Picture of the damage done to the store. ABC News/AP
The memorial burns. ABC News/AP
Protests and a fresh round of looting returned to Ferguson last night. -ABC News. The protests are in response to a fire that destroyed part of the impromptu memorial for Michael Brown. It is unknown what caused the fire but an accident involving the many candles and stuffed animals is a likely cause. An unruly crowd appeared at 9:00 pm and headed to a local business, Beauty Town, and looted it for the third time since the shooting. Police arrived and dispersed the crowd arresting 3 people. Early reports of gunfire were erroneous. The protesters are still angry that Darren Wilson, the police officer that shot Brown, has not been arrested.
My Comment:
I feel bad for whoever owns Beauty Town. They have nothing to do with any of this and they keep having their store attacked. There is no excuse for any of this behavior, especially considering that the memorial was probably destroyed by accident. But even if the Klu Klux Klan came in and lit it up with a flamethrower it doesn't justify attacking an innocent business. And I know it is probably a minority of people that are doing the looting but it really hurts the case of the protesters. If you are mad that the cops are treating you like criminals it helps to not associate with actual ones.
Of course this could just be foreshadowing for what could be coming when Darren Wilson is either acquitted or not indicted. As of this writing I haven't seen any evidence that convinces me that Wilson is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And to be perfectly honest I haven't seen any evidence, other then notoriously unreliable eyewitness testimony that is contradicted by other witnesses, that even meets the standard for indictment. I think there will be enough political pressure for an indictment but my guess is that Darren Wilson ends up a free man. No way they get a conviction without some unknown damning evidence. Wilson will walk and then all hell breaks loose...
This is how people respond to ecconomic desperation, which goes hand-in-hand with the sort of core conflict that mobilized folks after the shooting. Police not representing the majority of the population provide an atmosphere where the disadvantaged group has more increased trouble pulling themselves out of bad ecconomic situations, and therefore people in that group respond irrationally against unrelated targets. Same thing as LA in the 90's - poor people get hungry and then angry and when something that would otherwise spark their anger enough to vote for new government or turn out for protest happens, they riot. It also doesnt help that poor people are more likely to be disenfranchised due to the legal system for crimes they either wouldnt commit if they had a better ecconomic situation, or wouldnt be punished as harshly for if they were the dominant social group. Until there is full restoritive justice, things like this will continue to happen; beauty town be damned.
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