep the peace. This would have been over, except for others. They took the opportunity to push their agenda and took it to another level. The residents of are the biggest losers. They've lost their voices and their town is a war zone.

 

[skater]

I don't think that's really true. It appears to me that one can find information from various sides and you just have to look through it and decide where you come down on it.

How is it the "whole truth" if they leave certain facts out that don't benefit one news network's particular side or view point? Sometimes its almost impossible to even get all the what, who, why, how, etc. questions answered from one source.

 

[sam_gordon]

That sounds good in theory, but unfortunately in practice police cannot refuse to offer assistance to someone who calls out for it simply on the basis of "We told you so...." If, as reported with the Vice crew, a media crew gets in trouble and police are notified, they're still obligated to respond if able. That's the reason that they try and "pen" the media in cases like this. Because it diverts resource if the cops have to police the looters, fight the fires... and rescue reckless members of the media on top of all that.

I still say they shouldn't be allowed to say "Media, you go here and you can't leave" unless they are doing that to the public. If you're ok with them doing that, are you ok with them creating a "media center" 5 miles away? What about 10 miles? 30 miles? The media should be allowed to go anywhere the public is allowed. Period.

 

[sunshinehighway]

That what I said. It's the outsiders (and a few bad apples) causing the problem. The locals are trying to keep the peace. This would have been over, except for others. They took the opportunity to push their agenda and took it to another level. The residents of are the biggest losers. They've lost their voices and their town is a war zone.

It probably would have been over had people on both ends not behaved badly. At this point it's become much bigger than what it was originally was. Its easy to blame that on big mouths with agendas but law enforcement has added just as much to push this into something bigger.

 

[sam_gordon]

How is it the "whole truth" if they leave certain facts out that don't benefit one news network's particular side or view point? Sometimes its almost impossible to even get all the what, who, why, how, etc. questions answered from one source.

I wonder if you'd do better to look at local coverage of a story. Instead of watching CNN/MSBNC/FOX, how about KMOV, KSDK, or KPLR (first three I found). The local reporters aren't beholden to the network news management.

 

[rickybobby]

But that's you as a regular person. That doesn't mean that's what a cop is supposed to do. They are supposed to neutralize the that. If he's falling to the ground then he's no longer a that and as a trained professional a cop is supposed to stop shooting.

How do you not understand that these shots are fired in a 1-2 second time frame, when adrenaline is running high, this police officer is most likely fearing for his life, with a very large angry man (allegedly) running at him, who has already tried to take his gun once (again allegedly).

 

[sunshinehighway]

How is it the "whole truth" if they leave certain facts out that don't benefit one news network's particular side or view point? Sometimes its almost impossible to even get all the what, who, why, how, etc. questions answered from one source.

Part of being an informed citizen is listening to different sides and then making up your mind. If you want to make an informed opinion you need to seek out the information. In this day and age information is at your fingertips.
Putting whole trust in one group or person to give you the straight up facts without any type of slant is a bad idea.

 

[rickybobby]

It probably would have been over had people on both ends not behaved badly. At this point it's become much bigger than what it was originally was. Its easy to blame that on big mouths with agendas but law enforcement has added just as much to push this into something bigger.

Still don't buy that the officer did anything wrong. You are so into blaming him without due process.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Still don't buy that the officer did anything wrong. You are so into blaming him without due process.

I wasn't talking about the shooting in that post. I was talking about the handling of the aftermath.

 

[skater]

Part of being an informed citizen is listening to different sides and then making up your mind. If you want to make an informed opinion you need to seek out the information. In this day and age information is at your fingertips.
Putting whole trust in one group or person to give you the straight up facts without any type of slant is a bad idea.

Absolutely, Which is why I don't put my trust in one "news" network. But I still wish they would occasionally report just the facts. And all of them.

 

[skater]

I wonder if you'd do better to look at local coverage of a story. Instead of watching CNN/MSBNC/FOX, how about KMOV, KSDK, or KPLR (first three I found). The local reporters aren't beholden to the network news management.

