Posted on 05/20/2015 8:25:55 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The firefight in Waco between rival outlaw motorcycle gangs is raising questions about perceptions and portrayals of crime in America.
Washington — The prevailing images of protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, over police killings of black men were of police in riot gear, handcuffed protesters, tear gas and mass arrests. The main images of a fatal gun battle between armed bikers and police in Waco, Texas, also showed mass arrests — carried out by nonchalant-looking officers sitting around calm bikers on cell phones.
The firefight in Waco is raising questions about perceptions and portrayals of crime in America, considering the vehement reaction that the earlier protests got from police, politicians and some members of the public.
Media critics, columnists and civil rights activists are complaining that there appears to be little societal concern about the gunplay at a restaurant in Texas, whereas politicians — including President Barack Obama — described violent looters in Baltimore as "thugs," and the media devoted hours of television and radio airtime to dissecting social ills that affect the black community.
~snip~
There were no deaths during the Baltimore and Ferguson protests, yet people immediately stereotyped all of the protesters as criminals, said Nicole Lee, a human rights lawyer who worked with protesters in both cities.
"Nine people were killed in Waco, and yet you have not heard the level of disgust and dismay as you did over fires burning in Ferguson and in Baltimore," Lee said. "One of the things the protesters always said was that while many of them disagreed with the property destruction, that you can rebuild property. But you can't bring back people, and yet you're not hearing an equal amount of disgust from the media and from people over what happened in Waco."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
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Hell Yes. In Baltimore (and Ferguson) there are black thugs and punks and the cops are given a large degree of prudent and necessary leeway.
In Waco? The cops ambushed those poor innocent white men.
(Now where is my sarc tag?)
Yes, they were shot down.
You mean “White Hispanics.”
There are a lot of people on this site who believe the cop actually instigated Waco. So yeah, there’s a difference.
Are these people insane? The police engaged in a gun battle with these bikers and may have fatally shot some. How many “protesters/rioters” did the police gun down?
Waco isn’t burning to the ground, is it?
OK, they were shot down. But if they were black?
They would have been given space to riot and loot. Er, I mean space to knife and shoot.
Either we apply the same standard of law and order equally to blacks as we do whites - or we see more Fergusons and Baltimores in our future.
“Nine people were killed in Waco, and yet you have not heard the level of disgust and dismay as you did over fires burning in Ferguson and in Baltimore,”
Of course. The Baltimore savages were attacking innocent people and businesses, but the scumbags in Texas were just killing each other. Nobody cares when thugs kill other thugs, as long as their aim is good.
“There are a lot of people on this site who believe the cop actually instigated Waco.’
There are some people on this site that believe their gang brothers are fine, upstanding citizens ...
170 white thugs got a million dollar bond on each of them in Waco. How many Baltimore tbugs got that amount?
There are a lot of people on this site who believe the cop actually instigated Waco. So yeah, there’s a difference.
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No kidding. The ‘cops are scum’ contingent are out loud and proud.
The Waco gangs viewed the police as ruling authorities. When (with some persuasion) told to sit down and stay put, they did.
The Baltimore rioters viewed the police as enemy invaders. That is not conducive to sitting down and staying put, when told.
As time passes, an interesting factoid is revealed: the latter were no more than cuffed for their violence ... while the former were compliant in part because several were killed.
How many “protesters/rioters” did the police gun down?
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Easy answer.
None.
Blacks are a protected class. Given space to riot and loot. If they were white bikers? The body count in Baltimore would be in the hundreds.
I say again - we hold blacks to a lower standard than we hold whites.
“The Waco gangs viewed the police as ruling authorities. When (with some persuasion) told to sit down and stay put, they did.”
Helicopters circling with cops hanging out the doors armed with automatic weapons ...
Waco isn’t burning to the ground, is it?
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No reports of toilet paper being stolen from the CVS, as far as I know.
Is Janet Reno in town?
(adjustable terms)
In both Baltimore and Waco, the violence was caused my scum of the earth thugs.
Nobody cares when thugs kill other thugs, as long as their aim is good.
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OK fine. But many here at FR are claiming the thugs killing other thugs are the cops waiting in ambush (party of the first thugs) killing bikers (party of the second thugs).
Is that a fair assessment?
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