Saturday, August 16, 2014

Ferguson Protests Reignite with Looting as Police Hold Back


Anger spurred by the death of a black teenager at the hands of a police officer boiled over again when protesters stormed into a Missouri convenience store — the same store that Michael Brown was accused of robbing, AP reports via NyPo.

Police and about 200 protesters clashed in Ferguson, Missouri late Friday.

The St Louis Dispatch reports:
hortly after midnight, the situation turned volatile as police showed up in riot gear.
The several hundred protesters who had remained had been fairly peaceful but stood in a face-off with police at the corner of West Florissant and Ferguson avenues.

The groups stood about 20 feet away from one another, some police officers pointing guns at the crowd, some protesters pointing cameras at police. Police told the crowd over a loudspeaker to disperse immediately. Some in the crowd threw a few bottles at police, who didn’t initially react.

After several minutes, police turned and left, but as they retreated, they sprayed smoke bombs and threw sound cannons at the crowd. Some responded by throwing more bottles.

Dozens in the crowd ran up West Florissant in a panic, some jumping in their cars and driving the wrong way on the road. Once the police were out of sight, protesters fired guns at least 10 times into the air.

Later a barricade of vehicles blocked traffic on the street.

9 comments:

  1. Badge licking, law and order types are loving this because they can use this against those of us who are sick of the state's army of thugs violating our rights. It does liberty no favors, it also makes me wonder if a state agitator is egging them on.

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    1. It's problem-reaction-solution yet again. They create the underclass, they prevent the underclass from fixing itself, they poke it with a stick and it eventually erupts. When it erupts government gets to do or advance those things it wants. That's US government policy both domestic and foreign.

      On another note, future news story: Ferguson is a food desert with a lack of retail stores due to.... racism.

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  2. How about they loot/raid the buildings that are most responsible for the continuing issue of police brutality, you know; like, City Hall or Police Headquarters.

    The only thing that is achieved by looting these private businesses is the Joy given to zombie Keynesians who marvel at the prosperity that this destruction is bringing. Krugman is probably angry that the looters haven't broken enough windows.

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    1. "How about they loot/raid the buildings that are most responsible for the continuing issue of police brutality, you know; like, City Hall or Police Headquarters. "

      Sadly that would be the gift that leviathan would absolutely love. Attacking private business is one thing but attack leviathan's installations, I wouldnt want to see the backlash on that one?

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  3. We live about 50 miles from this, so the TV coverage has been non-stop. Of course the looters are to be condemned, but the most important lesson we can take away from this, I think, is how useless the government cops are in protecting the property of the people who have been forced to pay their salaries. With all of their tricked-out SWAT gear they can't even prevent a gang of pissed-off poor people from smashing windows and swiping stuff from productive entrepreneurs.
    The only thing that is comforting about this whole mess is that thanks to the likes of Lew Rockwell and Robert Wenzel, I can observe it with the cool assurance that I know exactly what is going on and what caused it. When I turn on the TV in the morning and see Ferguson, I think: "Behold the fruits of the state."

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  4. They were just looking for belts.

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  5. Replies
    1. Before I get taken to task, I should clarify that I was laughing at the belt comment, not the looting.

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