Phrase of the Week: TO PROTECT AND TO SERVE [Part 5 of 7]

Today, I continue my seven-part series commenting on events in Ferguson, MO, Cleveland, OH, and New York City, N.Y.   The past three days, I addressed procedural and legal issues for the Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner cases.  Today and tomorrow, I will address the public's response to these events...and the response to the response.

PUBLIC OUTCRY

The public outcry in response to the events involving Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner has been large.  There is no shortage of outrage resulting from these events.

The initial protests in Ferguson over the killing of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson were boisterous but relatively peaceful, while the anger of those protesting was clearly evident.  The police response was, however, overdone, with militarized police being used to keep order among the protestors.

  Militarized police aiming at unarmed protestors this Summer

Following the no indictment decision from the grand jury, the protests took an unfortunate turn.  Unruly crowds, looting, setting fires, and destruction of property now became part of the upheaval.

It was stated that much of the destruction that took place was due to out-of-town protestors, some referred to as anarchists, taking part in the demonstrations.  We saw some of same outbursts during the Occupy protests a few years ago in many parts of the country.  Their goal is to take advantage of a volatile and emotional situation in order to bring about chaos.  What it does is completely taint the message of protest into one of sheer destruction.

In contrast to the protests in Ferguson, the protests in Cleveland over Tamir Rice being killed by Officer Timothy Loehmann were far more subdued.  Again, the dissatisfaction and disgust with the shooting was clearly evident.

 

 

 

 

For sheer size in number of protestors in one place, the protests in New York City over the murder of Eric Garner by Officer Daniel Pantaleo and other members of the N.Y.P.D.   The rather mobile protests were well-orchestrated and did not include the police brutality and strong arm tactics that occurred during the Occupy Wall Street protests.  It was a symbol of peaceful protest over a highly-charged event.

Terry

TOMORROW

RECEPTION AND PERCEPTION