Dressed for war- ferguson police

a reply to: BanTv

And you called me a criminal apologist? Because I'm against the police acting in this manner

originally posted by: Thefarmer
a reply to: BanTv

And you called me a criminal apologist? Because I'm against the police acting in this manner

I don't agree with the recent police actions either.

...dbl

a reply to: YouSir


Ummm...let me predicate by stating that I actually like "Expat888" his posts are usually cogent and spot on......however...because I have read many tens of his posts I have gained a certain understanding of his mindset (as per post history).

I just thought that his post that I referenced was disingenuous and diametrically opposed to what my perception of his life experience and angst from what that experience entailed and engendered.

Yes.....I have traveled extensively, and fell in love with the peoples and cultures that I was fortunate to experiance....and yes you are correct I should not have been so quick to make a judgment that was perhaps skewed by an incomplete assessment of another's state of mind and response...

All that aside...I really do think that we are going to be needing the services of those that are as selfless and giving as Expat888....especially in his chosen field....

Thank you

YouSir

a reply to: Thefarmer

How would you suggest the police handle the riots?

Remember they have to answer calls from citizens. So if a business owner calls them and says I have 20 people breaking into my store and stealing and vandalizing it the police have to act.

Would it make the situation better if the police didn't wear helmets and have shields? Perhaps they should cut down the number of officers responding to these incidents.

No matter if the officer was right or wrong in the shooting the rioting is occuring. How would you stop it? Would you just let it happen?

originally posted by: Thefarmer
I feel bad for these folks even if they are looters or not this is just over kill

With " kill " being the key word there.....

Man this is like the twilight zone. The same cops that caused the problem by killing that kid in the streets are the same cops telling the crowd to leave at gun point.

originally posted by: sean
Man this is like the twilight zone. The same cops that caused the problem by killing that kid in the streets are the same cops telling the crowd to leave at gun point.

Twilight Zone for sure! Talk about this entire ordeal being out of hand, and it does make one wonder about the whole "Police State" drills/training for future implementation. The fact that the cops are even treating media and community leaders like animals just doesn't sit right. At this point, all they can continue to do is keep reporting with hopes it could change any future issues (which sadly I have my doubts it will).

I do wholeheartedly agree that people looting is just pure wrong and it's ignorance at it's finest; it fits a lot of stereotypes that the the good people of the world try hard to prove wrong. This saddens me greatly because it's completely unnecessary no matter what happened. Looting and vandalizing is just hate, ignorance, and childish in it's rawest form and it should have never got to that point; no one deserves it. I do believe it could have been prevented if the authorities went about this whole situation differently (ie not acting like we're back in the 50's and 60's).


This is all like a bad dream coming to reality...

a reply to: ThefarmerAmerica has been a military police state, for quite some time. Welcome to the enlightenment.

a reply to: Libertygal

Yes, we do need to wait for the facts, all the facts; because we know nothing at all to be true/false as yet...only that something/s are not quite right in this situation.

Even the President is saying the the police need to be more transparent.

a reply to: Thefarmer

This is most likely the SWAT team, they have always dressed like this. It's nothing new.

Some sources state that the first use of "SWAT" as an acronym for "Special Weapons and Tactics" was the Special Weapons and Tactics Squad established by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964.

A more prominent early SWAT team was established in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967

originally posted by: TorqueyThePig
a reply to: Thefarmer

How would you suggest the police handle the riots?

Remember they have to answer calls from citizens. So if a business owner calls them and says I have 20 people breaking into my store and stealing and vandalizing it the police have to act.

Would it make the situation better if the police didn't wear helmets and have shields? Perhaps they should cut down the number of officers responding to these incidents.

No matter if the officer was right or wrong in the shooting the rioting is occuring. How would you stop it? Would you just let it happen?

According to many that witnessed the violence, the police did just stand by and do nothing. Funny how the violence didn't break out until Ferguson police shot tear gas and rubber bullets into a lawfully gathered crowd.

a reply to: Thefarmer

Unlike British plod cemertur.files.wordpress.com...

a reply to: Witness2008

Were those witnesses the same ones that looted and vandalized the area?

originally posted by: TorqueyThePig
a reply to: Thefarmer

How would you suggest the police handle the riots?

Remember they have to answer calls from citizens. So if a business owner calls them and says I have 20 people breaking into my store and stealing and vandalizing it the police have to act.

Would it make the situation better if the police didn't wear helmets and have shields? Perhaps they should cut down the number of officers responding to these incidents.

No matter if the officer was right or wrong in the shooting the rioting is occuring. How would you stop it? Would you just let it happen?

With community leaders.... but not a huge force of militarized police that are only making things worse by their aggressive arrogance. And attempted cover up of their misdeeds by targeting the media.

a reply to: TorqueyThePig

No they were not. Many of the looters were eventually arrested. I live in St. Louis, and am very familiar with the Ferguson area and some of it's residents.

