We now have a situation in Ferguson, MO
After a night of increasing unrest, police and local black community leaders held a community meeting on Thursday, August 12, to discuss an action plan and to urge calm; the meeting failed. Later that day, Los Angeles police chief William H. Parker called for the assistance of the California Army National Guard.[14]
The rioting intensified and on Friday, August 13, about 2,300 National Guardsmen joined the police trying to maintain order on the streets. That number increased to 3,900 by midnight on Saturday, August 14. Sergeant Ben Dunn said "The streets of Watts resembled an all-out war zone in some far-off foreign country, it bore no resemblance to the United States of America."[citation needed] Martial law was declared and curfew was enforced by the National Guardsmen who put a cordon around a vast region of South Central Los Angeles.[15] In addition to the guardsmen, 934 Los Angeles Police officers and 718 officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were deployed during the rioting.[14]
Between 31,000 and 35,000 adults participated in the riots over the course of six days, while about 70,000 people were "sympathetic, but not active."[12] Mainstream white America viewed those actively participating in the riot as criminals destroying and looting their own neighborhood. Many in the black community, however, saw the rioters as taking part in an "uprising against an oppressive system."[12] Black civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in a 1966 essay stated, "The whole point of the outbreak in Watts was that it marked the first major rebellion of Negroes against their own masochism and was carried on with the express purpose of asserting that they would no longer quietly submit to the deprivation of slum life."[16]
Those actively participating in the riots started physical fights with police, blocked firefighters of the Los Angeles Fire Department from their safety duties, or beat white motorists. Arson and looting were largely confined to white-owned stores and businesses that were said to have caused resentment in the neighborhood due to perceived unfairness.[17]
Los Angeles police chief Parker publicly described the people he saw involved in the riots as acting like "monkeys in the zoo."[17] Overall, an estimated $40 million in damage was caused as almost 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Homes were not attacked, although some caught fire due to proximity to other fires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riots
One problem with that narrative: I worked with Lee Minikus in South LA.. He, not being a bullshitter or liar, said the thing started after Rena Price got a 2X4 and hit him in the back with it.
Secondly, I attended Compton College. Between years, I moved. The College said I had to get a Permit from the Board of Education at 8th and Figueroa in downtown L A.
I asked other students--How do I get there? One said, "Oh ,it's easy. Just get on Central and keep going north to 8th. Turn left and go to Figueroa".
I took that route UNFORTUNATELY. This was 1960! AS I drove through, I was almost run off the road by a car load of blacks, had bottles thrown at my car, and had yelled at me a word I had never heard: HONKEY. I recall wondering--What's a HONKEY?
==========================================================
Background
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots
On March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving west on the Foothill Freeway (I-210) through the Lake View Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) attempted to initiate a traffic stop. A high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to 115 mph first over freeways and then through residential neighborhoods. When King came to a stop, CHP Officer Timothy Singer and his wife, CHP Officer Melanie Singer, ordered the occupants under arrest.[6]
After two passengers were placed in the patrol car, five white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers (Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, and Rolando Solano) attempted to subdue King, who came out of the car last. King was tasered, kicked in the head, beaten with PR-24 batons for over one minute, then tackled and cuffed. The officers claimed that King was under the influence of PCP at the time of arrest, which caused him to be very aggressive and violent towards the officers. Koon said King resisted arrest.[6] The video showed that he was crawling on the ground during the beating and that the police made no attempt to cuff him.[7]
A subsequent test for the presence of PCP turned up negative.(This is bullshit! I was a Drug Recognition Expert for the CHP, and had personally arrested several who were using PCP. As an Instructor at the Academy told us, PCP was created as an anesthetic. He said, "Remember when you are dealing with these guys--They don't feel pain--they are prepped for surgery. QUESTION: How many of YOU could take ONE HIT that Rodney got--and not surrender) The incident was captured on a camcorder by resident George Holliday from his apartment in the vicinity. The tape was roughly ten minutes long. While the case was presented to the court, clips of the incident were not released to the public.[8]
In a later interview, King, who was on parole from prison on a robbery conviction and who had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery, said that he had not surrendered earlier because he knew that an arrest for DUI would violate the terms of his parole.
The footage of King being beaten by police while lying on the ground became a focus for media attention and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States.
O K--Who was the REAL Bad guy here?
The Officers were tried in Superior Court for "Assault under Color of Authority". It weas pointed out that they had not broken any law or LAPD Policy. They were found innocent.
GHW Bush came to town to start his presidential campaign.
Several Race Baiter Reverends cornered him . Not wanting to lose votes outright, GHW Bush sicced the FBI on the officers and got them convicted for "Civil Rights Violations". (Basically, a Civil Rights Violation is what the Attorney General SAYS it is--isn't that scary?)
=========================================================
So here we are now to Ferguson, MO
Here is the police Report:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/15/ferguson-missouri-police-report-michael-brown/14115495/
In documents released by police during a press conference Friday, Michael Brown is named as a suspect in a strong-arm robbery of a box of cigars moments before he was shot to death by Officer Darren Wilson.
A police offense incident report dated Aug. 9 that was part of the packet of documents Ferguson, Mo. Police Chief Thomas Jackson released quotes the officer writing, "I was able to confirm that Brown is the primary suspect in this incident."
The report does not name the officer or contain an officer's signature. It also does not contain the address where the robbery is said to have happened.
But it provides the following description of the robbery: An employee at a Ferguson convenience store saw Brown grab a box of Swisher Sweet cigars and hand them to another young man identified as Dorrian Johnson, who was standing behind him.
The employee said he told Brown he had to pay for the cigars and instead, Brown reached across the counter and grabbed numerous packets of cigars and turned to leave the store.
The report says according to the employee Brown grabbed his shirt and pushed him into a display rack. Then he and Johnson left the store without paying.
The report describes Brown as 6'4, 292 pounds and wearing a white T-shirt, khaki long shorts, yellow socks and a red Cardinals baseball cap.
Jackson released dispatch records and video surveillance of the robbery as well.
Brown was unarmed when Wilson killed him. Witnesses in the area say Brown had raised his hands to surrender when he was shot. Police have not confirmed that information.
O K--He's criminal. To add to that, a publication yesterday released photos of Brown flashing "Gang Sign".
Somehow, Brown managed to assault a police officer, ( A Violent Felony in any State)
and apparently after he feels the police officer is incapacitated, he starts to flee.
The Supreme Court said an officer can shoot a fleeing violent felon. Most Police Departments would order this as--should the officer allow an escape, and that felon assaults and or kills a citizen, the Department would be liable civilly .
I remember the 1960's riots, and the L.A. riots. Most of the people I talk to now don't.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty clear that in the Ferguson Case, the Gentle Giant was a thug, and that he attacked the police officer. Witnesses say that the cop was only able to stop him at a distance of less than 3 feet away. But even though that news is out, the morons in Ferguson are still running around holding up their little hands and saying "don't shoot me." Pimp Daddy Holder is on his way down there Thursday to see what advantage he can wring out of all this for The Golfer in Chief. The area is already flooded with his "gangsta's". I hope the officer gets a fair shake but it isn't looking like it. More likely the limp member Governor of Missouri and the feds will throw him to the mob.