Lets visit Ferguson. Ferguson is a small town outside of St. Louis with a population of around 21,000.
With a number that small you wouldn’t think it to be possible for such wide scale looting and massive rioting. But that’s exactly what happened Sunday August 10th in Ferguson.
Image by David Carson AP
Fires, riots and looters oh my. Ferguson chaos should make us wonder. Is this the new normal here in America? I wonder. But what has happened in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri is a clear lesson on how quickly the streets of America can escalate into a chaotic war zone. All it takes is one incident.
One spark to get the ball rolling. And more often than not that incident is white on black crime or injustice. This time it was 18 year old Michael Brown, shot in the streets by police. Word spread like wildfire among the inner city and it didn’t take long for the mobs of protestors to start rallying together for their cause.
Image by Laurie Skrivan MCT
Protests were deployed but quickly they moved on to hurling rocks and bottles. Chants of “kill the police” were heard and then the looting started.
Store windows were smashed and people started to go absolutely crazy. We are not talking about a few people. We are talking about mobs.
At some time during the night an ATM machine was ripped out of a QuikTrip gas station. Shortly after the store was set a blaze.
This local new source has described the night better than I ever could:
Brian Schellman, with the St. Louis County Police Department, said close to 300 police officers from at least 15 different departments were called to Ferguson when angry mobs began smashing windows, setting fires and looting businesses in the area.
Schellman said a St. Louis County officer injured his knee while at a Foot Locker store during the rioting. He said another officer was injured when he had a brick thrown at him.
Throughout the evening, numerous cop cars sustained damage and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said someone in a yellow pickup truck fired shots at officers while circling a WalMart parking lot. Chief Jackson said he got into a cop car to give chase to the truck but the truck got away.
Police said shots were also fired at a police helicopter in the area.
I wonder how long this can continue for. A very angry respondent had something very interesting to say to The ST. Louis Post Dispatch.
DeAndre Smith, 30, of Ferguson was happy to justify the looting when a reporter asked him about it Monday morning. “This is exactly what is supposed to be happening when an injustice is happening in your community,” he said, adding: “You have kids getting killed for nothing.”
Smith, who moved to St. Louis from New York in December, said there could be more to come.
“I don’t think it’s over honestly,” he said. “I just think they got a taste of what fighting back means.”
You heard the guy! People are angry! Just listen to what President Barack Obama had to say! He sounded off as well on his displeasure. Some would say even stirring the proverbial race pot. To that I say no way. Not Obama. He knows better than to play the race bait game because it only divides an already weakened nation. But anyway just listen to what he had to say:
Of course, it’s important to remember how this started. We lost a young man, Michael Brown, in heartbreaking and tragic circumstances. He was 18 years old, and his family will never hold Michael in their arms again….Put simply, we all need to hold ourselves to a high standard, particularly those of us in positions of authority. I’ve asked that the attorney general and the U.S. attorney on the scene continue to work with local officials to move that process forward. They will be reporting to me in the coming days about what’s being done to make sure that happens.
-Barack Obama (Snip from his transcripts on Ferguson)
Would you want to be in the middle of this? Dressing the wrong way could warrant a brick hurled at your noggin’. All over this Michael Brown.
An innocent man gunned down in the street by some rogue cop. But was Mike Brown innocent? Ferguson Police say otherwise.
Two days after the riots it surfaced that Michael Brown was involved in a strong arm robbery where he stole a $50.00 box of cigars.
Now “Strong Arm” is when you use physical force, brute force, to take what you want. So why is the media painting this kid out to be a sweet scholar? He was fleeing the scene of a robbery when he was shot. We dont know what happened exactly from that point but we do know the officer who shot Brown was a 6 year veteran with a perfect record. We also know the officer had wounds on his face from the confrontation before firing his weapon. I can do the math on this one.
Just listen to an official statement by the ST. Louis police chief.
Mike Brown Strong Arming
A suburban St. Louis police chief on Friday identified the officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager ignited days of heated protests, and released documents alleging the teen was killed after a robbery in which he was suspected of stealing a $48.99 box of cigars.
Ferguson, Mo., Police Chief Thomas Jackson said the robbery took place just before noon on Saturday at a convenience store roughly 10 minutes before a police officer identified as Darren Wilson fired the bullet that killed Michael Brown. Police say that the shot was fired after a struggle touched off by Wilson’s confronting Brown.
Image Via Riverfront Times
Lets get back to the chaos post Mike Brown. The looting was clearly out of control but there were a few stores that had zero incident. After taking one look at the posse in the image to the left its clear they had no problems!
