Teen shot dead by police in suburban St. Louis; residents protest

• Hanna wrote on 2014-08-14 18:11

  I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this already since it's been a few days
  
  http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-missouri-grandson-dead-shot-by-police-20140809-story.html
  
  Hundreds of people gathered in the street outside an apartment complex in a St. Louis suburb on Saturday, screaming obscenities and “kill the police” after a police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old man.
  
  The victim was identified by relatives as Michael Brown, who was scheduled to begin college classes Monday, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
  Unrest in Missouri city after fatal shooting of black teen
  A second night of violent clashes in a St. Louis suburb between law enforcement and residents protesting the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager resulted in several arrests and looting.
  
  Brown's grandmother, Desiree Harris, told the Associated Press that she was driving through the neighborhood Saturday afternoon when she saw her grandson running a few blocks from her house.
  
  [QUOTE]"He was running this way,"

  she said.

  "When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn't tell me nothing."
  

  
  A spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department confirmed to the Associated Press that it was a Ferguson police officer who shot the man, but did not identify the officer and did not immediately give a reason for the shooting.
  
  Calls by The Times to the police were not returned.
  
  Louis Head, Brown’s stepfather, held a sign that said

  “Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!”

  the Post Dispatch reported. And Lesley McSpadden, Brown’s mother, said the shooting was

  “wrong and it was cold-hearted.”

  
  
  By early Saturday night, dozens of police cars remained parked near the shooting scene as mourners left votive candles at a makeshift memorial in the middle of the street.
  
  At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police at the scene called for about 60 other police units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents, about two-thirds of whom are black, the AP reported.
  
  The crowd eventually dispersed and police scheduled a news conference for Sunday morning.
  
  

  “We are hurt to hear that yet another teenaged boy has been slaughtered by law enforcement especially in light of the recent death of Eric Garner in New York who was killed for selling cigarettes,”

  St. Louis County NAACP President Esther Haywood said in a statement.

  “We plan to do everything within our power to ensure that the Ferguson Police Department as well as the St. Louis County Police Department releases all details pertinent to the shooting.”

  
  

  My grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn't tell me nothing. - Desiree Harris

  
  
  Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told KMOV, the St. Louis CBS-affiliate, that St. Louis County Police have taken over the investigation and the officer involved in the shooting has been put on paid administrative leave.
  [/QUOTE]
  --
  Witnesses say he had his hands up and was surrendering when he was shot
  People are protesting and rioting, I don't really blame them
  I feel like this is the 60s all over again, it brings me to tears
  [SPOILER="protest images"]

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  [/SPOILER]
  
  
  Protesters use hands-up gesture defiantly after Michael Brown shooting (Los Angeles Times)
  
  The hands-up — a sign of surrender and submission black men and boys here say they learn early on when dealing with police — has been transformed into a different kind of weapon.
  
  How the Media Missed the Mark in Coverage of Michael Brown’s Killing (Essence)
  
  Nearly every story I saw about Brown’s death yesterday led with unidentified Black men and women grabbing loot, not with photos or video of Brown or his grieving family, or of the peaceful protests outside the Ferguson law enforcement building. The images of the rioting were gripping. But coverage of the riots should not overshadow the cause of the riots. The real story has taken a backseat to the sensational.
  
  Anonymous Posts St. Louis Police Dispatch Tapes From Day of Ferguson Shooting (Mother Jones)
  
  Posted by @theanonmessage, a twitter account affiliated with Anonymous’ Operation Ferguson. According to @theanonmessage, this recording contains audio excerpts from St. Louis County police dispatch over several hours on August 9, 2014, the day Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer.
  
  Rage Is the Right Response to What Happened in Ferguson (The Root)
  
  Rage is not a useless emotion. It is destructive and damaging, but it is also cathartic and freeing. It is arguably the most primal and guttural feeling in the emotional spectrum, and as such, it is justified for a tragedy of this magnitude.
  
  Will Demanding Justice for Mike Brown Land You a Visit from the FBI? (ColorLines)
  
  An unnamed caller recorded himself placing a phone call to the publicly listed phone number for the Ferguson Police Department, demanding justice for Mike Brown. The person who answers the phone—in all likelihood a Ferguson police officer—sarcastically answers that “justice isn’t here right now” before threatening to show up at the caller’s home with the FBI.
  
  Two Journalists Reportedly Arrested Without Cause, Assaulted in Ferguson (Gawker)
  
  Two reporters working out of a McDonalds in Ferguson, Mo. say they were arrested and assaulted for no apparent reason while covering the increasingly violent clash between police and protestors on Wednesday night. Both were eventually released without being charged.
  
  In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest (Washington Post)
  
  As I turned, my backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, began to slip. I said, “Officers, let me just gather my bag.” As I did, one of them said, “Okay, let’s take him.”
  
  How America’s Police Became an Army: The 1033 Program (Newsweek)
  
  As many have noted, Ferguson, Missouri, currently looks like a war zone. And its police—kitted out with Marine-issue camouflage and military-grade body armor, toting short-barreled assault rifles, and rolling around in armored vehicles—are indistinguishable from soldiers. America has been quietly arming its police for battle since the early 1990s.
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-08-14 18:51
  Reminds me of that story a week or so ago about the black guy that was shot to death in the middle of Walmart because he was playing with a toy gun in the toy aisle and someone thought it was real and called the police. Apparently he was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time and his last words were "It's just a toy!" before they opened fire.
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-14 20:18
  ^Wow, that appears to be a real incidence too. Just 4 days before Michael Brown's execution. And there's that fatal chokehold the article thankfully reminds us of.
  
