9:01 this morning
Washingtonpost:
D.C. Police said protesters continue to slow traffic in the city.
Protesters had previously blocked the 14th Street bridge but that has since reopened.
At 9 a.m., D.C. police said no arrests have been made because the group continues to move along, heading eastbound on Constitution Avenue. Police have temporarily closed Constitution Avenue in both directions between 9th and 12th streets as the protesters move through that area.
D.C. Police officials said as long as the protesters are not standing still, they won’t be arrested. If the protesters fail to obey three warnings, given by police on the scene they could be arrested, according to D.C. Police. But so far, no warnings have been given.
This situation is incredibly stupid. Protestors need to look at history. I can remember the Vietnam War protestors, farmer protestors, coal miner protestors. They all tried to snarl traffic. Did the commuters have sympathy? Oh Hell no! They hated them, reviled them, flicked them off and shouted obscenities. It also wasn’t a real safe place to be. I feel certain more than a few got nudged with a car.
With every purpose, I have to ask, “what is the objective?” Is there really an answer?
The objective is to demonstrate that black lives matter. There have been a rash of police killings lately of which Michael Brown is one example. These must end
How about the 27 cops that were killed in 2014? How about the white kids? Latino kids? Indian kids?
I am going with the grand jury on this one. Let’s put it this way, regardless of what we feel personally, we are a nation of laws and Wilson was not indicted. that should end it. We can’t keep running people through the system until we get the desired result.
Oh no. How are 15 idiots allowed to mess – unannounced – with the lives of half a million communters without penalty. Free speech and political demonstration right aside, this was Wrong.
I think there are more than 15. Yes, they should be arrested and not allowed to block traffic.
@Starry flights
I agree, black lives do matter. But then again ALL lives matter, I’m in an interracial marriage with a biracial child so I don’t just look at it as these lives matter or those lives matter… they all matter.
What about all of the black workers who were late to work today because of this? Do their lives or livelihood matter? How many were late to work because of this and docked pay? Or, what about the ones who had to work late to make up for missed time and had to scramble to find after school care or a babysitter (costing them even more much needed money)?
This is not the way to go about this. It’s only going to bring backlash against their cause from everyone, including working black men and women who were effected by this who otherwise are or would have been sympathetic to the cause.
This is just stupid, plain and simple. If they really want someone to do something about officer Wilson then why aren’t they in DC protesting in front of the DOJ DEMANDING Holder press federal charges against officer Wilson?
Note to Self for Future Protests: The traffic blocking strategy is certainly getting a lot of attention.
Drove through there this morning, threatened several with the “chrome horn”, they responded quickly, kind of like squirrels.
I have no patience for anyone or thing that snarls traffic.
Back in St. Louis, a Bosnian immigrant has been beaten to death on the street by three teenagers wielding hammers. The three perps have been described as Black and Hispanic. Motive not yet known. But local Bosnians are claiming it was because he was Bosnian.
So are the Bosnians rioting?
@Wolve
Another article stated that “Kill the white people!” was heard.
Holder to announce plan to target racial profiling
ATLANTA (AP) — Speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta — the church where The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was to announce on Monday new Justice Department plans aimed at ending racial profiling and ensuring fair and effective policing.
Holder traveled to Atlanta to meet with law enforcement and community leaders for the first in a series of regional meetings around the country. The president asked Holder to set up the meetings in the wake of clashes between protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Associated Press and other news outlets received advance copies of Holder’s speech.
“In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement, which will institute rigorous new standards — and robust safeguards — to help end racial profiling, once and for all,” the prepared remarks said. “This new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing.”
Tensions between police and the community in Ferguson boiled over into violent confrontations in August after a white police officer shot a black teenager. Protests turned violent again last week after a grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Holder’s meeting in Atlanta included a closed round table discussion with law enforcement and community leaders followed by a public interfaith service and community forum.
http://news.yahoo.com/holder-meets-community-leaders-atlanta-004746355.html
This is good
How many of those ended with grand juries determining that the killings were justifiable acts of self defense?
Nope. A few of them were angry enough to try to block a portion of one street, but the St. Louis County Police Chief came and told them in person that some of the perps had been caught and others were known and were being sought after. So they grumbled a bit more about not being safe in St. Louis and left the street, as far as I could see. They didn’t burn a thing in their Bosnian immigrant neighborhood. I guess they saw enough violence during the last Balkans war in the 1990’s
One of our Bosnian friends told me once that Bosnians are a war like clan. Do you find that to be true?