Come to find out when violent looters come face to face with people willing to defend their property (be it store front or home front) they often look the other way to find a safer target or easier victim.
One said business is the St. Louis Ink Tattoo Studio, another is County Guns.
The two north county businesses share a storefront in a Florissant strip mall less than ten minute drive from the epicenter of last night’s riots in Ferguson.
After hearing of the roving bands of looters, Mike Gutierrez knew he had to protect his tattoo shop. He brought a posse with him, including Adam Weinstein, owner of County Guns, who was acutely worried about criminals getting their hands on his merchandise.
“We didn’t want them coming in here and then running around with a bunch of free guns,” Weinstein told Daily RFT when we arrive at the store around 12:30 a.m. this morning. Weinstein was outfitted with an assault rifle, pistol and tactical vest. Gutierrez cradled his own rifle in his hands.
Great for local shop owners. But what about the average Joe law abiding citizen in the face of a riot? It doesn’t take a whole lot for people to start acting like total maniacs. Remember George Zimmerman? The protests and riots that ensued were pretty wild. But it can really be just about anything (and often small) that sets these things in motion.
Remember the EBT scare when welfare recipients in several states were temporarily blocked form using their cards? They cleaned the shelves of a local Walmart in ten minutes! It doesn’t take much. Anything race related is automatic tinder. So why the hell should the media and the commander in chief take sides. The race incidents should be handled differently.
I can post pictures all day in regard to this nonsense. Just take a look at this one youtube video among many that clearly depict just what was going on that night.
If this kind of rioting can take place in a community with just over 20,000 people, what would a full-blown riot look like in a city with millions of people? Between the half dead economy, weak border that allows a constant influx of crime and a gang epidemic in every big city across the nation… we really should start to worry.
Millions of people are ready to riot at the drop of a dime and for what? They only need the slightest reason. The days of leaving your front door unlocked and your kids playing in the street until dusk are over.
People are out there willing to loot and riot for absolutely no good reason what so ever. What if they actually had a reason? Such as a real economic collapse or god forbid an actual Ebola outbreak occurs. At any rate its not going to take much to send the masses over the edge. If you were caught in the middle of it would you be able to protect yourself?
Cover Image credits: Photograph by David Carson/Post-Dispatch.
5 Comments
jo
You had such a reasonable sounding dialogue going. Then the first sentence of the last paragraph. *smh* I by no means condone the behaviour of the looters or more violent protesters who used the situation as an excuse to act out. I do believe a number of the protesters truly believed there was an injustice. “Far from no good reason”.
David Becker
I am sorry to say I disagree. There is never a valid reason to loot in a civilized world with a functioning economy. And rioting should only ever be accepted in some sort of last resort… Think Nazi Germany or worse. These people started to destroy their own town hours after a man fleeing the scene of a strong armed robbery was shot in the street. They presumed he was innocent and acted in haste. Sadder still I believe with all my heart if the officer (who had attack wounds on his face before discharging his weapon) were black instead of white not only would the media have not covered this story but I feel the riots would have NEVER happened. I think that in its self is a bigger problem.
Gary F
Thank you David, I believe we have to observe the golden rule.. treat others (under all conditions especially where public property is concerned) as you would expect others to treat you (or public property).
Captain Blacktoe
Ferguson is a suburb of St. Louis, part of the metro area not a small town outside of St. Louis.
Seeds, Shovels, & Sankofa
You’ve said “There is never a valid reason to loot in a civilized world with a functioning economy.” Most preppers know that this so-called “functioning economy” is paper thin, has been for decades, and has never functioned properly for millions of Americans historically regardless of race, and this is why US history is dotted with hundreds very violent riots since it’s beginning, with the overwhelming vast majority of these riots being initiated by poor and working class whites (even most of race riots).
Though I myself prefer peace and civility, your white forefathers have hit the streets and brutally fought the police, looted, and rioted for centuries, unfortunately, rioting and looting is as American as apple pie, but of course, this is not what you or I was taught in school.
Civil disobedience in America was championed by the Civil Rights movement as a civil defense against the violence, tyranny, and terrorist actions of white Americans.
What you saw in Ferguson is the “canary in the coal mine” and if (or when) the economy implodes, the coffers are empty, and unemployment skyrockets, the Ferguson factor may become the unfortunate norm amongst whites, blacks, browns, and people of all colors.
Either people are going to take it and steal it like Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, the bankers, and politicians, or the rioters and the looters… I don’t condone any of this, however, the truth be told, history speaks louder than my own personal sentiments