Viva 3,169 Posted April 28, 2015 Thoughts on Baltimore Riots? CNN What we know: Gray was arrested on a weapons charge in a high-crime area of Baltimore known for drugs. He "gave up without the use of force," according to Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez. An officer apparently took his Taser out and was prepared to use it on Gray, but he never deployed it, Rodriguez said. And none of the six officers involved in the arrest describe using force against the 25-year-old. Gray was placed inside a police van and was able to talk, said Rodriguez, who described Gray as upset. "And when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk, and he could not breathe," according to Rodriguez. What we don't know: It's unknown what caused the spinal cord injury that led to his death a week after the arrest, and it's also unknown what, if anything, happened inside the van. The knife What we know: Court documents allege that Baltimore Police Department Officer Garrett Miller arrested Gray after finding a switchblade in his pocket. The Gray family attorney called the allegation a "sideshow." Gray was carrying a "pocket knife of legal size," attorney William Murphy told CNN. Police never saw the knife and chased Gray only after he ran from them, the attorney said. The court documents also say that Gray "fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." "The officer noticed a knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket. The defendant was arrested without force or incident," the documents say. "The knife was recovered by this officer and found to be a spring-assisted, one-hand-operated knife." Maryland law makes it illegal to "wear or carry a dangerous weapon of any kind" -- including switchblades -- "concealed on or about the person." What we don't know: It's not clear that simply having a knife is a crime, said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "It is not necessarily probable cause to chase someone. So, we still have questions," she said. What can be seen on the released video What we know: Segments of cell phone video shot from two different positions appear to begin after Gray has been arrested and show officers dragging Gray, who is handcuffed, to a van. He can be heard screaming. "He was dragged a bit," said Rawlings-Blake, "but then you see him using his legs to get into the van, so he was able-bodied when he was in the van. And we know that when he was finally taken out of the van, he was unresponsive." Officers placed more restraints on Gray inside the van, police said, while surveillance video recorded him conscious and talking. That was at 8:54 a.m. At 9:24 a.m., police called an ambulance for Gray. Police say Gray requested medical attention, including an inhaler, and an ambulance later took him to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center. Baltimore's mayor, for one, thinks the arresting officers made "a mistake" by not requesting medical attention immediately after Gray asked for it. What we don't know: It's unknown why Gray screamed, and the video doesn't capture the entire incident, start to end. It's unclear what happened between 8:54 a.m. and 9:24 a.m. And it's unclear why police didn't call for an ambulance sooner. SOURCEhttp://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/22/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-what-we-know/index.html 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 28, 2015 How much is too much? So many cases of police brutality against black people caught (literally) on camera. There has to be a limit for "isolated cases" of brutality ending in cold blood murder.. "What is happening isn't violence is fury. Isn't an act of rage, is an act of outrage. Isn't indecent , is a scream for decency" The sentence above was how the anchor of the second most watched TV news opened his dialogue about the Riots in Brazil in 2013. He was talking about the clash between people and the police in Rio and São Paulo. I think his sentence and definition fits Baltimore. Those people broke that city down in a act of fury, revolt, disgust. An outrage that became anger, not anger that became an outrage. Is shocking the amount of videos getting out there of police brutality leading to death against black people in US Police brutality is nothing knew to me, everyone hates the police in Rio. That's the difference I guess, the police here doesn't discriminate the brutality and excessive force, they ask later so they end up beating the son of millionaires the same way they beat the black boy in the slums. In US seems to be concentrated in a group. By now we should have at least a good amount of videos of the police being brutal to white folks too, but nothing comes up. Is US really that racist? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraBubbles 28 Posted April 29, 2015 By now we should have at least a good amount of videos of the police being brutal to white folks too, but nothing comes up. Is US really that racist? Define "white folks". As in non-black? A video I instantly thought of is when a police officer beats up a man in a wheelchair in Duluth, Minnesota and when a police officer throw a woman into a cell. Not sure if you think the guy in the wheelchair is considered as white by everyone though. I'm not really the person who watches police brutality videos unless someone shows me, so I can't really think of any more videos. But pretty much every police brutality has one thing in common. That they struggle against an arrest or do the opposite of what they are being told by a police officer. From what I have seen, it's few times I see white people struggle against whenever a police officer is trying to arrest someone. Whenever I watch "prank videos" where someone is touching people physically, maybe tries to touch a male's beard or pick someone's nose. Then