I am on top of the news concerning this because if it were to spill over into St. Louis, it would affect me and my family. I put the blame of this whole affair onto those that are paid to see to our safety. They have not.....starting with the shooting of an unarmed citizen, to inciting the first wave of violence by shooting tear gas and rubber bullets into a lawfully gathered crowd of protesters and mourners.

I wonder how many LEO's questioned the actions of their own departments. I would hope that some were at the least, apprehensive about what they were ordered to do.

ATS' very own AMA guest, Col. John B. Alexander, has been one of the biggest proponents and architects of the increasing militarization of police forces.

He's written rather extensively on the subject in addition to having been active in this pursuit. I detail some of my own somewhat troubling experience in accessing his writings in his AMA thread here:

Col. John B. Alexander AMA

If any here should access those writings, I'm sure it will give some pause for reflection on an "us vs. them" mentality that is--surprisingly--finally becoming an issue covered by the MSM.

And TPTB accuse us of paranoia, sheesh…

Even more detail here:

link

The following Col. Alexander quotes and author comments in this post are from Spooky Boys With Spooky Toys.

"Distrust of the government by not thousands but tens of millions of US citizens is confirmed in public opinion surveys," he continues. "The skepticism and controversy has been fueled by recent revelations that the US government has routinely lied to the people about such varied topics as human radiation experiments, withholding treatment in the Tuskegee prison syphilis experiments, the oppressive actions of the Internal Revenue Service, the amount and geographic area covered by fallout from nuclear testing, and even UFO sightings."

He said UFO sightings, heheh.

"Many of these conspiracy theory adherents believe that the government -- or some other supranational organization -- is attempting to take freedom away from the citizens.

Some of them see non-lethal weapons as tools to facilitate those objectives. They believe that these weapons could be used to enslave them for some unstated nefarious purpose." Don't worry, says Alexander reassuringly, everything's under control. You just don't know how much.

"Paranoia is running rampant in the United States. We have addressed the militia movements and surprising widespread support that conspiracy theories receive."

Col. Alexander certainly doesn't think much of "conspiracy theorists," or comprehend why they might have "widespread support" does he? I almost feel that he would like to squash those of us he deems as such...or zap me with a microwave or some such and delight in it.

"Another category of concern is against whom non-lethal weapons might be employed," writes Alexander with his characteristically blithe understatement.

"The fallacy of this logic should be readily apparent," he continues. "Sufficient force already exists to accomplish this task. Therefore no new non-lethal weapons would be necessary."

"Another IW [information warfare] subject that has long been hidden from view is 'perception management,'" writes, Alexander. "While everyone knew that perceptions played a major role in shaping the outcome of conflict, the very topic was taboo. It smacked too much of manipulating people in ways that evoked questionable legal issues -- issues no one wanted to address."

The subtext of Alexander's tortured bureaucratic jargon is that even discussing Psy0ps -- psychological-operations aimed at US citizens -- is still verboten.

Very tellingly, however, Alexander concludes that "in the amorphous gray areas between peace and conflict, there is an opportunity to apply non- lethal force selectively to prevent escalation of conflict."

"Information warfare is an ideal tool for sending a very strong message to potential adversaries. That message is that we have the capability, intent, and will to use force -- Accede to our demands!"

When the "potential adversaries" are your fellow American citizens, "Accede to our demands!" reveals a sinister message from the spooky colonel.

originally posted by: TorqueyThePig
a reply to: Thefarmer

How would you suggest the police handle the riots?

Remember they have to answer calls from citizens. So if a business owner calls them and says I have 20 people breaking into my store and stealing and vandalizing it the police have to act.

Would it make the situation better if the police didn't wear helmets and have shields? Perhaps they should cut down the number of officers responding to these incidents.

No matter if the officer was right or wrong in the shooting the rioting is occuring. How would you stop it? Would you just let it happen?

So having a machine gun on a tripod pointing at peaceful protester which included women and children is the way to deal with it yeh?

Maybe if they tried to talk to them instead of shooting them with rubber bullets and tear gas things wouldn't have got this bad

And there is reports that when the looting was happening police just stood by and let them

Correct me if I am wrong. This is how it started

1) An officer shot a kid.. (Trayvon Martin) wasn't him, but someone else.

2) The posse and animals decided to loot stores

3) Another person shot

4) All hell broke loose.

5) The End

6) A making of their own doing

7) Why have sympathy?

a reply to: Thefarmer
I've seen better equipment at the paint-ball field. Nice picture though, if your goal is to criminalize "every" cop. I don't side with the cop in question or the young man who lost his life, until I know the facts. But if my job was to walk into an area with angry, Molotov throwing and adversarial crowds I just might want the best gear on earth too.