***The Verdict #Ferguson*** (retired, airplanes, dollars, carry)

[ginmqi]

For those who want to follow tweets/news links/scanner reports live thread here: [live] Live Feed for riot and protest in Ferguson, MO. Scanner reports, news links

Police/government behavior (let's try to keep it more balanced, eh?
Riot-style formation to block access/secure certain high security risk sites (Ferguson PD, highways)
Smoke cannister deploymetn at initial reaction to vandalism and projectiles being thrown at police
Tear gas deployment with continued effort to disperse crowds
No reports of police confronting looting sites
No reports of police using any projectiles (rubber bullets, etc.)
National Guard is being deployed to assist in security effort
Shutting down certain roadways and certain blocks in Ferguson
No Fly zone declared over Ferguson
Riot vehicle police moving towards heavy gun fire areas


Fire department behavior:
Tried to put out fires
Retreating from certain areas due to multiple gun fire being heard

Shootings:
Gun fire heard at initial crowd gathering near Ferguson PD
Gun fire now just heard and fired at police near W. Florissant
More guns shots heard near W. Florissant
Report of heavy automatic gunfire heard Canfield & W. Florissant


Lootings:
Cell phone store looted
Family dollar looted
Walgreens looted
Aaron's looted
US bank broken into
Grocery/meat market broken into
McDonald's windows broken
Beauty World shop broken into
Autozone looted
Toys R Us looted
Reports of group of people moving towards Wal Mart
Public Storage broken into
Optical shop broken into, possibly looted
Ferguson Market and Liquor broken into and looted
NOTE: No reports of book stores or libraries being looted or broken into as of this posting time.


Vandalism behavior
Restaurant windows broken into, Fire department window broken
I-10 and I-44 freeway traffic being blocked by protestors
Battreries/projectiles being thrown at police
Police vehicles x2 set on fire
Trash can set on fire
Little Ceasar's Pizza shop set on fire
Walgreens set on fire
"I love Ferguson" store on fire
Sam's meat market set on fire
Public Storage set on fire
Elderly man with oxygen tank was carjacked and run over, witnesses said. expected to recover.
Optical shop broken window with dumpster
Ferguson City Hall being broken into
Reds BBQ restaurant on fire
NY Grill Burglary Alarm went off
St Louis Bread company with broken glass
Numerous un-named buildings reported to be on fire on W Florissant

[UrbanCrossroads]

Originally Posted by MJJersey

They're unauthorized merchandise borrowers.

Ha, I love that! And as we all know, they're borrowing merchandise in the name of social injustice.

[southbel]

Originally Posted by ellemint

Wilson had his car door to cower behind. He had his gun. He was some distance from the victim. Brown had already been shot. I'll be interested to read the actual evidence presented to the grand jury, but right now, it doesn't seem that Wilson was severely injured, and it doesn't seem that his shooting of Michael Brown was not worthy of at least a trial. A grand jury hearing is not a trial; it's not supposed to be a trial.

No, at a trial, Wilson would be allowed an affirmative defense, something he didn't even have the benefit of in this Grand Jury. Let that sink in for a moment. Wilson has more rights at a trial than a Grand Jury. The evidence couldn't even meet the criteria of an indictment. A trial would have been even more lopsided with Wilson being exonerated but wasting a whole lot of taxpayer dollars first.

[DJboutit]

RT @SLMPD: I-44 has been reopened. The intersection of Grand and Arsenal is closed due to protests.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by ellemint

A grand jury hearing is not a trial; it's not supposed to be a trial.

Right. It's not a trial. It's a determination of whether there is even enough evidence to have a trial. And the grand jury in this case said that the preponderance of evidence does not suggest that the officer committed a crime. And if the evidence presented doesn't even convince the members of the jury that a crime was committed, why should the time energy resources and money be spent on a trial?

[DJboutit]

I still have not seen the national guard yet

[JobZombie]

The rioters are ruining, among other things, their upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and probably will foul up the entire holiday season if they don’t dial it back, deal with it and get on with their lives. It's like spoiled children who didn't get their way throwing a tantrum to "teach" a lesson for future situations that will turn out exactly the same way anyway. And let's not forget, the season to be jolly is right around the corner.

[k350]

Originally Posted by ellemint

Wilson had his car door to cower behind. He had his gun. He was some distance from the victim. Brown had already been shot. I'll be interested to read the actual evidence presented to the grand jury, but right now, it doesn't seem that Wilson was severely injured, and it doesn't seem that his shooting of Michael Brown was not worthy of at least a trial. A grand jury hearing is not a trial; it's not supposed to be a trial.

Wilson does not need to wait to be seriously injured, where do you even come up with this concept? Also, from the injuries he did have, he did not have time to get a full medical evaluation to determine the extent of his injuries. Furthermore, he did not have the opportunity to interview Brown to see what his intent was after Brown just assaulted him.

Going for a gun is basically a guarantee of getting shot at, and those shots most likely will lead to death.

The grand jury is to see if there was enough evidence to support that a crime was committed, obviously the evidence did not support this. In the Zimmerman case, it was pure politics, they did not want a grand jury because they knew there was no evidence, thus a special prosecutor was put up, did the obvious,l and guess what, no evidence to convict, and there was not even enough evidence to bring to trial, only politics brought Zimmerman to trial.

[DJboutit]

The Fed Ex in Tower Grove is also busted

[southbel]

Originally Posted by DJboutit

I still have not seen the national guard yet

I know, right? These business owners are losing everything and no National Guard to be seen anywhere! Geez. What was the point of mobilizing them if they weren't going to do anything.