most white males seem to oddly enough let a stranger with a camera come up to you and touch their beard/nose, whatever. While most black males seem to tend to get aggressive really quickly and fight back. Not sure how the edit the videos though and how many clips they are actually recording. The same applies to American TV-series like COPS. I haven't read much about the case in general except for what you just summed up. I checked some videos earlier on the internet other than that. They kind of reminds me of European football (soccer) hooligans, except for their skin-colour. I checked people's comments and they were like "this is the result of a multicultural society yada yada yada". Perhaps there's some truth in it? I don't know. I personally believe they were a bunch of bored, possibly unemployed "thugs" who lives outside the American society and have built up some hatred towards their government and the police for half of their life time and then an event like this came up. Where they felt like they could use someone's death as an excuse to "give back" to the society, especially the police. The thing is that it's the Americans (their parents included) who have to pay for almost everything they destroy, not the politicians. I don't think they will gain nothing by doing this except for attention and a bad reputation. I wouldn't be surprised if their government will react like a police state and put up military-like "police" around the place until the riot stops. Perhaps a few people may get shot, but it's the US. So no one will care. If there was another civilized country who did it, then the US would be first to criticize it. I have no facts in anything I wrote by the way. I simply just wrote down my thoughts as you wanted 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
comeintomybedroom 8,657 Posted April 29, 2015 I personally believe they were a bunch of bored, possibly unemployed "thugs" who lives outside the American society and have built up some hatred towards their government and the police for half of their life time and then an event like this came up. Where they felt like they could use someone's death as an excuse to "give back" to the society, especially the police. The thing is that it's the Americans (their parents included) who have to pay for almost everything they destroy, not the politicians. I don't think they will gain nothing by doing this except for attention and a bad reputation. I'm sorry @mods, but this person is a piece of shit. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraBubbles 28 Posted April 29, 2015 I'm sorry @mods, but this person is a piece of shit. How about coming with counterarguments instead of name-callings? These types of riots is nothing new and have happened before, here are a few examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_French_riots , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Stockholm_riots Where some people who participated in the violence have said that they didn't really care about the case where a person got killed by a police. But instead mentioned a few of the factors of the part you quoted from me as an excuse. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evilentity 13,343 Posted April 29, 2015 I'm sorry @mods, but this person is a piece of shit. How about coming with counterarguments instead of name-callings? Yeah, let's not with the name-calling. So here are some counterarguments: But pretty much every police brutality has one thing in common. That they struggle against an arrest or do the opposite of what they are being told by a police officer. From what I have seen, it's few times I see white people struggle against whenever a police officer is trying to arrest someone.False. In several of the recent incidents in the US that have risen to national attention the cops used excessive force immediately upon arriving at the scene. In one case, an innocent black guy was shot precisely because he was following the officer's orders! And BTW, I've seen plenty of white people "resist" arrest. But you reveal a really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive: That any minor deviation from complete and immediate submission to police justifies excessive force by the police, whether the police are acting on a correct understanding of the law or not. Civilians are expected to act perfectly, but our sainted police are forgiven almost any sin. That is almost completely backwards from the way it should be. Yes, cops are human, and will occasionally make mistakes, but as the manifestation of the coercive power of the state at the point of contact with the people, it is the police who should be expected to act with near perfection. Police in America have not earned the degree of reverence and deference given them by most of American society. Whenever I watch "prank videos" where someone is touching people physically, maybe tries to touch a male's beard or pick someone's nose. Then most white males seem to oddly enough let a stranger with a camera come up to you and touch their beard/nose, whatever. While most black males seem to tend to get aggressive really quickly and fight back. Not sure how the edit the videos though and how many clips they are actually recording. The same applies to American TV-series like COPS.First of all, COPS is a notoriously racist and classist show. Second... wow. Let me put this as gently and nicely as I know how. Broad generalizations about race based on anecdote and not evidence like these are basically the definition of racist generalizations. And once again there is almost certainly some unconsciously racist selective memory going on here. But let's imagine for a minute your generalization was true. Do you not think black males would perhaps have some reason to react this way? I personally believe they were a bunch of bored, possibly