Ferguson is now a free speech zone

The Verge ^ | August 14, 2014 | T.C. Sottek and Matt Stroud

[2ndDivisionVet]

The people of Ferguson, Missouri are still out on the streets. They're loud, and they're upset, but tonight they're not being intimidated by warrior cops. They're not being tear gassed. They're not being shot at with rubber bullets. They're simply doing what Americans do in hard times.

The decision today by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to yank St. Louis County Police from security detail appears to be paying off. Since police shot and killed Michael Brown on Saturday, heavily armed officers locked down the neighborhood, intimidating peaceful protestors. Police aggression peaked on Wednesday night as the nation watched, as officers advanced on crowds of residents, asking them to turn off their cameras. Police even tear gassed an Al Jazeera news crew, and arrested two journalists for no reason.

The tone has shifted. Residents we spoke with on the ground today said they're finally able to do what they wanted to do in the first place: mourn the death of Michael Brown and let the country know that his death was senseless and unnecessary. The afternoon, marked by calm solidarity, has transformed into a boisterous parade. People from all over St. Louis — and elsewhere — are driving through this small strip of Ferguson, honking horns liberally, packed so full that passengers are hanging out of the windows.

Whenever hands are raised, just as Brown's were before he was fatally shot, the chant echoes through the street: "Hands up! / Don't shoot!"

We asked several people who've been present for the protests how the tone has changed since St. Louis County Police left Ferguson. In a word, it's peaceful. "They told us to go back to the house," a young man named Sosa told us. "We don't want to be in the house. We want to be on the streets."

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

[UCANSEE2]

"Police even tear gassed an Al Jazeera news crew, and arrested two journalists for no reason.

Baloney.

[Gabz]

That picture is NOT the guy who was shot.

[blueplum]

reddit feed:
Eli Rosenberg
@EliKMBC 8:34pm

A guy just walked up and punched my photographer in the face 4 times. People in the crowd rushed to help, the guy ran.

http://www.reddit.com/live/tdrph3y49ftn/

[dragnet2]

This was taken on the day he graduated high school, after returning from church, and shows Brown sitting at his grandmothers table, planning out his college courses.

[datura]

This event is both racism (both directions), as well as people being fed up with our paramilitary police forces (and government in general).

Just wait and see how things roll after they rig the midterms.

It’s coming. New alliances are forming between former enemies, with authority being the enemy it really is.

(R)evolution.

[Paladin2]

Browne didn’t deserve killin’ that day.

[UCANSEE2]

Do you know where Big Mike and friends had been before they came walking down the middle of the road to the apartment complex?

Do you know why the police had to come to the apartment complex to begin with ?

Do you know why the ‘protesters’ attacked,looted, and then burned that particular QT ? Do you know what they wrote on the back wall of the QT ?

[2ndDivisionVet]

There’s a day coming ... maybe a month from now, a year from now or five years from now, when people like you, me and tens of millions like us, get off the [expletive] couch, walk over to the gun cabinet and slam the screen door on the way to the pickup truck. I don’t know what will trigger it, but when it comes it’ll be like that scene in “Network” where everyone throws open their windows and screams along with the anchorman.

[flaglady47]

“I am not defending shooting someone in cold blood. However, Brown was a big man, 6’4” and 300 pounds. I have no idea how big the police officer is. Why the officer felt it was necessary to shoot him needs to be investigated.”

One of the black witnesses said the white cop was slender, not very big (I’m paraphrasing here, as I can’t remember the exact wording, but the gist of it was the cop was not a large man).

[Paladin2]

"Do you know why the police had to come to the apartment complex to begin with ?

Do you know why the ‘protesters’ attacked,looted, and then burned that particular QT ? Do you know what they wrote on the back wall of the QT ?"

Nope. Let's get a time line constructed....

[kabar]

BREAKING: Ferguson’s Michael Brown PICTURED WITH A GUN – Flashing Gang Signs

According to Gateway Pundit, it is. Jim Hoft lives in St Louis and claims that it is Michael Brown. So how do you know that it is NOT Michael Brown? Is the picture below Michael Brown?

[dragnet2]

See post 31 and the accompanied Mike Brown crime scene video at the thread link. Ignore the audio and focus on the first half of the video.

This very well could have been a legitimate shoot.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3192974/posts?page=31#31

[kabar]

Let’s get all the facts before coming to a conclusion.

[Ken H]

You have all the facts, I don't. From the reports I have read, Brown pushed the officer back into the patrol car and then tried to take his weapon away. A shot was fired inside the patrol car during the scuffle. Brown then tried to flee and was shot. The police officer was supposedly injured in the encounter

He was shot 35 feet from the vehicle, according to the StL Co. Chief of Police.

[Paladin2]

"Let’s get all the facts"

Great idea. Those are likely to be increasing difficult to come by though.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Near perfect timing for November election day.

Expect the full circus.

Facts won’t matter one iota.

[UCANSEE2]

“Hands up! / Don’t shoot!”

I wonder... has that ever worked for anyone facing some thug with a gun ?

[babygene]

“One of the black witnesses said the white cop was slender, not very big (I’m paraphrasing here, as I can’t remember the exact wording, but the gist of it was the cop was not a large man).”

So a skinny cop can shoot a bigger man because he’s afraid? Is that your position?

[UCANSEE2]

Is it because I’m white?

Yes. And because you are an American. And likely a heterosexual. And probably a Christian.

[kabar]

We have yet to hear the police officer's version. I did hear the account of a woman who claims to have witnessed it. She said that there was a shot fired inside the patrol car and that the police officer fired multiple times at Brown who she said was trying to surrender.

If the police officer felt his life was in danger faced by a much bigger man who had just tried to take his gun away and injured him, then he could claim he was firing in self-defense. I have heard no account of what words were exchanged or why Brown tried to prevent the officer from exiting the patrol car. Why would he take such an aggressive action? What precipitated it? Were there any drugs in Brown's system? Lots of questions, not many answers. I doubt that the police officer was seeking out black teenagers to kill in cold blood on a public street.