St Louis police murder scandal (PLUS: riots, idiotic press conferences, etc.)

[All Along The Watchtower]

Not surprising. All over the US, one can find police departments with more than their fair share of authoritarian, racist a$$holes.  And they are almost never held accountable.

Makes one suspect (at the least) that this kind of thing is not a bug, but a feature.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Obama speaking now, blamed both sides but emphasized the fault of the police. (Specifically calling them out for the peaceful protest attack and the journalist arrests).

Republican outrage will be to claim it's neither's fault, then?

Nah. They'll blame the protesters (all while emphatically claiming that they're not racist and that racism is over but the real racists are reverse racists-which is totally a thing).

[All Along The Watchtower]

The fact that there have been riots at all, ones in which vandalism and looting have occurred, underlines precisely why the Police need military equipment for dealing with these kind of situations.

...

[All Along The Watchtower]

One of the issues I've read about (in light of this story) regarding St. Louis County is that there are so many small neighborhood and municipal police departments there that aren't necessarily well-trained or professional; kinda hard to maintain that with large police departments, let alone much smaller ones.

Not saying that this is the main factor here, but I think it definitely contributes to the problem.

EDIT: Just read that Ferguson is 70% black-but with a 90% white police department.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/08/racial-tensions-are-not-new-in-st-louis-suburb-where-unarmed-black-teen-michael-brown-was-fatally-sh.html.

Yeah, what could possibly have gone wrong?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Steals cigars and candy from a convenience store, physically threatens the owner... SHOOT HIM TO DEATH

Yes, I'm... not sure how that one works either. But then Harry is a Mississippi Whitey.

? I never said the shooting was justified,  just that Americans aren't going to be sympathetic anymore.

"Americans"?

[All Along The Watchtower]