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Mmhmm. </p>
<p>The second that kid stopped and put his hands in the air, the need for deadly force ended.</p>
<p>LasMa, it is possible they were helping that news crew get the heck out of the way of the rioters. There was another camera on them the entire time so the conspiracy theory makes no sense. If they want to tear gas reporters why not the ones who are filming them? And, yes, they were careful with the equipment. This was not camera smashing.</p>
<p>Also, the latest story is that once the cop saw the Cigarellos he made the connection to the robbery. It had been dispatched minutes before. Anyway, as someone mentioned above, Brown knew about it so he probably figured that’s why he was being stopped. </p>
<p>Do we know his hands were in the air? I don’t think that’s a fact yet.</p>
<p>Multiple eyewitnesses, unconnected to each other, say so. The police don’t dispute it.</p>
<p>You missed my point about being careful with the camera. The question was why did they point it at the ground? I mentioned careful only to point out that they didn’t seem overwhelmed as you said. They were calm and deliberate. </p>
<p>The camera crew was well out of the way of the crowd. But if the cops were warning them, wouldn’t the logical thing to do have been to send an officer over to tell them? Lobbing tear gas at them was better? If you’re going to say, they didn’t have the time or manpower to do that, I’ll point out that moments later, 3 or 4 officers had time to lay down the lights, fiddle with the tripod, and adjust the camera.</p>
<p>Multiple eyewitnesses said he was a nice boy on his way to grandmas house. I’m waiting for more information. And, in this case there is a very good chance forensics will provide real information.</p>
<p>Also, I’m definitely missing your point about where the cops pointed the camera which was off while being filmed on another camera. It looks to me like they were packing up the gear. But, I don’t know. Or care. And, I do care very much about freedom of the press. But, the press reported this whole thing whatever it was, exactly. The two reporters were told to get out of the McDonald’s for safety reasons, too, Reportedly.</p>
<p>LasMa, I don’t think they lobbed tear gas at them as a warning or timesaver. That’s ridiculous. I think they were lobbing tear gas pretty randomly at that point. I doubt they decided to target Al Jazeera in the middle of a riot and it was not about the press in general since it was being filmed and they had to realize that. Bright lights were on them the whole time.</p>
<p>The punishment for stealing is NOT being shot dead in the streets. Some of you are heartless.</p>
<p>Well, no-one believes he should have been shot dead in the streets for stealing. Btw, some of these protesters are refusing to believe he was involved in the robbery even though that part is on tape. </p>
<p>Ok, lots of back and forth going on here. So let me get the themes correct: when in doubt, find a likely justification for the police’s actions and discredit the civilian or believe the civilian’s story and have the police defend their actions? I hope we choose equal protection under the law. This kid isn’t a saint but the police department here has a bad history. We need more facts and we may never get the truth.</p>
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<p>Then they are a massively incompetent police force and the governor was right to relieve them.</p>
<p>So you have no thoughts at all about why they would take the trouble to point the camera at the ground? </p>
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<p>Some bona-fide military veterans would agree with you and the governor:</p>
<p><a href=“Actual Military Veterans Say Cops In Ferguson Are Excessively Armed, Untrained Wannabes | HuffPost Voices”>Actual Military Veterans Say Cops In Ferguson Are Excessively Armed, Untrained Wannabes | HuffPost Voices;
<p>One veteran in the collection of tweets stated something I mentioned in a prior post from history, sometimes a riot could be sparked/worsened due to the mere presence of what is perceived to be a hostile occupation force…especially if they use excessive force. </p>
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<p>The police have said he wasn’t. Reportedly, Brown handed him a box and he put it back on the counter.</p>
<p>“So you have no thoughts at all about why they would take the trouble to point the camera at the ground?”</p>
<p>The camera was off and the news crew had abandoned the equipment. I don’t think they were making a political statement about shutting down the press if that’s what you’re asking. It doesn’t make sense to do that while being videotaped by a crew across the street and they are not that organized anyway. imho. </p>
<p>A lot of what they did makes no sense.</p>
<p>Btw, Flossy, no one is saying anything about a conspiracy. It’s a mentality. The function of the police is to protect and to serve. The function of the military is to kill the enemy. When you take a police force and dress them up in military camo, and give them military equipment and military weapons and military vehicles, they begin to think of the anyone on the other side as the enemy. That’s exactly how they behaved on Wednesday, as an occupying army.</p>
<p>When the State Patrol stepped in on Thursday, with police uniforms, police cars and police sidearms – and police tactics – calm was restored. </p>
<p>And, a black leader in a racially charged environment. That is not a small part of this situation, sadly.</p>
<p>The county SWAT team was brought in for riot control when the local police were overwhelmed. But, most local police departments would not have been able to handle that level of looting, fires, gunshots, and malatov cocktails. It’s a bit much for any small town PD. </p>
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<p>If you’re referring to the head of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, that’s an odd statement. </p>
<p>By all accounts, he ended up doing what Ferguson PD, county SWAT, and other local police forces were unable to do…defuse the high tensions which were building and were sparked by the shooting and aggravated by Ferguson PD and local PDs acting like wannabe occupational troops. </p>
<p>Yes, he is doing it by relating to the crowd in a way that no-one else could. And, he’s doing a great job.</p>
<p>No, he’s doing it in a way no one else WOULD. Treating people like the humans they are is NOT difficult. </p>
<p>What calmed the situation is shaking hands with members of the community, marching with the protestors to show you understand their anger, and recognizing that unarmed people should not be shot dead. Thinking that skin color is the only thing that made the difference is the kind of thinking that leads to the us vs. them approach that lead to this whole problem to begin with. </p>