A protester hugs a Missouri State Patrolman. Yahoo/AP
After nearly a week of unrest and riots, calm has returned to Ferguson Missouri. Yahoo/AP Protests erupted earlier this week after the shooting of Michael Brown. The ensuing riots and looting, and the cities response to it, lead to sky high racial tensions. The situation was so dire that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon replaced the local cops with State Patrol officers. The State Patrol officers took a completely different approach, leaving their heavy weapons and vehicles at home. This lead to a completely different response from the protesters.
My Comment:
Here's hoping that the peace holds. And what a difference bringing in outside police made. To see cops in regular uniforms and not carrying heavy weapons must have been a relief to the protesters. No question that the local and county police completely mishandled this situation. A light touch turned out to be just what was needed, instead of the heavy hand. Good on the Governor for coming up with this solution.
But will the peace hold? I'm not sure. Maybe in the short term but what about the long term? If this was the response for the pre-arrest period, what is going to happen if the officer involved is acquitted? I haven't seen conclusive evidence at this point that he is guilty or not, just a he said he said situation. There may well be enough reasonable doubt to lead to an acquittal. I am guessing that there will be some ballistic evidence and that the coroners report will shed some light on what happened, but what if it doesn't? Either way, I wouldn't want to be in town when the verdict is announced if an acquittal happens... Of course since this is shaping up to the next great media trial, the effects might be national.
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