In a weird way I'm glad reporters and journalists

[malaise]

were arrested in Ferguson. Now they know about all these first amendment violations first hand.

[NightWatcher]

1. It sounds horrible, but when more white people (reporters and such) get treated like black people

get treated in the South, maybe more stories will come to light and more people will become outraged.

[malaise]

2. Precisely

This is madness

[Solomon]

5. Ha! Getting arrested then let go without charges is a far cry from being shot dead just for

being black.

[malaise]

7. True but even that is an unusual experience for most of them

Being slammed into the soda fountain is not a regular occurrence for Washington Post reporters/journalists.

[NightWatcher]

10. I didn't mean to equate the two

But being exposed to the whims of a thuggish police department is one step closer than most white people get or even hear about.

I was raised as a poor white kid who was once railroaded by the police, but I knew that I was still better off than my black friends down in South Georgia.

[onecaliberal]

6. It's a very good point.

[el_bryanto]

3. Well it also increases the likely hood of good reporting

Reporters love reporting on how reporters are heroic.

[malaise]

4. I'm trying to figure out how these swat cops

can walk into any restaurant, kick people out and arrest them. This is crazy.

[pinboy3niner]

8. The cops who did that are going to catch hell from the chief

It was a huge mistake, and the chief's first reaction when informed about reporters being arrested was, "Oh, God!"

[malaise]

9. What's with all the camo, high powered weapons

and military vehicles - this is scary.

[RKP5637]

11. It looks like a F'en invasion force. A war! n/t

[socialist_n_TN]

13. Welcome to the beginnig stages of the police state...

And yes, it is good that the reporters were arrested. There's nothing that will get the attention of even the bought and paid for capitalist media like police repression and oppression of media people.

[malaise]

20. They're using tear gas cannisters

and stun grenades to mash up the protests. The camo dressed cops (with gas masks) are on top of armored vehicles pointing assault weapons at citizens. I'm listening to a reporter on Lawrence O'Donnell

[tularetom]

14. They can do it because America is no longer "the home of the brave"

We're all scared shitless anymore, especially since 9/11. Consequently we're willing to give up a lot of the freedom we love to brag about in order that we can feel sort of safe again.

We can bitch about "big government" all day, but we really love havin big government around to protect us from people who might have a different religion. Or language. Or skin color.

Home of the brave. Fuckin joke.

[malaise]

21. This is sad to watch

I can't believe what I'm seeing these days

[steve2470]

12. cops ordered protesters to disperse, shot tear gas

http://www.livestream.com/activistworldnewsnow

[geomon666]

15. Saw that, it's about to go down.

Cops are threatening arrests and the people aren't moving.

[steve2470]

16. molotov cocktail thrown, car wash on fire nt

[winter is coming]

19. I wonder if the cops threw that, too. n/t

[Savannahmann]

17. Have any of these cops ever read the Constitution?

I mean, it's not a big thing, we're not talking war and peace. We're talking about a few short pages including the amendments.

Hey Cops. Those of you on this site. Check this out for some idea of what you've supposedly sworn to uphold protect and defend.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Here are those Amendments you might have heard someone mention.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

Let's cover a couple of them shall we?

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Now, Freedom of the Press. You obviously never heard of that when you arrested the reporters. I know, some of these things are pretty big, and quite possibly this is the first thing you've ever heard about it. I won't overwhelm you with some of those other things that you have obviously never heard of. Later, we'll discuss the Fourth Amendment. You've probably never heard of that one either, but I figure it's too much to try and give you all of it at once.

[morningfog]

18. Of course not. They are a bunch of ignorant thugs. Dumb shit cowards.

Fascist boot thugs. They don't care about the constitution, civil rights or justice. They care only about instilling fear and paying their mortgage.