Tire owner picking up pieces after Ferguson riot

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/12/zisser-tire-and-auto-ferguson-riot-violence/13938615/

ST. LOUIS COUNTY – Among a number of businesses affected during the violence outbreak in Ferguson Sunday night was Zisser Tire and Auto.

NewsChannel 5 Farrah Fazal spoke to the owner and his next steps in rebuilding his business.
-----------------

video at link.

[jwirr]

1. All right I feel sorry for these businesses but I want to know are they going to their

representative on the City Council and asking that the police stop using the brutal tactics that resulted in this riot? If you want a safe city to conduct business in then it has to be safe for all people not just those the soldier/police like.

The citizens who want to stop this need to recognize that police all over the country are being militarized and this is the result. My grandfather was a policeman and he would have been horrified with this process.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. The looting of the tire store wasn't the result of police wearing gas masks and camouflage n/t

[xchrom]

3. it's the result of ferguson and communities like ferguson being occupied

by hostile militarized and bigoted police forces.

way to blame the victims, well done.

[jwirr]

4. Absolutely. Those of us old enough to remember the riots in the civil rights movement recognize

what the result of police action is. I do not remember what they called it but it was an action by the police that cornered the protesters and pushed them to rioting.

[Chan790]

49. I'm not sure what they called it then...

but it sounds similar to the technique employed by the UK (London) Metropolitan Police and a handful of police forces in the US (including DC) known as kettling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettling

I'm generally pro-police (I am generally distrustful of people who tell me they don't like cops) but I have a serious problem with kettling as a tactic, also I share your concerns about an increasingly militarized police force; one question that I haven't even begun to get past is "Why does a smallish city like Ferguson, MO even have or possess a foreseeable need for riot police and paramilitary gear?"

[jwirr]

50. I think wherever there are two groups (White/Minority) there is the thought that we need to be ready

and those the over reaction. I live in a small community and I do not think this is happening here. What I do see is a build up on fire department equipment and considering that we live in a forested area that is sensible. In our community there is the tension between whites and Native Americans but so far it is just smaller incidents. What helps here is that the reservation has its own police force.

[Bacchus4.0]

5. So you are saying the looters are victims then? n/t

[kcr]

6. So are you saying no one should give a shit about the police misconduct?

If store owners want to avoid this, they should point the finger at the cause and insist something be done about it.

[Bacchus4.0]

9. Do you think the looters should be prosecuted?

I think the store owner in this case has identified the cause. He has video of it.

[kcr]

10. I don't particularly care if they are or not

The problem with the police is the first priority.

[Bacchus4.0]

13. You want them to change their uniforms? Is that it? n/t

[kcr]

15. Oh, okay. Your true colors shown. n/t

[Boom Sound 416]

48. Which are what?

That s/he is a racist for wanting looters prosecuted

Or a racist because s/he won't exonerate the looters because of police brutality as if one excuses the other.

That's madness.

Why oh why do DU members feel so comfortable implying racism but buckle on typing the word?

Oh because of the jury system. Awesome.

[TheKentuckian]

52. Racist? No assessment. Authoritarian looking to distract from the bigger issue to prop up

the police is more my take.

[Travis_0004]

37. I do

They should be charged criminally and face civil charges for whoever started the fire/stole merchandise.

[11 Bravo]

7. Would you agree that the guy who had his business trashed is also a victim?

If so, then a demand that said victim raise Hell with the City Council or the cops might also be construed as "blaming the victim".
Yeah, well done, indeed.

[jwirr]

22. The demand that they talk with their City Council has nothing to do with blaming the victim. It is

about power. The black community will be ignored and in fact are being ignored on this issue across the country. The business community has the power to change things here. They are the only ones who can approach the subject of police attitudes and militarization.

[madokie]

47. See reply #3

[shedevil69taz]

16. So basically blackmail

This is what you're saying: "If you just cooperate with the mob and ask for the same things they're asking for your business won't be vandalized anymore"

I'm sorry that would be the exact OPPOSITE way for you to try and recruit me to your side...