unemployed "thugs" who lives outside the American society and have built up some hatred towards their government and the police for half of their life time and then an event like this came up. Where they felt like they could use someone's death as an excuse to "give back" to the society, especially the police. The thing is that it's the Americans (their parents included) who have to pay for almost everything they destroy, not the politicians. I don't think they will gain nothing by doing this except for attention and a bad reputation."'Thugs'". In scare quotes. I'd suggest you read up on why the word "thug" is problematic, but your use of scare quotes suggests you know all too well. Interesting how you describe rioters as "bored, possibly unemployed" and "outside the American society" in order to demonize them, not to understand the frustrations and lack of opportunity motivating this. You are correct that some of these people "have built up some hatred towards their government and the police for half of their life time", but ask yourself why. One does not need to condone behavior to understand it, but understanding the cause of a problem is critical to addressing it. I have no facts in anything I wrote by the way. I simply just wrote down my thoughtsClearly. 8 Quote Stalking you has sorta become like my occupation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 29, 2015 CobraBubbles, on 29 Apr 2015 - 08:48 AM, said: How about coming with counterarguments instead of name-callings? These types of riots is nothing new and have happened before, here are a few examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_French_riots , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Stockholm_riots Where some people who participated in the violence have said that they didn't really care about the case where a person got killed by a police. But instead mentioned a few of the factors of the part you quoted from me as an excuse. Whenever I watch "prank videos" where someone is touching people physically, maybe tries to touch a male's beard or pick someone's nose. Then most white males seem to oddly enough let a stranger with a camera come up to you and touch their beard/nose, whatever. While most black males seem to tend to get aggressive really quickly and fight back. Not sure how the edit the videos though and how many clips they are actually recording. The same applies to American TV-series like COPS. You opened a can of worms with that comment, but there are several studies that support what you said. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 29, 2015 Yeah, let's not with the name-calling. So here are some counterarguments: False. In several of the recent incidents in the US that have risen to national attention the cops used excessive force immediately upon arriving at the scene. In one case, an innocent black guy was shot precisely because he was following the officer's orders! And BTW, I've seen plenty of white people "resist" arrest. But you reveal a really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive: That any minor deviation from complete and immediate submission to police justifies excessive force by the police, whether the police are acting on a correct understanding of the law or not. Civilians are expected to act perfectly, but our sainted police are forgiven almost any sin. That is almost completely backwards from the way it should be. Yes, cops are human, and will occasionally make mistakes, but as the manifestation of the coercive power of the state at the point of contact with the people, it is the police who should be expected to act with near perfection. Police in America have not earned the degree of reverence and deference given them by most of American society. First of all, COPS is a notoriously racist and classist show. Second... wow. Let me put this as gently and nicely as I know how. Broad generalizations about race based on anecdote and not evidence like these are basically the definition of racist generalizations. And once again there is almost certainly some unconsciously racist selective memory going on here. But let's imagine for a minute your generalization was true. Do you not think black males would perhaps have some reason to react this way? "'Thugs'". In scare quotes. I'd suggest you read up on why the word "thug" is problematic, but your use of scare quotes suggests you know all too well. Interesting how you describe rioters as "bored, possibly unemployed" and "outside the American society" in order to demonize them, not to understand the frustrations and lack of opportunity motivating this. You are correct that some of these people "have built up some hatred towards their government and the police for half of their life time", but ask yourself why. One does not need to condone behavior to understand it, but understanding the cause of a problem is critical to addressing it. Clearly. You're such a bitch tbh. She doesn't have a " really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive" maybe the country she lives the police isn't a piece of shit? Have you thought about that? I know the police in my State, the military one, has no respect for anyone, doesn't even matter the social status or skin color. Police brutality is no strange to me because I attended several protests where the police throw pepper gas and shoot with rubber bullets in everyone, even young teens and elderly people....fuck they shot by mistake the owner of a Bank and a judge. Shot journalists , med students, lawyers.... so I can understand that dude running away I guess in Sweden shit like this doesn't happen, maybe that's why she doesn't understand why a grown men would run like a gazelle when he saw a police officer or wont understand why those people are so full of rage and enraged 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evilentity 