4 ms·

Police, some outfitted in riot gear, others in military fatigues, barricaded the streets. At least one of them draped a black bandana over his face; others cove

by zorpner 12y ago

Police, some outfitted in riot gear, others in military fatigues, barricaded the streets. At least one of them draped a black bandana over his face; others covered their badges. Utterly shameful. To the people flagging this off the front page: if you don't see what the suppression of protest and the arrest of reporters by a militarized police has to do with a site focused on startups and the disruption of existing power structures, you need to think harder.

lepht 12y ago
OT: How can you (I) tell when something is being flagged off the front page?
tormeh 12y ago
I thought "startups and the disruption of existing power structures" as understood on HN meant simply "making lots of money". I like yours better, but I'm not sure if it's accurate.
Alupis 12y ago
What I find equally shameful are the individuals and groups using the riots as an excuse to loot and plunder the streets. If I was a business owner over there and my shop was robbed blind... I'm not sure what I would do. (also, the escalation of the police force is in proportion to how aggressive the people are getting - not excusing the situation -- just point out that people are firing rockets, fireworks and other projectiles at the police, flipping vehicles, looting and plundering...etc... absolute chaos.)
- jbooth 12y ago
  So the cops arresting journalists in McDonald's, or shooting tear gas canisters at Al-Jazeera on an otherwise empty street, that's a proportional response to aggression? If one a-hole in a crowd hucks a bottle at you, gassing the whole crowd is not proportional.
  - Alupis 12y ago
    Well, that's not the entire story of what is going on over there. As I said, I'm not dismissing the situation -- but if I owned a store over there, I would want the police to protect my storefront from vandals and looters in force. As for the other things that are going on -- I think it's best to wait for the full report being assuming [the worst] things. Just remember, 99.9999% of police don't wake up in the morning and say to themselves "how can I screw over citizens today". They are just people like you and me. There are always two sides of any story.
    - jbooth 12y ago
      It's a very indicative part of the story. Given the story of the Wash Post guy and the Al Jazeera guys, both very well documented, it does indeed seem like a substantial portion of those particular cops do wake up in the morning thinking something other than what I'd like. If this is how they power-trip and shove around journalists, how are they treating people who are less of a PR threat? http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/live-news/2014/8/al-jazeera-americareportergetshitwithteargasinferguson.html http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/live-news/2014/8/al... http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html?hpid=z1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washingto...
    - bilbo0s 12y ago
      "...just point out that people are firing rockets, fireworks and other projectiles at the police, flipping vehicles, looting and plundering...etc... absolute chaos..." and... "... I think it's best to wait for the full report being assuming [the worst] things ..." You're being a little inconsistent right now guy.
    - bashinator 12y ago
      Just as a point of information, every single looter arrested so far has not been an actual resident of the area.
- saeranv 12y ago
  In proportion? One party has armoured personnel carriers, grenade launchers, tear gas cannisters, rubber bullets and M-16s. The other has fireworks, homemade rockets and projectiles from the street. There are ways of controlling looters without using military gear: batons, horses, shields. It doesn't require this sort of military equipment. Also, I think you should take a look at the various videos, tweets and images coming from the town. The majority of people are assembling peacefully, if angrily in protest.
- watwut 12y ago
  There has been looting Sunday night. It is Wednesday today.
- rlucas 12y ago
  The only reports of looting and burning were from Sunday. The subsequent peaceful but heated protests, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights (and, doubtless to be repeated tonight) involved no reports of looting and burning.

by zorpner 12y ago

lepht 12y ago

OT: How can you (I) tell when something is being flagged off the front page?

tormeh 12y ago

I thought "startups and the disruption of existing power structures" as understood on HN meant simply "making lots of money". I like yours better, but I'm not sure if it's accurate.

Alupis 12y ago

What I find equally shameful are the individuals and groups using the riots as an excuse to loot and plunder the streets. If I was a business owner over there and my shop was robbed blind... I'm not sure what I would do. (also, the escalation of the police force is in proportion to how aggressive the people are getting - not excusing the situation -- just point out that people are firing rockets, fireworks and other projectiles at the police, flipping vehicles, looting and plundering...etc... absolute chaos.)

jbooth 12y ago
So the cops arresting journalists in McDonald's, or shooting tear gas canisters at Al-Jazeera on an otherwise empty street, that's a proportional response to aggression? If one a-hole in a crowd hucks a bottle at you, gassing the whole crowd is not proportional.
- Alupis 12y ago
  Well, that's not the entire story of what is going on over there. As I said, I'm not dismissing the situation -- but if I owned a store over there, I would want the police to protect my storefront from vandals and looters in force. As for the other things that are going on -- I think it's best to wait for the full report being assuming [the worst] things. Just remember, 99.9999% of police don't wake up in the morning and say to themselves "how can I screw over citizens today". They are just people like you and me. There are always two sides of any story.
  - jbooth 12y ago
    It's a very indicative part of the story. Given the story of the Wash Post guy and the Al Jazeera guys, both very well documented, it does indeed seem like a substantial portion of those particular cops do wake up in the morning thinking something other than what I'd like. If this is how they power-trip and shove around journalists, how are they treating people who are less of a PR threat? http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/live-news/2014/8/al-jazeera-americareportergetshitwithteargasinferguson.html http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/live-news/2014/8/al... http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html?hpid=z1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washingto...
  - bilbo0s 12y ago
    "...just point out that people are firing rockets, fireworks and other projectiles at the police, flipping vehicles, looting and plundering...etc... absolute chaos..." and... "... I think it's best to wait for the full report being assuming [the worst] things ..." You're being a little inconsistent right now guy.
  - bashinator 12y ago
    Just as a point of information, every single looter arrested so far has not been an actual resident of the area.
saeranv 12y ago
In proportion? One party has armoured personnel carriers, grenade launchers, tear gas cannisters, rubber bullets and M-16s. The other has fireworks, homemade rockets and projectiles from the street. There are ways of controlling looters without using military gear: batons, horses, shields. It doesn't require this sort of military equipment. Also, I think you should take a look at the various videos, tweets and images coming from the town. The majority of people are assembling peacefully, if angrily in protest.
watwut 12y ago
There has been looting Sunday night. It is Wednesday today.
rlucas 12y ago
The only reports of looting and burning were from Sunday. The subsequent peaceful but heated protests, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights (and, doubtless to be repeated tonight) involved no reports of looting and burning.