Not much to say except this is completely predictable. \u00a0Small-time police department given the armaments of an invading army (literally) and firm in the belief that all crime is fungible and all criminals are supervillains. Throw in the racial element of a town in the South with a history of disproportionate police action against racial minorities and you have all the elements needed for Birmingham fifty years later\u2026with the caveat that the cops in Birmingham had dogs, firehoses, and revolvers. \u00a0Not fully automatic assault rifles with six clips each, armored vehicles, countersnipers and tear gas.<\/p>\n
Which is fucking absurd. Their \u201csniper\u201d was sitting on top of the armored vehicle with his SR-25 on a bipod, exposed to everyone in a position that in a real war zone would get him greased in about ten seconds. \u00a0That was a guy who was absolutely positive he wasn\u2019t going to be shot at\u2026which means he had no business being up there to begin with. Countless Tweets from people who service in Iraq have pointed out that the Ferguson cops are carrying far more ammo – and actually pointing their guns FAR more – than they ever did in-country, and one in particular noted that American troops put down riots outside mosques with less loadout than the Ferguson PD feels obliged to carry.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s out of hand. \u00a0And really, there\u2019s no way to easily sort it out. \u00a0Ideally, you\u2019d put the entirety of local law-enforcement on the sidelines and bring in cops from somewhere else where the police aren\u2019t merely the best-armed gang and the rednecks who want to need the guns don\u2019t have badges. And then the community activists would do a bang-up job of isolating the guys who just want to throw Molotovs and stir the shit (I guarantee you there are some of the usual Free Mumia-International ANSWER-Black Bloc-type douchetards out there making things worse). \u00a0If you could remove the untrustworthy police from the situation and launch a loudly public external investigation, you might persuade people that this is not going to be swept under the rug and justice will be served. \u00a0But then, if ifs and buts were bros and sluts we\u2019d all have been laid on prom night, and right now not a mumbling word is being said about ann investigation. \u00a0Hell, nobody knows where the shooter cop is, he\u2019s not in custody, and there are rednecks marching for HIM in St Louis even after autopsy results suggest that he capped an unarmed man on his knees.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s really the thing, isn\u2019t it? The Ferguson police are out spreading the meme that the kid was a criminal, that he had just robbed a gas station or something, despite admitting that the cop would have no knowledge of that at the time of the incident. \u00a0And even if it\u2019s completely true – we\u2019re doing \u201cshot six times without trial\u201d as an appropriate response to an unarmed theft now? \u00a0It\u2019s like I said earlier: in the minds of certain people, all crime is fungible and every criminal is a terrorist and all terrorists are Magneto. \u00a0And more than one person is pointing out how a bunch of old white people pointed military weapons at the ATF for two weeks at the Bundy Ranch without consequence, and the point should not be lost on anyone. \u00a0Those old crackers weren\u2019t criminals<\/em>, after all, they weren\u2019t dark enough for that.<\/p>\n Ironically, we have just found the perfect use for Google Glass. \u00a0Real time video of everything a cop does from the moment they step out of the car, both policeman and subject, with real-time data updates in the corner of your eye too. \u00a0Horses for courses, and law enforcement is the ideal spot for it. \u00a0And we already have documented evidence that the camera makes a huge difference: cops play by the rules and citizens know that tape is running on them too. \u00a0Instant surveillance at the time it\u2019s needed: maybe that\u2019s the fix. \u00a0Because the cops are loaded for bear in Ferguson but they\u2019re still trying to shut down the media – which is all the proof you need that in 2014, the iPhone is mightier than the sword.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not much to say except this is completely predictable. \u00a0Small-time police department given the armaments of an invading army (literally) and firm in the belief that all crime is fungible and all criminals are supervillains. Throw in the racial element of a town in the South with a history of disproportionate police action against racial … <\/p>\n