Ferguson divides the right: Conservatives split on blaming the police or the New Black Panthers

[DonViejo]

Hannity and Scarborough are ready to cut the Ferguson police some slack -- but other conservatives say not so fast

SIMON MALOY

It’s a bit difficult to fathom the sort of person who would defend – explicitly or implicitly – the conduct of police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, over the last week . The people tasked with protecting the community and enforcing the law transformed the small city into a mini-war zone, with explosions in the streets, assault rifles trained on unarmed protesters, rubber projectiles fired in abundance, and tear gas canisters fired through residential neighborhoods. Along the way they arrested a couple of journalists for no reason, threatened to arrest a few others, and deployed tear gas against a TV news crew.

And they did all that in response to protests over the fatal shooting – by a police officer – of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. Those protests escalated (into riots and looting, in some cases) after the police refused to release the name of the officer or any other information that might help explain why a young black man was killed at the hands of a police force that has long faced accusations of racial discrimination. After the governor stepped in and put the highway patrol in charge of security, the Ferguson police finally came forward with some information: the name of the officer who killed Brown, and a police report and video surveillance footage implicating Brown as a suspect in the robbery of a convenience store. Releasing the video only stoked further outrage, as it appeared that the Ferguson police were trying to disparage the character of the victim (the police chief later acknowledged that the robbery had nothing to do with Brown’s shooting). The Justice Department had asked the police not to release the video out of concern that it would spark unrest.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/18/ferguson_divides_the_right_conservatives_split_on_blaming_the_police_or_the_new_black_panthers/

[caraher]

1. It is an interesting split

My dittohead sister-in-law has taken the line that the police are lying in a CYA operation. She was also firmly in the "Trayvon Martin was a thug who brought his death on himself" camp. It will be interesting to see how her views evolve as she listens to RW media over the next few weeks...