Just a few days ago St. Louis Police shot and killed another young man and it only fuelled the community outrage. Police state that VonDerrick Myers, 18, was walking down the street with several friends, when an OFF DUTY police officer approached him and trying to do a “stop and frisk.” Supposedly the friends ran away and VonDerrick began fighting with the officer, pulled a gun, and fired three shots at him. Then the officer unloaded his entire stock of bullets at the young man.
What eyewitnesses say is completely different though, saying he just went to a store and bought a sandwich (confirmed with store CCTV) and had no gun. They say the police officer then attacked the young man and fired all his bullets at him killing him instantly. The Community of Shaw and the Ferguson crowd took to the streets in force with several hundred protestors. They did get a little violent, breaking some police car windows, but mostly remained peaceful. Angry demonstrators were pushing the police out of the neighbourhood and they mostly had to retreat for their safety. Even with all the anger and recent violence, the protestors didn’t riot or do any serious damage. They did march out of the area and block traffic on the main roads. What’s interesting about this is that there was a mixture of white and black residents/protestors, probably 40%white, 60% black.
Another problem with this situation is that the main stream media is reporting this primarily as a race issue. Yes, there is a heavy racial aspect to this seeing as how police forces in the United States were spawned from Southern Slave Patrols and still have a legacy of racism towards blacks, but this is becoming a national issue. Both whites, blacks, and Hispanics are facing rising police violence in recent years. It would be unfair and untruthful to say this is ONLY a race issue. Unfortunately for everyone involved, there is bias and confusion which only feeds the turmoil. When we have Fox News reporting on Ferguson showing half a dozen looters as a back drop, that over whelming bias soaks into people minds, thinking that there is non-stop violence and rioting. That’s not what I saw at all when I was down there and while there was a few stores damaged and a gas station burned down, most of the area was safe and secure.
Fox News may have been the most ridiculous and untruthful of the mainstream media in their coverage, but even CNN was dishonest at times when they mostly sided with police sources and statements as fact. It’s interesting because police have been shown time and time again to lie and fabricate evidence to protect themselves and fellow officers. Why “official police sources” are so trusted is beyond me at this point and I take ALL perspectives as the same unless they are proven as fact. We have to be able to trust our media sources and when we have CNN, BBC, and FOX giving the world untrue or biased information, it greatly warps reality and what is really going on.
Everyone agrees that Michael Brown was unarmed when officer Darren Wilson shot and killed him two months ago, but somehow the facts are being twisted and made out that somehow an unarmed young man, a considerable distance away, is a threat to a heavy-armed police officer. What many pundits are saying in the media is that “if an officer feels threatened he has a right to defend himself with deadly force.” But that’s a human rights violation when an unarmed person is being gunned down by an officer. There is no excuse or reason for police to use such a level of force. A taser could have been used or even OC spray, but in most of these cases that’s not what happens and the death toll is stacking up in America.
At the end of the day America is in turmoil and it’s not being reported as such. News of ISIS and Ebola, threats which don’t affect most Americans or Europeans, is blocking out the real threat in the USA. Police forces are the real danger and sadly you are 29 times more likely to be murdered by a police officer than a terrorist. American State sponsored violence is a serious issue and the people are taking notice across the USA and beginning to take a stand. Its unclear just how far this “New Civil Right Movement” will go, but the world is watching and how the government acts is being recorded in history.