Yes, you're probably right about that.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Still don't buy that the officer did anything wrong. You are so into blaming him without due process.

Maybe, maybe not.



But, both sides & those in the middle need to be prepared to accept the truth if & when it comes out. If it proves the officer was in the wrong, he should be punished appropriately (based on just HOW wrong he was - no more, no less).

OTOH, if it's proven the officer did no wrong, the Brown supporters need to step up, admit they had it wrong, and let it go.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Perception is the driving force of the protestors. Not facts. How can anyone be sure of "factual" information with bits and pieces being put forth? Isolated analysis is not context. Context does matter.

It does look very bad on the surface. But this thing is being tried in the public sphere, not a court of law.

The benefit of the doubt should go both ways. Innocent until proven guilty (for the victim and the police). If you are willing to believe one scenario without all the facts, you should be open/willing to believe there are other plausible scenarios within the realm of possibilities.

Perception is driven by many things. The overriding perception generated by the protestors and thus the news is the police officer is guilty.

But what if the police officer was attacked and Michael Brown tried to take his gun? What if Michael Brown charged the police officer? What happens if the police officer is innocent? Will people believe the facts if they are in the police officer's favor? Where will all the anger and hostility go?

I have read blurbs about ISIS and the black panther involvement. What a an awful mess.

 

[rickybobby]

I wasn't talking about the shooting in that post. I was talking about the handling of the aftermath.

Okay, my mistake.

Sunshinehighway, I feel like you are on the fence around whether this incident was provoked or unprovoked, and I think you are trying to see both sides and form an opinion, and that makes me happy
I am going to convert you into a conservative before long.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I wonder if you'd do better to look at local coverage of a story. Instead of watching CNN/MSBNC/FOX, how about KMOV, KSDK, or KPLR (first three I found). The local reporters aren't beholden to the network news management.

There is also Fox 2 News, KTVI which is linked with KPLR.

How about this nugget of news? The KKK is planning a gathering in Sullivan, Mo.

Talk about flame fanning, with regards to getting attention.

 

[sam_gordon]

Absolutely, Which is why I don't put my trust in one "news" network. But I still wish they would occasionally report just the facts. And all of them.

The problem with reporting ALL the facts is the amount of time it would take up. Obviously someone needs to decide what's important to the story and what's not. Is that decision being made because of bias? Possibly.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Absolutely, Which is why I don't put my trust in one "news" network. But I still wish they would occasionally report just the facts. And all of them.

Yeah that's a common complaint. Facts aren't always black and white and those that are can often be boring to listen to and/or unimportant . With things like news and current events, its really history in the making. If you think of it like that then you'll see how the analysis, interpretation, outcome..all that type of stuff is what is important.

 

[pat fan]

I have read blurbs about ISIS and the black panther involvement. What a an awful mess.

What are you talking about?

 

[OceanAnnie]

What are you talking about?

It's in the news.

I *know* there are some that don't think the Daily Mail is "credible" but this piece is the most concise about ISIS. It's credible enough.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...son-protesters-embrace-Islamic-extremism.html

http://wtvr.com/2014/08/13/fbi-warn...r-party-leader-inciting-violence-in-ferguson/

 

[sunshinehighway]

Okay, my mistake.

Sunshinehighway, I feel like you are on the fence around whether this incident was provoked or unprovoked, and I think you are trying to see both sides and form an opinion, and that makes me happy
I am going to convert you into a conservative before long.

You won't.

To be honest, it may seem like on certain issues I always lean a particular way but its not an automatic thing. I tend to be a skeptical person so when something about a situation doesn't sit well with me I question it and that whole side.

In this particular case there are things that stand out which do make me question if there was excessive force by Officer Wilson. It doesn't mean that I think there was, just that there are questions which should be looked at.

I will edit to add, I do think the police are completely wrong in the way they are handling the aftermath and have been since they left the body uncovered in the street for hours. The way the police are handling protestors (which I separate from rioters and looters) and media makes me understand why the community originally started protesting to begin with.