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

[Brittain33]

I'm concerned about the President's ability to respond. I recall how when the news about Trayvon's killing first broke, there was a general sense of outrage at what happened. When President Obama made a statement about how Trayvon could have been his son, suddenly it became a political issue and a very large number of people swung behind Zimmerman as a folk hero and criticizing Trayvon as a "thug."

[Brittain33]

Rand Paul delivers a much stronger statement than I've seen from any Dem.

Yeah this is great and all, but as King said, Rand Paul literally opposes the Civil Rights Act because it strips business of their rights to deny service based on colour.

He appears to have changed his position on the Civil Rights Act to support - a change I think we should welcome.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/rand-pauls-civil-rights-pitch

[Brittain33]

Indeed, Hannity can't know what it's like to be young male and black in America.  This guy does though.

OMG, the comments. Ugh.

[Brittain33]

I'm guessing most people don't rob stores, physically hassle store owners and physically attack a cop when they are "teens".  The closest most of them get is just impotently whinging about cops on the internet.

"Physically attack a cop" is contested at best, and most likely not accurate.

I remember my brother and friends stealing candy from the local convenience store. No one cared.

[Brittain33]

You missed hand waving away the part about physically assaulting a shop owner.

I saw the video of the push, yeah, and I don't agree this is unusual or means he should get the death penalty for an unrelated event, sorry.

[Brittain33]

The author never assaulted a police officer, which Brown has also been alleged to have done

You appreciate this is a permanent circular logic issue with people killed by police, right? It's virtually certain that the police will note that they felt under assault, and then people will cite that to justify other things.

Honestly, Inks, do you believe Brown assaulted the police officer by diving into the car and trying to grab his gun? Do you think this is more likely, as likely, or less likely than the eyewitness accounts that he didn't?

[Brittain33]

If he attacked the cop, he deserves to get shot.  If he didn't, the cop should spend a long long time in jail.

Do you believe that Brown attacked the cop? Do you put the odds at very likely it happened as the cop said, exactly 50/50 because "it's the cop's word vs. the eyewitnesses, too bad Michael Brown isn't here to disagree", or something else?

[Brittain33]

I'm not but the implication of even bringing up the cigar stealing incident, which has been confirmed to have been unrelated to the incident in the street, is that this is a bad, violent criminal and therefore shooting him could be justified.

[Brittain33]

Again, that's an oversimplification of what some are claiming happened.  Do you know that Brown didn't assault the police officer?

I believe it is very unlikely he assaulted the police officer, especially considering how the police officer described it. To believe he would do so, is to believe he was colossally reckless and dangerous in his behavior and would do something virtually suicidal for no good reason.

Inks, you may not be aware of this, but African-American men are used to being stopped by police all the time, in a way you and I aren't, and have been taught from a young age to respond in a "no trouble" way as clearly as they can. I'm pretty sure Michael Brown's mother said that's how he was raised, too. Also note that this encounter happened during day time, the policeman was not aware, as you are, that he shoplifted cigarrillos and pushed the store owner and so was a dangerous criminal who is responsible for any violence done to him, so there's no reason for Brown to feel he was being targeted and needed to attack first.

Let's take the other side. Let's say the cop shot Michael Brown in a situation different from what he described. Wouldn't you say he has an incentive to make it sound as if he were in danger of his life?

In conclusion, looking at the incentives, Brown had no reason to attack the cop and the cop has incentives to a) exercise his power and then b) muddy the waters about what happened. It's become *abundantly* clear in the last few weeks that the police have a very bad relationship with the black residents of Ferguson, too. If you think it's 50/50, he said/he said, that's sick. Sorry.

[Brittain33]

Why did the cop wait 6 years to "exercise his power"?

Because even cops who have a bad relationship with the communities they police, aren't setting out to kill people.

In case it isn't clear, I do not assume or have any reason to believe that Darren Wilson is a cold-blooded killer who set out to kill someone. You don't have to believe that of a police office to envision scenarios where the police kills someone without justification and without real risk to themselves, especially in a community like Ferguson.

[Brittain33]

Naso has a good point about not feeling well-informed about the case. Here's another example where we don't have all the facts to pass judgment:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/victor-white-shooting_n_5721728.html?utm_source=theatlantic.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange

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