Ferguson, MO is a warzone.

[Gravekeeper]

If that's how things actually went down and Officer Wilson was damaged that badly, I can't see how he can be faulted for what happened.

I don't know with this one. This creeped up on Twitter last night. The original source for it is Jim Hoft, aka The Internet's Dumbest Man. He's a right wing fuckwit blogger that will publish any scant rumour or made up right wing story he gets his hands on. We're talking stories about Obama flipping the bird at Republicans in congress ( based on a picture of him scratching his nose ). His current blog headline is: "Narcissist Obama Lectures ISIS Jihadists on True Meaning of Islam". The guy is an idiot and an asshole that publishes anything anyone tells him if it fits his personal world.

Fox News periodically likes to use him as a source ( and then he posts that Fox News corroborated his story so it must be true ).

He also posted a story saying "dozens" of witnesses verified the police version of events. Based on a tweet from a reporter from the St Louis dispatch. Who is not in Ferguson. And is on maternity leave so she's not even currently working as a reporter at all. She's already been caught a few times posting false stories on Twitter over the last few days.

Besides, wouldn't an orbital blow out fracture hurt like FUCK all? Wilson remained calmly on scene for some time after the shooting, on video, and showed no signs of pain or distress.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Sure, if they have evidence of major damage on the officer that's going to go a long way to proving a mix of self defense and justifiable homicide within a court of law. And yea, very quickly this topic will change to the racial make-up of the police force or militarization or the overall incidence of targeting of minorities exclusively. And yea, someone's going to claim this is a frame job.

It's pretty much playing out the inevitable scenario. When you play in rhetorical Snidely Whiplash terms with people, you can rile people up. It's really bad on a gut level that this story should come out and PEOPLE DO think the guy is guilty immediately. But that's why the discussions from this shouldn't die. Things like cameras on officers or addressing racial diversity should be looked at.

That said, IF dudebro was attacked, I'm not sure how you get the african american communities to get behind reconciliation with cops or dealing with what are contributing factors from the community toward the situation that actually created this mess. And you need that because cops can't go into areas where no one talks and treats them with suspicion and expect them to act like like paragons of virtue. It would be nice, but they're just paid dudes that do a job. And cops for their part really do need to deal with their racial issues in a very real an substantiative way.

But my guess is both sides will just stick with the other side is "fucked" and not bother. People are remarkably predictable that way.

[crashhelmet]

Not only did he show no signs of distress, but there was no mention of this injury at all in the initial statement from the police.

For all we know, he could've been hit by someone else so that he'd be "marked up" for the press to see.

[Gravekeeper]

Ah, here we go, the CT Scan that was released with the original story is pulled from a couple of medical websites.

Like....its straight from medical websites detailing the very definition of orbital blow out fracture. Its not even trying.

So yeah this story seems totally legit so far.

[HYHYBT]

Interesting latest report. The current police story is that Officer Wilson asked the guys from his cruiser to stop jaywalking. They ignored him so he started to get out of his car to repeat himself. Brown proceeded to shove Officer Wilson back into the car and beat the ever loving shit out of him, breaking bones in his face, before getting shot. The fight went outside the car and Brown started running away. Wilson drew his gun and ordered him to stop running. Brown put his hands up in the air then charged Wilson resulting in getting shot multiple times.

That makes no sense. Even without another version of what happened it would be too far-fetched to trust.

[Gravekeeper]

Video has surfaced of the other police shooting of a black man the other day by the St Louis County PD. Graphic warning. Its the entire thing start to finish.

It was all of 15 seconds from the moment the cops got out of their car ( with guns already out ) to when they shot him dead on the spot. He was holding a knife, but he didn't rush the officer or even point it at them. He walked towards them begging them to shoot him over and over to which I guess they thought that granted them permission. Prior to that he had just been standing around on the sidewalk literally waiting for the police to arrive.

Don't they have tazers or pepper spray or anything aside from lethal force in Missouri? Geez. Factor in that the guy was obviously mentally ill and this is ridiculous.

Anywhere else and brandishing a knife ( axe, sledgehammer, sword, etc ) at the police gets you tazed. Not shot within 15 seconds.

[siead_lietrathua]

i though cops were supposed to avoid 'suicide by police', not encourage it. >.<

[Gravekeeper]

i though cops were supposed to avoid 'suicide by police', not encourage it. >.<

I guess its not suicide by cop if you handcuff the body after you shoot them. ( Seriously. They handcuffed the body. )

[mikoyan29]

We will probably never know the truth of the circumstances that lead to this but that doesn't excuse the arresting of journalists and other things that have happened as a result of all of this.

[Greenday]

They had a nice, peaceful night last night and as a result, things have de-escalated. National Guard is gone.

[Herebecause]

Video has surfaced of the other police shooting of a black man the other day by the St Louis County PD. Graphic warning. Its the entire thing start to finish.

It was all of 15 seconds from the moment the cops got out of their car ( with guns already out ) to when they shot him dead on the spot. He was holding a knife, but he didn't rush the officer or even point it at them. He walked towards them begging them to shoot him over and over to which I guess they thought that granted them permission. Prior to that he had just been standing around on the sidewalk literally waiting for the police to arrive.

Don't they have tazers or pepper spray or anything aside from lethal force in Missouri? Geez. Factor in that the guy was obviously mentally ill and this is ridiculous.

Anywhere else and brandishing a knife ( axe, sledgehammer, sword, etc ) at the police gets you tazed. Not shot within 15 seconds.

How are they justifying this? How?? Because he was holding a knife, it means they should kill him in cold blood? I strongly believe the majority of the police officers in our country do it for the right reasons and are good people, but this is terrifying.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Ah, here we go, the CT Scan that was released with the original story is pulled from a couple of medical websites.

Ugh... that's what I get for having a few minutes to look around and post that day.

[Greenday]

How are they justifying this? How?? Because he was holding a knife, it means they should kill him in cold blood? I strongly believe the majority of the police officers in our country do it for the right reasons and are good people, but this is terrifying.

Um, because someone coming at you with a knife is a threat to your life and is a valid reason to defend yourself with lethal force.

[siead_lietrathua]

Um, because someone coming at you with a knife is a threat to your life and is a valid reason to defend yourself with lethal force.

did you watch the video? i'm only asking because the cops could have easily tasered the guy instead. i mean, he stood still in front of their vehicle for several seconds yelling 'shoot me'. ample time to grab the taser and stun him.
they are cops, they have other options on their belts than the lethal one, and the lethal one is supposed to be the LAST resort. not the first.

[Duelist925]

Um, because someone coming at you with a knife is a threat to your life and is a valid reason to defend yourself with lethal force.

Exactly how low of a standard do you hold officers of the law to?

Because I hold them to a higher one than "shoot the mentally ill dude without any attempts at less lethal options".

How little do you respect the men in uniform, if you will excuse such disturbing, and flagrantly untrained behaviour?

This man was not "coming at them", he was approaching them at a pace, and STOPPING in front of them for long enough for them to tazer him easily if they had either
A: ANY decent training whatsoever
or
B: Weren't blindingly incompetent.