[LanternWaste]

19. That's precisely what the British Suffragette Movement did early in the 20th century.

"If you just cooperate with the mob and ask for the same things they're asking for your business won't be vandalized anymore"


That's precisely what the British Suffragette Movement did early in the 20th century.

[jwirr]

25. You're entitled to your side. As for blackmail -they do not have to do it but unless someone who has

the power to change things steps forward they are only going to get worse across the country. How many dead unarmed black men will make you realize that something has to be done? I think there are 2 in this community just this week.

And it is not just this minority population that is having trouble - there have been a lot of persons with disabilities gunned down in this way. Who is going to be next?

[joeybee12]

8. Oh the humanity! The poor tires!

Are their mothers grieving also, like Mrs. Brown is?

[Bacchus4.0]

12. Tires don't have mothers, looters do though n/t

[LanternWaste]

14. I heard that often enough during Katrina... but it only applied to one demographic

"looters do though..."

I heard that often enough during Katrina... but it only applied to one demographic, the others doing the same were heroic survivors.

[Bacchus4.0]

17. The video in the link in the OP has people breaking into a tire store stealing and destroying

I don't see how that is related to the police shooting.

[LanternWaste]

18. You are expecting a civilized, rational response to an uncivilized and irrational act.

You are, for some absurd reason, expecting a civilized, rational response to an uncivilized and irrational act. History, culture and people rarely work as such.

I don't see why an innocent youth is related to getting shot by a cop... but it is.

[OnlinePoker]

26. The U.S. has an entire holiday dedicated to a man who preached non-violent resistence.

The looters used the tragic shooting of a young man as a reason to steal. Real respect would have been silent vigils in honour of Michael Brown, not dishonouring his memory by destroying the livelihood of others.

[WillowTree]

28. As do the owners of the brutalized businesses and their employees.......

.......who will lose income because people were angry, not at them and not because of anything that they did, but because someone else did something terrible. For some reason, that just doesn't seem like what I call justice.

[Bacchus4.0]

30. Very true and if the owner can't rebuild then those people are screwed too

All because of the criminal looters.

[WillowTree]

36. Exacty. Falls under the "Two Wrongs Do Not a Right Make" rule.

I don't think anyone here is justifying what was done to that poor boy or the Hell his family is presently enduring. For sure I'm not. But I also won't justify punishing people who were in no way involved for any of it just because people are frustrated and pissed.

[hollowdweller]

11. People can't find any good jobs, the cops are fucking with everybody.

The politics of the difft groups are not the same but the whole Bundy militia guys and the guys burning down the town over the cops are a symptom of the decline of the good life for the average joe in the US. The devaluation of the individual over the corporation.

When we started trading heavy with China the line was that trade would open them up to be like the US more.

Truth is we became more like them. Where the average joe has no power and the authorities and big companies have it all.

[PowerToThePeople]

20. A raging black mobs vid, huh?

Very nice.


Not

[Bacchus4.0]

21. Its a video of his store being looted. Some here are calling the looters victims.

I wouldn't call them that.

[LanternWaste]

23. Whilst "some" are showing more concern for rubber tires than for the shooting victim.

Whilst "some" are showing more concern for rubber tires than for the shooting victim.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other (insert distinction without a difference here)

[Bacchus4.0]

24. Still others are claiming looters are victims just like the shooting victim and his family n/t

[LordGlenconner]

31. You have no idea what you are talking about

Everybody knows lifting candy bars and sodas is a powerful statement against oppression by the police. Isn't it obvious?

[Bacchus4.0]

33. Our family business is small and Democrats for 3-4 generations. Political affiliation would be

way down on the list of things to think about if the business was destroyed.

[Historic NY]

34. Thats a big guess on your part bucko......

if every business shutter their doors then there wouldn't be looting...see the logic.

