Thread: Ferguson (opinion piece, please give your opinion and discuss)

SO we all know about the Ferguson riots, sparked when a white cop shot a black teen which has set off massive riots, looting and burning across the area of Ferguson Missouri and it's gotten to the stage where a state of emergency has been declared, hundreds have been arrested, there have been deaths, people beaten on the streets by protesters and police alike. However what's been lost in all the hype and chaos of this is any sort of real discussion of the events which created an environment where something like this could spark such a massive response and of the circumstances of the event itself. I've yet to see a single televised news story actually going over the events that lead up to the shooting other than an off-hand word or two, I've seen testimony from the victim's friends and family a hundred times but I haven't seen the testimony of the cop himself. Personally, I don't see this as a race issue, I see a tragic situation that has been twisted by the media to BE a race issue without any discussion over it. When this happened, instead of exploring the factors of this, what lead up to it, the teen's life which lead up to the killing and the cop's point of view, the media has instead been blarring out this story of white cop shoots black teen with only the occasional off-hand mention of the teen trying to grab the cop's gun and almost no mention of what actually lead up to the shooting itself. the fact the media didn't report that little detail to the public is deliberately misleading, and when that cop was found not guilty the public wasn't told what the judges were told, they paint this picture of the cop got off the hook because he's white and the teen was black when in reality, there's no way that could be the case, for a court to essentially legalize the killing of someone else on the basis of their race, that would be commonplace in the 1950s but it wouldn't be possible in 2014, when such cases are presided over by human rights groups as well as higher ups from Washington and more who would never simply let something like that slide. I think this stinks of the media twisting a tragic situation into something MEANT to spark unrest and riots, which would mean big ratings and money for the media agencies reporting on the ensuing chaos. the police are accused of brutality, but when you look at the looting, the burning and violence committed on the protester's side, what else are they meant to do? join in? I have no pity or mercy for those looters and rioters, who chant the slain kid's name while they loot and burn the very stores who give their community jobs, money and supplies. While I do feel sorry for the slain kid's family and friends, I feel that they weren't given the whole story or if they did, they didn't believe it, and from what I've seen of the kid's friends and what I've read about them, they do fit the profile of someone who would claim it was cold-blooded casual murder by this cop for no reason. I wouldn't blame the cop or the teen, this is a tragedy in every sense of the word, the blame lies with the media and with the looters. the media have twisted this tragedy into something not meant to encourage discussion, but to incite violence and backlash. I blame the looters for their violence, their looting and their burning of their community which provokes such heavy-handed responses by the police. too many people forget completely that cops are people too, they have families, they have good and bad days, and most of all, they live in those very same communities. those stores that are being looted and burned are the ones those same cops have been going to for years, that shoe store ransacked and burned? hundreds of cops bought their children's first shoes there, that liquor store? there are cops who made their stops there after work on friday nights to pick up their pre-drinks to have with their buddies... they live in those same communities, is it so wrong that they want to protect it from the people who are actively burning and looting their community? their homes? what if one of those cop's little brother is working at a looted walmart or worse? too many people forget these facts, and this chaos isn't the cop's fault, it's not Mike Brown's fault it's the media's fault.