Chico and CRedskinsRule:
Ah - we're talking about two different things.
My rants on the lack of facts were directed at the initial incident - Brown being shot by the cop. Specifically we have the cop's statements to the Furgeson Police, repeated by the Police Chief, and that's it. The key witness is (as of last time I checked) refusing to talk to the police. The only other people talking are the ones I mentioned earlier that weren't there and don't know.
As for the police response... you have to remember that current picture of Furgeson is not how it's been since the original shooting. It was originally protests and police around the area as you would think.
It only escalated to the military-esque scenes we're seeing on TV now after 2 nights of looting and destruction of property (burning down buildings, cars, etc.) Specifically on the 2nd night police responded to a 911 call about a group of men in ski masks and guns shooting in an area. When cops arrived they actually wound up shooting one of the men, sending him to this hospital (this is a second shooting in the area at this point.) This is when they stepped up the police presence.
All of that is to say - be careful how much you buy into the media's narrative.
The police are absolutely over stepping in some cases. But the narrative seems to be that they just don't like black people protesting and are trying to put a stop to it.
The reality is that after two nights of complete chaos, mass looting, burning of businesses, a second police officer shooting incident, and who knows what else, they brought in these forces to try to maintain control over a tension-filled situation.
So for all the people that think this is an over reaction - how would you like it if your business was looted and burned to the ground while the police sat by and did nothing (as they originally did for two days)?
For those familiar with the King riot sin LA in '92 - they behaved the opposite of Ferguson. They set up a perimeter and tried to keep the riots contained instead of inserting a strong presence from the start and keeping control. It's taken almost 2 decades for the entire area to move past it, and in some ways it still hasn't. Businesses were lost for good. People were raped, beaten. Some people died. Some people were beaten almost to death because their skin is white.
If you're not familair with those stories this is a good read I sent to someone else earlier -
Twenty years later, Rodney King riots still resonate - CSMonitor.com
There's documentaries out on that side of the King riots as well. There were Koreans on top of buildings with rifles protecting their blocks of businesses in Korea town.
These business owners and citizens not involved in the riots pay taxes to be protected. This is why we have police. To maintain order.
I'm sure some of the officers in some incidents are being way over the top - but I have a hard time solely blaming them. It's a disaster down there right now.
The FAA declared a no fly zone over the area days ago...
As for the media members... I have no sympathy for people that go to a place like this seeking headlines. Specifically by staying out past curfew. They have a curfew for a reason and those reporters are not special. If they choose not to follow the orders of the police in regards to the curfew then they get what they deserve in my opinion.
This situation is entirely too tense for the amount of yellow journalism that is going on right now. It serves no one any good. Well, except for ratings I suppose.