  I read the name "Michael Brown" mentioned, but I already forgot where.
  
  No words really.
• azureknuckle wrote on 2014-08-14 20:25
  In my neighborhood the community has this group organized called CopWatch that basically goes around filming police brutality , it's a shame even with all these grassroot efforts that time and time again we're victims of something bigger then us .
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-14 20:35
  The shame starts at the fact that it got a community so far to think it is prudent to start fillming police brutality while that should be a dreadfully unenventful and useless activity.
  
  I think Cynic already lamented the non-existent standards in police officer training years ago. Wonder where s-/he went anyway.
• azureknuckle wrote on 2014-08-14 20:47
  [QUOTE=Campylobacter jejuni;1240410]The shame starts at the fact that it got a community so far to think it is prudent to start fillming police brutality while that should be a dreadfully unenventful and useless activity.
  
  I agree with what you're saying essentially , I was skeptical about it when I first saw it , it has however helped stopped numerous potential incidents in my neighborhood . Although it's a grassroots effort which is something really vital in Community Organizing , I still don't see it as something that can stop police brutality .
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-14 20:59
  It apparently can curb it at least, which is good. But it's still sad that it's necessary.
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-08-14 21:04

  Quote from Campylobacter jejuni;1240401:

  ^Wow, that appears to be a real incidence too.

  
  
  Well yeah, did you think I was making it up? Lol. It happened like 20 minutes from where I live.
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-14 21:56
  No. But you used the word "story". That somehow made me want to double-check, like I immediately connected it with hearsay and uncertainty. I dunno why.
• Osayidan wrote on 2014-08-14 22:01
  I suspect that if shit like this continues, combined with all the other problems like the economy/unemployment, in a few years time the US will have its own "arab spring" type of situation going on. The "Occupy" protests were just a tiny fraction of the frustration and anger people are feeling, not only in the US but around the world, and eventually one of these type of events might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
• Darkboy132 wrote on 2014-08-15 04:33

  Quote from Space Pirate Nithiel;1240389:

  Reminds me of that story a week or so ago about the black guy that was shot to death in the middle of Walmart because he was playing with a toy gun in the toy aisle and someone thought it was real and called the police. Apparently he was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time and his last words were "It's just a toy!" before they opened fire.

  
  
  Are they stupid?! So if I wave a double-bladed lightsaber in public, someone would call the police and kill me?!
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-08-15 05:09

  Quote from Darkboy132;1240508:

  Are they stupid?! So if I wave a double-bladed lightsaber in public, someone would call the police and kill me?!

  
  
  Only if you're black.
  
  Oh, and it said the guy who called the cops was an ex marine. How the fuck does an ex marine not know the difference between a real gun and a toy?
• Tacofan wrote on 2014-08-15 06:13

  Quote from Space Pirate Nithiel;1240513:

  Only if you're black.
  
  Oh, and it said the guy who called the cops was an ex marine. How the fuck does an ex marine not know the difference between a real gun and a toy?

  
  
  Are you serious? You can get fairly realistic guns that'll convince anybody from a distance from the toy section of any grocery store in St. Louis.
  
  Contrary to popular opinion, people would've started shit if the cop shot a white kid too. Relations between the cops and people of north county have always been godawful. It's just coincidence that it was a black kid because surprisingly, there are a high density of black people up in north county.
  
  Also, despite what the news say, Ferguson is not actually a war zone. It's primarily a few isolated streets where many of the riots lie. Most people in Ferguson are still going on with their day in relative safety.
• Space Pirate Nithiel wrote on 2014-08-15 09:22

  Quote from Tacofan;1240526:

  Are you serious? You can get fairly realistic guns that'll convince anybody from a distance from the toy section of any grocery store in St. Louis.
  
  Contrary to popular opinion, people would've started shit if the cop shot a white kid too. Relations between the cops and people of north county have always been godawful. It's just coincidence that it was a black kid because surprisingly, there are a high density of black people up in north county.
  
  Also, despite what the news say, Ferguson is not actually a war zone. It's primarily a few isolated streets where many of the riots lie. Most people in Ferguson are still going on with their day in relative safety.

  
  
  You're confusing two different stories. We were discussing a similar event of cops needlessly killing black people in Ohio. And I don't know what the Walmarts in St. Louis carry, but the toy guns in the Walmarts around here look like this.
  
  

  [Image: http://lifewithpdd-nos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_1492.jpg]

  
  
  and this
  
  

  [Image: http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02/24/99/28/0002249928105_500X500.jpg]

  
  
  Hell, even the most realistic ones are bright fucking orange.
  
  

  [Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RT-yqQxLuls/TuA5RK5U3FI/AAAAAAAAAyk/u6BQvp7cqfE/s1600/IMG_9545.JPG]

  
  
  
  Also - http://www.theonion.com/articles/tips-for-being-an-unarmed-black-teen,36697/
• Aubog007 wrote on 2014-08-15 10:56

  Quote from Tacofan;1240526:

  Are you serious? You can get fairly realistic guns that'll convince anybody from a distance from the toy section of any grocery store in St. Louis.
  
  Contrary to popular opinion, people would've started shit if the cop shot a white kid too. Relations between the cops and people of north county have always been godawful. It's just coincidence that it was a black kid because surprisingly, there are a high density of black people up in north county.
  
  Also, despite what the news say, Ferguson is not actually a war zone. It's primarily a few isolated streets where many of the riots lie. Most people in Ferguson are still going on with their day in relative safety.

  
  
  Idk man, the british news is having a field day with it.