Violent Protests in Baltimore

[Tiger Devil Dog]

Excellent counterpoint

 

[BillJ]

Excellent counterpoint

Since government is "by the people, for the people", seems like all we need to do is look in a collective mirror.

 

[cooleddie74]

I'm also for disbanding the active duty army and air force and having a strong and robust National Guard to fight our countries wars. And an even stronger Navy and Marine Corps to defend our political and economic interests around the world, the constitution actually call for just that.

 

[BillJ]

I'm also for disbanding the active duty army and air force and having a strong and robust National Guard to fight our countries wars. And an even stronger Navy and Marine Corps to defend our political and economic interests around the world, the constitution actually call for just that.

 

[Tiger Devil Dog]

I suppose you're in favor of continued military intervention around the world then? Will you be signing up to help fight Iran?

 

[BillJ]

I suppose you're in favor of continued military intervention around the world then? Will you be signing up to help fight Iran?

Once again, this isn't what this discussions about. You keep trying to play three card monte with it and failing spectacularly.

You want to start a thread about Iran to discuss that, feel free.

 

[Jedi_Master]

At some point it might be nice to discuss the topic at hand.

The turmoil in Baltimore provides an immediate test for the United States' new attorney general

WASHINGTON — As he prepared to swear in Loretta E. Lynch as attorney general on Monday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said she was uniquely qualified to bridge the divide between minority neighborhoods and police officers clashing over the use of deadly force.

Within hours, Baltimore was in flames, and Ms. Lynch was consumed by an issue that could define her time in office.

Ms. Lynch, a child of the segregated South and the daughter of a local civil rights leader, has spoken of the need for police officers — because they wield the power — to repair broken relationships. But she has also spoken repeatedly about the police as a force for good in minority neighborhoods.

Although she announced no plans to visit Baltimore, she sent Mr. Davis and Ms. Gupta there. Mr. Davis, a former police officer and chief, is a respected policing expert. His office provides advice and money to police departments to support community policing and is seen as an advocate for defusing combative situations.

Last year, Baltimore officials asked Mr. Davis to investigate the police department and recommend ways to reduce the use of force. That investigation is in its early stages, and Ms. Lynch is looking for ways to speed that up, two law enforcement officials said, so that the police can start examining their use of force sooner and begin making changes if necessary.

Ms. Gupta, the chief of the civil rights division, is leading the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Mr. Gray’s death. She similarly led two investigations into policing in Ferguson — one that cleared the officer in the shooting death of the black teenager, Michael Brown, and another that accused the city of years of unconstitutional police tactics.

A former senior lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Ms. Gupta has deep ties to community and civil rights groups and is expected to meet with those groups in Baltimore. The trip was planned for Tuesday, but the Justice Department made no announcement about the agenda.

“Those are two people at D.O.J. who can do something,” said Judith Browne Dianis, a civil rights advocate at the Advancement Project who said she spoke with Justice Department officials Monday and is helping to connect them to local leaders. “They’re reaching out, looking for the right people. They’re trying to find people who are doing the work on the ground in Baltimore. They can’t just talk to national people.”

“I think there is the expectation that she could do some important work in this area,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said of Ms. Lynch. But, he added, “There does need to be a commitment from local elected leaders and local law enforcement leaders to confront this challenge and to demonstrate some determination about trying to build bridges with the citizens that they are sworn to serve and protect.”

 

[Mudd]

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

 

[Garak]

It could be worse. We could be living in the post-apocalyptic wasteland also known as Canada.

Yeah, our race riots are really making the headlines these days.

 

[Garak]

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

Pretty much.

 

[BillJ]

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

I wonder what the white on white murder percentages are?

Yet the disturbing truth, according to the FBI's most recent homicide statistics, is that the United States is in the wake of an epidemic of white-on-white crime. Back in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, a staggering 83 percent of white murder victims were killed by fellow Caucasians.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053811/white-on-white-murder

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Excellent counterpoint

Since government is "by the people, for the people", seems like all we need to do is look in a collective mirror.

That's basically what President Obama said this morning. It's not just police brutality we have to deal with. We have to deal with hopelessness. We have to fix a lot of things, not just one thing.
One thing to point out to the city of Baltimore regarding police brutality suits...
What if they broke it down to "what does this cost you, the taxpayer?" What would $95000 mean to the taxpayer if it wasn't going toward paying a lawsuit? Does it mean a fixed street, a new streetlight? Does it mean better police training? Another city clerk? Make them care! Make them see that truly good cops benefit them!

 

[Jedi_Master]

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

Yep.

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

I wonder what the white on white murder percentages are?

Yet the disturbing truth, according to the FBI's most recent homicide statistics, is that the United States is in the wake of an epidemic of white-on-white crime. Back in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, a staggering 83 percent of white murder victims were killed by fellow Caucasians.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053811/white-on-white-murder

Shocking!

We need to deal with Whitey, he is getting out of control.

 

[Tiger Devil Dog]

"Black on black murder," as a phenomenon, is a unremarkable subset of "most people killed by people they know."

I wonder what the white on white murder percentages are?

Yet the disturbing truth, according to the FBI's most recent homicide statistics, is that the United States is in the wake of an epidemic of white-on-white crime. Back in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, a staggering 83 percent of white murder victims were killed by fellow Caucasians.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053811/white-on-white-murder

That stat is true. It also true that blacks account for roughly 13% of the population yet they comprise 43% of the murder victims and 47% of murder offenders.

I think we can all agree that these numbers are tragic and something must be done to fix the problem. The question is, what should we do? I think the most logical first step is to decriminalize drugs which in my opinion will also reduce police brutality.

 

[Mudd]

As a wise man once said, "Whitey had a good run."

I won't argue with decriminalizing drugs and the positive effect that ought to have on our criminal justice system and rate of incarceration. That said, drug laws don't so much lead to "police brutality" as they provide a pretext for it; unless other things change, another pretext will be found pretty quickly.

 

[cooleddie74]

I won't argue with you about that. The sooner we decriminalize marijuana and other narcotics the better our entire country will be and for many different reasons.

 

[Data Holmes]

I posted this in the TNZ thread, but thought it fit here too.


http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/04/...a-accounts-baltimore-linked-violence-ferguson

A data mining company has found 20 to 50 social media accounts connected between the violence last night in Baltimore and the hight of violence during the Ferguson protests.

 

[Jedi_Master]

A different perspective on the Baltimore unrest:

The Revolution will not be televised

 

[Robert Maxwell]

FoxNews.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

But it's a blog source, Data and that is problematic. We don't have any way of checking this as the source is anonymous.
ETA: I admit I might be inclined to believe as Seattle's had its share of paid protesters. But that shows my bias, doesn't it?