People go out an plunder using excuses for their behavior. Its opportunistic.

[Whiskeytide]

38. Do you really think that's what will happen...?

I think, human nature being what it is, he's much more likely to harbor resentment toward the protesters/looters (the two now becoming more and more indistinguishable in his mind) for years. I'm more worried that he is a democrat now thinking of switching the other way.

[XemaSab]

40. RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT

I know hella small business owners who are blue as the sky.

And maybe he'll make a change in his community by moving the tire store to the next town over.

[arcane1]

42. What a pitifully transparent "make libruls look bad" post that was. Were we all born yesterday?

Freakin' amateurs, I tell ya!

[Inkfreak]

45. While some would ignore a persons life work they may have put into a business.

While some would ignore a persons life's work they may have put into a business.

It is entirely possible to be horrified by Browns murder and feel compassion for a store owners livelihood. Though some may fail to see that.

[Taitertots]

35. They are victims of systemic police criminality and guilty of crimes during the riot

The two groups are not mutually exclusive.

[Whiskeytide]

27. To me, what pisses me off about the looting...

... is that it detracts and distracts from what happened, and the underlying problem that caused it. Now the media focus is almost exclusively on the looting, and like it or not viewers in Tacoma and Flagstaff and Boise - viewers everywhere - are being conditioned to side with the cops and against the protesters. When they see video of looters, they conflate that image with the image of Michael Brown. Now they start to think "so, this cop shot one of those scary looking, crazy thugs tearing up that nice tire guy's store....". It doesn't make sense, but it's happening.

I can understand the rage. I can understand the feeling of helplessness. I could even sympathize, perhaps, with venting against public property and symbols of authority. But to destroy the property of small businesses (and he's right, nice tire guy's insurance will probably not cover his losses based on exclusions in his policy) is irresponsible and contemptible, and only serves to shift the narrative to a different victim. Rev Al and others have tried to tell people this. They aren't listening.

[tkmorris]

32. I get it. I really do.

The looting is wrong, and those doing it should be charged. I hope the store owner has insurance which helps to cover this sort of thing.

Here's the thing though. What motivates you to post this, especially at this time? If you have suddenly decided to take an interest in the injustices taking place in Ferguson Missouri I think you may have overlooked one or two.

[Bacchus4.0]

39. The officer who shot the young man should be held accountable professionally and criminally

if the investigation so concludes. Why are people calling for the feds to get involved but not even wait for the investigation to start before reaching conclusions?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

44. Because the pigs won't give up the name of the murderpig

Because the FAA is helping the local pigs keep the news under wraps.
Because the local police department murdered a young man in cold blood and wish to get away with it.
Because the pigs are firing tear gas canisters at people's skulls, even when they stand in their own yard.
Because if the people are oppressed for long enough, they will revolt, so it might be a good idea to begin involving competent authority.

You missed a spot on that boot, by the way.

[PDittie]

41. Jury results for #29

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Aug 13, 2014, 05:09 PM, and the Jury voted 4-3 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Wtf!
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: opinion of poster not a TOS violation
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: This isn't a particularly intelligent comment, but that does not make it inappropriate.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I know plenty of small business owners who aren't republicans. Don't be pig-ignorant.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

[Comrade Grumpy]

43. I see you have nothing to say about the cop shooting the kid.

And I don't recall hearing you complaining about rioters and looters in Caracas, either. Funny.

[Inkfreak]

46. The murder of Brown is disgusting. The looting is wrong.

There. See? It's not so hard to figure out. Now someone go arrest the the fucking cop who murdered that guy.

[mercuryblues]

51. I would

rather be rebuilding my business than scrubbing my child's blood off the pavement,

[hedgehog]

53. I would love to see video records showing the 10 minutes before the

windows were broken on that store. The in-store video looked to me like a group of men were prepared to take advantage of the situation to steal.

I'd also like to know where the police were during the looting. Were they so busy hassling the demonstrators they couldn't deal with the thieves?