13,343 Posted April 29, 2015 You opened a can of worms with that comment, but there are several studies that support what you said. You're such a bitch tbh. She doesn't have a " really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive" maybe the country she lives the police isn't a piece of shit?The implication was that if you resist in any way and are brutalized by police you had it coming. I don't care what country you're from. That mindset is really disturbing, partly because it is so pervasive. On top of that, they implied that people are only brutalized when they resist arrest (false) and that black people are to blame for their brutalization because they resist arrest and white people don't (false). If that's not what they meant to imply then they should clarify, but if calling out that bullshit makes me a bitch, then so be it. 4 Quote Stalking you has sorta become like my occupation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tyler 841 Posted April 29, 2015 I go to school right on the Baltimore line, 15 minutes form the city. I've been posting updates on what's happening that I know of since Monday on my Tumblr. Here's what I've posted so far: Monday 4/27: I go to school in Towson which is 15 minutes out of Baltimore. Stuff is beginning to get crazy around here. Baltimore just issued a curfew for tomorrow. My class earlier this evening was canceled after a potential bomb threat/armed person alarm went out for that building and the library. One of my friends that's a black male was in the library at the time, and cops forced him to the ground face down for several minutes before releasing him. It feels so strange to have to world’s eye right on us, and I fear this is only going to get worse. The world will see what happens next… Research carefully where you are getting your information. Several people I know have been going out into the riots/protests today and photographing it. They say that majority of what's going on is peaceful protests, but the actual riots happening are terrifying. None of this will end until systemic racism is destroyed. update (4/28): Last night someone broke into the Towson Mall to loot, but I think it was an isollated incident. They posted a video on FB of them doing it, so I'm sure they were caught. The Baltimore community got up at the crack of dawn this morning and cleaned the city up. Things seemed to be calming down, but the city curfew starts tonight. Towson University has canceled our classes for the rest of the day however, and rumors are that PD have a plan set to bottle neck riots off if they head towards Towson. Haven’t heard of any more riots starting, but possible rumors of other protests beginning in Towson and Owings Mills this week. update (4/29): Things still seem to be on the calmer side. Last night was the first night of the curfew, and it seems like a few dozen people resisted the curfew, but I honestly don’t know how bad anything got. One of my friends organized a large march to start at Towson today and end up at City Hall in Baltimore I believe. Turns out, they are not allowed to march even peacefully in Baltimore AT ALL since the city is in a Sate of Emergency. If they do march, even if it’s before curfew, they will be arrested and the bail is thousands of dollars. To my knowledge they will still be marching from Towson at 3pm, and going right up to the Baltimore City line. Towson has canceled classes that go past 8pm today. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraBubbles 28 Posted April 29, 2015 False. In several of the recent incidents in the US that have risen to national attention the cops used excessive force immediately upon arriving at the scene. In one case, an innocent black guy was shot precisely because he was following the officer's orders! Your first video is about a boy who is being reported to the police of pointing a gun-like object towards people walking in the street. When the police arrive, one of the police officer is pointing a gun at him and most likely shouts out that he has to lay down on the ground or put the hands in the air. The 12 years old boy response is to put his hands in his pockets and seem to pull something up rapidly and then gets shot by the police. How does that prove against my opinion about people getting shot when they struggle or make a threat to the police? The second video is an adult who pulls up an air rifle at a store and seems to be waiting for something. The police arrives --> shouts out something to him --> he seems to get scared, seem to turn around towards the police officers in shock, where he also is swinging his rifle a bit and then gets shot. I agree that the police did wrong, I think they should have called for back up and surround the store until the suspect turns him in to the police instead of having x2 police officers walking in with assault rifles(?). But I don't think you can put the responsibility on the police only, but also on the adult suspect. What was he thinking? It should be common sense to get into trouble if you walk around with a weapon-like object in a store. The third video is indeed wrong, but the police officer also got fired and charged of what he had done. But you reveal a really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive: That any minor deviation from complete and immediate submission to police justifies excessive force by the police, whether the police are acting on a correct understanding of the law or not. Civilians are expected to act perfectly, but our sainted police are forgiven almost any sin. That is almost completely backwards from the way it should be. Yes, cops are human, and will occasionally make mistakes, but as the manifestation of the coercive power of the state at the point of contact with the people, it is the police who should be expected to act with near perfection. Police