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

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If guns weren't so prevalent, I would completely advocate that street cops should not be armed with lethal weapons. As long as they are, you are going to get tragedies like this.

Yeah, I've never given this much thought, but I'm starting to think cops shouldn't have guns unless they are on a specific mission that requires them. At least in low-crime suburban areas.

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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."

I am too. I fully expect most Republicans to support the cop in a few weeks.

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Too bad the Ferguson police don't have mandatory dashboard cameras in cop cars...

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If that's him on the video,  expect the controversy to go away quickly.

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If that's him on the video,  expect the controversy to go away quickly.

It still leaves a lot (if not all) questions about the shooting itself unanswered, though.

Agreed, but no one is going to care anymore. Most people will support the policeman now.

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

Obviously robbing a gas station doesn't justify execution, but if it's true it makes me a lot more inclined to believe the policeman's story.

At the very least, the friend/also criminal's account wouldn't be very credible anymore.

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

Obviously robbing a gas station doesn't justify execution, but if it's true it makes me a lot more inclined to believe the policeman's story.

At the very least, the friend/also criminal's account wouldn't be very credible anymore.

What is the officer's story exactly, though?

From the best I've heard, it's that Brown initiated a fight and tried to take the officer's gun and the cop killed him in self-defense.

If Brown was a criminal walking away from a crime, it makes the officer's story more plausible. Brown may have thought he was about to be arrested and paniced.

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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.

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Unfortunately, Obama needs to steer clear of this. The day he spoke out about Trayvon Martin was that George Zimmerman became a hero to most Republicans. We don't need that again.

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The St. Louis area PD really is every loser that got picked on high school with something to prove.

I think it's far more common that the bullies become cops than the bullied.