Sounds like Louie Farrakhan is out there preaching for a race war in America.
Just once I’d like to see a news article that describes what happened in Ferguson as where a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teen after the teen assaulted the officer in an attempt to take his gun. Why is it that with a mountain of evidence against O.J. the “system worked”, yet with most evidence in support of Wilson the “system failed”? Nothing at all to do with race I’m sure! What about Wilson’s Civil Rights? Is Holder going to consider that!? It’s hard to believe that less than 13% of the population has such a strangle hold over the entire nation in both demands and crime. Fifty years or more of providing tax payer support to one segment of the population, and I’ve never heard a simple “thank you” from anyone, just more demands.
The St. Louis police determined that the Bosnian killing was nor racially motivated
And a grand jury of 9 whites and 3 blacks concluded that Officer Darren Wilson’s shooting of Michael Brown was self-defense, and Brown was not “racially profiled” as part of the initial stop, which ended in the shooting. But, this doesn’t matter to the media, professional agitators and the race-baiters who operate behind a mask of “civil rights leaders”. It doesn’t matter to the knuckle-head St. Louis Rams players who decided to “make a statement” last Sunday. It certainly doesn’t matter to the reprobates who closed down the highway in DC. So, why should the findings of the St. Louis police matter to the Bosnian Community? We’ve come to the point where “Facts” and “Truth” are subjective and all that matters is perception, and we’ve come to accept a certain level of rioting as “acceptable”.
Another valid point made.
I have seen a lot of grabbing of “facts’ to do scenario building in order to support one’s belief system. I think I said that right. Steve said it better.
@all
I agree that racism is alive and well in the United States. It isn’t just limited to how some white people feel about blacks either. It goes all ways, in all directions. Having said that, I am not sure that it can ever be cured. What we can do though is minimize. One of the biggest complaints I have heard about Ferguson is that the police department there under-represented minorities and that there was distance between cops and citizens. That can be problem can be fixed.
One of our biggest assets in PWC is the school resource officer. He or she gets to know the kids by name, especially at the middle school level. (that’s where a lot of people practice being a thug) It’s a tremendous investment in the community and sadly is often the first program cut. People stupidly also want to make this position an armed guard position. The school resource officer isn’t an armed guard. You can hire those for a lot less money from Wells Fargo.
The school resource officer knows kids by name, often knows where the kid lives and has met the kids parents. Critical!!!!
PWC needs to continue to strengthen this program.
@Starry flights
Got a link to that determination…because witnesses have stated that the perps were yelling “Kill the white people!”
The unusual hammer attack raised questions about motive, but there is no indication that this was a targeted crime, Dotson said.
Police have determined that there was a dispute between Begic and his attackers. Begic got in his car and one of the youths kicked his car, Dotson said. At that point, Begic exited the car and the violent assault happened, he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/01/us/st-louis-man-killed-hammer-attack/index.html?c=&page=2
@Steve Thomas The difference is that the authorities have arrested and will prosecute the suspects.
Or we could take a cue from the Texans: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/dallas-county/2014/11/27/open-carry-advocates-followed-ferguson-protesters/19568451/
No violence, no looting, no traffic blocking. Gee, I wonder why?
Um…I think that is a distinction without a difference. The suspects were apprehended. Hopefully, a grand jury will indict them, if the evidence indicates an indictment is warranted. If indicted, they will be tried. Officer Wilson was suspended pending a LOD investigation, as is the protocol of that police force. An investigation was conducted, and the evidence viewed by a grand jury. The grand jury decided the evidence did not support an indictment, as there was no crime committed. Are you arguing that officer Wilson did in fact commit a criminal act, and therefore should have been prosecuted? Or, are you arguing that regardless of the evidence, Officer Wilson should have been made to stand trial…prosecuted? Are you implying that three thugs assaulting a man with a blunt object is the same as a uniformed police officer defending himself from an attacking suspect, who also happens to be bigger and stronger, who attempted to take the officer’s issued duty pistol, and who was also under the influence of a narcotic, and finally, had just committed a strong-arm robbery?
Just curious… how does stopping traffic “demonstrate that black lives matter”?