in America have not earned the degree of reverence and deference given them by most of American society. First of all, COPS is a notoriously racist and classist show. Second... wow. Let me put this as gently and nicely as I know how. Broad generalizations about race based on anecdote and not evidence like these are basically the definition of racist generalizations. And once again there is almost certainly some unconsciously racist selective memory going on here. You seem to take what I wrote really personal and hostile. I know for a fact that police brutality happens, as in unnecessary excessive violence, sometimes for personal reasons. I don't think anyone can deny it. But I think it happens rarely that the person who gets mistreated is complete innocent. That's what I tried to tell and yes, I agree with that the police shouldn't expect citizens to be perfect. You talk a lot about how the police should be and I believe everyone agrees with your opinion. So what can the citizens do to make it come true? To start riots, smash police cars, attack police officers, put cars on fire, raid stores where they also take the opportunity to steal from the store - and at the same time expect the police to change? That's what this riot and therefore the topic is about. Which you didn't mention a thing about. A lot of Russian citizens have dashcams in their cars, where the main reason is to have evidence to the court when police officers are acting corrupt. That's the main reason which are being said at least. They have the same issue, that police officers are almost always more trustable than regular citizens. It obviously doesn't cover up everything, but I think that's a better way to go. I pointed out a few notes about white and black males, based on what I have seen in prank videos and on the TV show COPS. Still tried to relate the subject with US Americans. I also criticized my own thought, saying that I don't know how many clips they are choosing to show and I made it very clear that it may not be fact, but my own thoughts. I think people should be able to discuss the subject, without getting offended and call it generalizations and even racist. I absolutely see no reason to be oversensitive to discuss the matter of something, just because the subject doesn't fit in the morals of political correctness. As long as people aren't insulting each other. But let's imagine for a minute your generalization was true. Do you not think black males would perhaps have some reason to react this way? Yes, I do believe they have a reason to act like that and almost think it would be a more common way to react. Maybe not to hit someone with closed fists, but at least get angry and push someone's hands away. That's why I wrote: Then most white males seem to oddly enough let a stranger with a camera come up to you and touch their beard/nose, whatever. Anyhow, I would like if you could give opinions of the riot in general, instead of being nitpicky about the way I may have formulated myself. I sense the feeling that you want to defend their actions as well. I think the entire thing is quite laughable. Americans have dozens of huge problems in their society where I believe the only way to solve these issues is for the American people to deal with the issue with their own hands. I can't think of any other country that goes to war as much as the US because of the US politicians have the same hidden agenda regardless of who you vote for. But your society seem to be fine with it, even though it's never the politicians family who go to war, get hurt, get killed. It's the citizens. That would be more of a reason to make riots, which I believe even UN would support once the country gets weakened. Just like they have done to most other countries when they go from strong to weak. You're such a bitch tbh. She doesn't have a " really disturbing mindset that is sadly pervasive" maybe the country she lives the police isn't a piece of shit? Have you thought about that? I know the police in my State, the military one, has no respect for anyone, doesn't even matter the social status or skin color. Police brutality is no strange to me because I attended several protests where the police throw pepper gas and shoot with rubber bullets in everyone, even young teens and elderly people....fuck they shot by mistake the owner of a Bank and a judge. Shot journalists , med students, lawyers.... so I can understand that dude running away I guess in Sweden shit like this doesn't happen, maybe that's why she doesn't understand why a grown men would run like a gazelle when he saw a police officer or wont understand why those people are so full of rage and enraged Well, the topic was about a riot in the US. I highly doubt North America has as much police brutality and corruption (in the police) as South America have. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Heart 1,929 Posted April 29, 2015 I really don't care what anyone says, but the police system has it coming and for the past few years hundreds (if not thousands) of black people have been killed unfairly (and out of boredom by officers). Breaking a window doesn't equate to breaking someone's spine. Only one of those can be fixed. