My town is burning!

Jeff Head said:

I just heard Police Scanner report indicating automatic weapon fire from the rioters in Ferguson. If this is true, it is getting very serious. ...

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I'm listening to some Classical Music Radio Station here which broadcasts news only several times per a day, with just several items, but now (at 0800 here) they also reported automatic weapons had been recently used in Ferguson (? -- they quoted Reuters, but I didn't find such a report at ) ... now I have to go to work anyway, hope everybody cools down there

Bltizo said:

This photo made me raise my eyebrows a little.

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Santa Claus won't "land" in such bad "weather".

From CNN: This is no joke!!!

[Breaking news update at 3:06 a.m.]
Police made 29 arrests amid the protests and violence, St. Louis County Police said. The police chief said he heard at least 150 gunshots, but authorities said police did not fire at anyone.

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kwaigonegin said:

Damn!

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Sorry to hear that, I hope the violence stops soon. However, I suppose the response was all too predictable - well done to the governor for putting extra personnel on stand-by.

kwaigonegin said:

Google ferguson. Or st. Louis

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Do you now live in Ferguson or are you just raised there ? If you do live in Ferguson I hope you stay safe.

SteelBird said:

Santa Claus won't "land" in such bad "weather".

From CNN: This is no joke!!!

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I believe a large percentage of the "gunfire" was ammo "cooking off" in the two cop cars the protestors set on fire,,,,, what was instructive is the initial reaction of the CNN crew, who were there to "see how bad the Ferguson PD really is" when they saw the violence and destruction of the "protestors" who demonstrated a great deal of thugery and violence burning and looting a liquor store. Running in and stealing multiple bottles of some kind of evil drink, the CNN crew were scared and appalled at the behavior of the protestors whom they couldn't believe wouldn't heed the presidents call for "no violence" or that of Michael Browns family. It is a shame, but Anderson Cooper soon got the CNN crew back on board, chiding them for their wimpiness, yes he was in a very safe place, and reminding them that it really wasn't that bad for the protestors to be "acting out of their frustration and anger". Anderson Cooper is an idiot, shame he didn't get accosted as did some other reporters, nor did he get to breath any "teargas? smoke, whatever??".

Be safe Kwai, I am sorry for this disappointing mess in our country, but I guess those folks were mad that the cops weren't passing out "Obama Phones" for Christmas???

Along West Florissant just north of 270, in Greystone Plaza, about 20 men with handguns and AR-15 rifles stood around the perimeter of the parking lot, guarding the dozen or so stores.

Shortly after 2 a.m., at least five busloads of National Guard troops pulled up along South Florissant Road in the old town area of Ferguson.



Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to protect your livelihood. The governor made a mistake of not deploying the guards earlier. They we're suppose to be 'backup' but ended up being in the front lines. Guards were earlier deployed to protect critical infrastructures around the city like power plants, courthouses, maybe the Boeing plants. We make the F18s and Harpoons over here to name a few.

Hindsight is 20/20 but they should've deployed the national guards in ferguson during the announcement. Many times even the presence of force will make people behave better. I hope other cities learn from us. You just cannot assume any mob will behave themselves and hope for their better judgement.

kwaigonegin said:

Along West Florissant just north of 270, in Greystone Plaza, about 20 men with handguns and AR-15 rifles stood around the perimeter of the parking lot, guarding the dozen or so stores.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to protect your livelihood.

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Yes. The same thing occurred in the LA riots as rioters tried to expand.

Perhaps some of the gunfire that was heard came from such people firing into the air to dissuade rioters.

kwaigonegin said:

The governor made a mistake of not deploying the guards earlier. They we're suppose to be 'backup' but ended up being in the front lines. Guards were earlier deployed to protect critical infrastructures around the city like power plants, courthouses, maybe the Boeing plants. We make the F18s and Harpoons over here to name a few.

Hindsight is 20/20 but they should've deployed the national guards in ferguson during the announcement. Many times even the presence of force will make people behave better. I hope other cities learn from us. You just cannot assume any mob will behave themselves and hope for their better judgement.

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I agree 100%.

I hope it is settling down this morning.

It's baffling that people are rioting over a suspect who was leaving the scene of a crime, grappled with a police officer, and then shot. In the meantime there is minimal coverage or outrage with a policeman in NYC choking a man to death while arresting him for selling cigarettes illegally and ignoring his pleas that he couldn't breathe. The Martin-Zimmerman case in Florida was also a lot more unjust with the shooter instigating a confrontation when nothing was happening otherwise. There are injustices out there to fight but this Missouri case isn't one of them and rioting isn't a way to fight injustice.

PanAsian said:

It's baffling that people are rioting over a suspect who was leaving the scene of a crime, grappled with a police officer, and then shot. In the meantime there is minimal coverage or outrage with a policeman in NYC choking a man to death while arresting him for selling cigarettes illegally and ignoring his pleas that he couldn't breathe. The Martin-Zimmerman case in Florida was also a lot more unjust with the shooter instigating a confrontation when nothing was happening otherwise. There are injustices out there to fight but this Missouri case isn't one of them and rioting isn't a way to fight injustice.

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I do think that this is a symptom of underlining tension between certain ethnic groups and the police and by extension the authority. This is more than just a local event associated with one local police justice/injustice case, it served as a spark that set off a fuse---previous media reporting of perceived injustices elsewhere etc all added up to this point. Therefore, irrespective of whether the chap got shot deserved it or not, the perception of police being unjust was already set in some people's minds. And when emotions begins to run high, logic gets thrown out of the window.

Solution lies in reconciliation between the different sections of the society, and rebuilding of trust, and I really think people higher up should be a lot more involved in this process and show more leadership rather than treating it like a bystander.

wtlh said:

I do think that this is a symptom of underlining tension between certain ethnic groups and the police and by extension the authority. This is more than just a local event associated with one local police justice/injustice case, it served as a spark that set off a fuse---previous media reporting of perceived injustices elsewhere etc all added up to this point. Therefore, irrespective of whether the chap got shot deserved it or not, the perception of police being unjust was already set in some people's minds. And when emotions begins to run high, logic gets thrown out of the window.

Solution lies in reconciliation between the different sections of the society, and rebuilding of trust, and I really think people higher up should be a lot more involved in this process and show more leadership rather than treating it like a bystander.

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Your remarks make me think of two episodes of long black out in New York City some forty years ago.
The first, in the sixties and which extended into Canada, was only remarkable for a peak in births three quarter of a year later: . From that wiki:

In contrast to the wave of looting and other incidents that took place during the 1977 New York City blackout, only five reports of looting were made in New York City after the 1965 blackout. It was said to be the lowest amount of crime on any night in the city's history since records were first kept.

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The second resulted in very considerable looting.

Unlike other blackouts that affected the region, namely the Northeast blackouts of 1965 and 2003, the 1977 blackout was localized to New York City and the immediate surroundings. Also in contrast to the 1965 and 2003 blackouts, the 1977 blackout resulted in city-wide looting and other disorders, including arson.

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It is worthwhile to ask why there was looting in NYC in 1977 and why there is looting now in Ferguson.