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evilentity 13,343 Posted April 29, 2015 I know the police in my State, the military one, has no respect for anyone, doesn't even matter the social status or skin color. Police brutality is no strange to me because I attended several protests where the police throw pepper gas and shoot with rubber bullets in everyone, even young teens and elderly people....fuck they shot by mistake the owner of a Bank and a judge. Shot journalists , med students, lawyers.... Shorter @@Viva: Cum 2 Brasil! Brazil's great because we're not racist, our police brutalize everyone equally! Your first video is about a boy who is being reported to the police of pointing a gun-like object towards people walking in the street. When the police arrive, one of the police officer is pointing a gun at him and most likely shouts out that he has to lay down on the ground or put the hands in the air. The 12 years old boy response is to put his hands in his pockets and seem to pull something up rapidly and then gets shot by the police. You're defending fatally shooting a child with a toy gun in less than two seconds after arriving on the scene? Seriously? He didn't even have the chance to comply with anything he might have been ordered to do. How does that prove against my opinion about people getting shot when they struggle or make a threat to the police? You implied that people only suffer police brutality when they resist. I was merely providing just a few representative counterexamples. The second video is an adult who pulls up an air rifle at a store and seems to be waiting for something. The police arrives --> shouts out something to him --> he seems to get scared, seem to turn around towards the police officers in shock, where he also is swinging his rifle a bit and then gets shot. I agree that the police did wrong, I think they should have called for back up and surround the store until the suspect turns him in to the police instead of having x2 police officers walking in with assault rifles(?). But I don't think you can put the responsibility on the police only, but also on the adult suspect. What was he thinking? It should be common sense to get into trouble if you walk around with a weapon-like object in a store. He was shot immediately by police for holding a BB gun sold at the store. You seem to take what I wrote really personal and hostile. Yes, because it's an attitude that is literally letting people get away with murder. But I think it happens rarely that the person who gets mistreated is complete innocent. I think it happens rarely that the woman who gets raped is completely innocent. Classic victim blaming. That's what I tried to tell and yes, I agree with that the police shouldn't expect citizens to be perfect. You just contradicted yourself in your previous sentence. You just said you expect them to be completely innocent. You talk a lot about how the police should be and I believe everyone agrees with your opinion. So what can the citizens do to make it come true? To start riots, smash police cars, attack police officers, put cars on fire, raid stores where they also take the opportunity to steal from the store - and at the same time expect the police to change? You talk a lot about how the citizenry should be and I believe everyone agrees with your opinion. So what can the police do to make it come true? To assault them, paralyze them, kill, refuse to take responsibility for their actions - and at the same time expect the citizenry not to angrily react? I think people should be able to discuss the subject, without getting offended and call it generalizations and even racist. I think people should be able to discuss the subject without making racist generalizations. Anyhow, I would like if you could give opinions of the riot in general, instead of being nitpicky about the way I may have formulated myself. I sense the feeling that you want to defend their actions as well. Though I get where the anger is coming from, I don't condone the rioting at all. But neither do I condone the bad actions of the police. If you're looking for someone defending bad actions here, well, I hope whatever screen you're looking into is pretty reflective. 3 Quote Stalking you has sorta become like my occupation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 29, 2015 I really don't care what anyone says, but the police system has it coming and for the past few years hundreds (if not thousands) of black people have been killed unfairly (and out of boredom by officers). Breaking a window doesn't equate to breaking someone's spine. Only one of those can be fixed. What I see as a discussion is the level of stress of a cop in a country where any citizen can buy a grenade or a AK-47. Don't you think the fact a civilian can have a superior gun to the one the cop is holding makes them act before they think? I'm not justifying in any way the police actions, you're right only one can be fixed and ain't the spine. Just raising a discussion over the fact you can actually go to a store and buy right now a gun and that may be one of the reasons the police in US is so aggressive. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraBubbles 28 Posted April 29, 2015 ....Wow, Evilentity Quite funny how I ended my comment to you by saying that I think you should talk about the topic's subject itself instead of trying to nitpick on how I'm formulating me. Then you went all in to do the exact opposite. This doesn't feel like a constructive discussion anymore. It's like your comments are an attempt to "destroy" me as they are aimed towards me, rather than the discuss subject itself. And that you consciously mistake what I'm trying to tell. I mean, I wrote: I know for a fact that police brutality happens, as in unnecessary excessive violence, sometimes for personal reasons. I don't think anyone can deny it. But I think it happens rarely that the person who gets mistreated is complete innocent. and your interpretation to it were: I think it happens rarely that the woman who gets raped is completely innocent. Classic victim blaming. ??? like wtf? What I tried to say is, if someone hates the police --> shoots some police officer, just because of her profession --> gets arrested. Then the arrested person will may experience some police brutality, perhaps get beaten up in an elevator or something similar once there are no cameras around the place. That's just how it is, regardless of it being right or wrong. If you hate the police, then they may hate you back. Don't bring rape victims and rape in my statements. Then you make it sound like I'm supporting a child being shot, but refuse to see it from the viewpoint where the child's response when a police officer aimed at him and yelled "put your hands up in the air", was to walk towards the police officer and reach for a decoy of a weapon around his waist. Did you even check the video you linked? Anyhow, I don't feel like continuing to argue about this matter, as I'm sure we won't get anywhere by the look of your response. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLOW 69 Posted April 29, 2015 White ppl riot over fucking hockey games and sports all the time, but the police don't murder them. This is a race issue. Black people are getting murdered by police on the daily. These are modern-day lynchings. I don't give a shit about broken car windows. You can get a new car. You can't get back someone's life. 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 29, 2015 ....Wow, Evilentity Quite funny how I ended my comment to you by saying that I think you should talk about the topic's subject itself instead of trying to nitpick on how I'm formulating me. Then you went all in to do the exact opposite. This doesn't feel like a constructive discussion anymore. It's like your comments are an attempt to "destroy" me as they are aimed towards me, rather than the discuss subject itself. And that you consciously mistake what I'm trying to tell. Don't take it personally babe, @Evil is a bitch to everyone equally, unlike US police who discriminates black people. Edit: you should watch this, maybe will give you a perspective from their point of view 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viva 3,169 Posted April 29, 2015 Well, the topic was about a riot in the US. I highly doubt North America has as much police brutality and corruption (in the police) as South America have. Initially you compared to France and UK that's why I mentioned SA because is more equivalent since the UK police is consider one of the most, if not the most, efficient in the world. Well, you also compare to Russian police so.... 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HEARTCORE 18,971 Posted April 29, 2015 i have a lot a of thoughts about these riots but i don't really know how to translate them into words all that well...i don't support the rioting, but I can see why people are doing it; the system has and does treat black individuals in such a shitty way and these riots clearly demonstrate deep-rooted anger towards this. rioting isn't exactly the best way of trying to resolve this, but honestly, what other way is there anymore? i absolutely LOATHE the media's reports on affairs in Baltimore - as always, the truth is being twisted in order to support a particular message. some individuals were looting stores for milk in order to help the victims of the police's tear gas; yet they were instead shown as being simply looters who were making the best of the opportunity. its disgusting. also, i cant stand people who come out with shit like "Martin Luther King wouldn't have wanted this!!!11"" like....im pretty sure Martin Luther King wouldn't have wanted to be brutally murdered either, but y'all were perfectly fine with doing that whilst he was preaching about non-violence......... to me, the dialogue shouldn't be about the looting of the stores - the majority of them will have insurance protecting the damages. as said above, you can get a new car - you can't get back someone's life. the issue at the heart of this matter is police brutality and the treatment of black individuals; imo, this is what we (and by this, i mean society as a whole) need to be talking about. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraBubbles 28 Posted April 30, 2015 What I tried to say is, if someone hates the police --> shoots some police officer, just because of her profession --> gets arrested. Then the arrested person will may experience some police brutality, perhaps get beaten up in an elevator or something similar once there are no cameras around the place. That's just how it is, regardless of it being right or wrong. If you hate the police, then they may hate you back. Maybe I should also mention that my dad has gone through police brutality once and he believes it was due his darker skin & hair colour. Many police officers have said racist things to him. It was quite uncommon with "non-white" people in Sweden back then in the 80's. But I also know for a fact that he has a criminal background and therefore I accept what the police did. My reasoning is that if he weren't a criminal, then I'm sure they wouldn't have done anything to him. Having racism as an excuse for everything regarding darker people without searching for other reasons are getting quite tiresome. ...I mean, it is not like it would work for white people. I'm sure a lot of people would even deny that you can be racist towards a white person. There was a robbery in Sweden in 2012 or so, where a police officer shot one of the robbers in the head on an open street. The robbers turned out to have fake weapons, which made a lot of people cry about how the police officer reacted. I remember a guy who is actually a gangmember who wrote on Facebook about the case, where he also suggested that "the police should strike (stop working) for 2 weeks as a protest. Just to show the society how important their job is. Maybe then people will start appreciating their job for once?" I thought it was really remarkable, especially as it was a gangmember who wrote it. I think it's something to have in mind in my opinion. Because I sense a lot of hatred towards the police and it seems to be growing due the internet and apply to every country. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites