Sharpton is right some of the time. This time, in fact. You need to walk a mile in a black man from Ferguson's shoes. It might be an eye opener for you.
Regardless of what triggered the protests I have seen many pictures coming out of ferguson with the militarized police POINTING their rifles at protesters. That should never happen! Our real military is trained much better than that, but our police aren't trained to have the firepower they are now given. So they act overly violent and risky with the lives of civilians. It's sickening.
Crackas don't care when the cops are pointing machine guns at broke ass homies. I on the other hand remember what happened during Katrina and how the govt trampled people's rights then. Now they have big ass tanks and who knows what else. Pretty fucking scary.
Actually my eye sight is quite keen. Maybe a walk in my shoes would be more beneficial. In my family we don't tend to look down on a cop, surely none of my grandsons would go whup ass on one. We do have a few (Cops) in the family, one City cop, one Oregon State Police, and one FBI agent. Most of the cops in my town (all 4) seem to be fine young men. So what the fuck do you think I am going to learn?
Everywhere isn't Mayberry. And in some areas there is a much longer history of trouble between the police and the public they serve. Just take a look at being pulled over by cops if you are white vs black. A PhD I worked with who is black told me he, growing up in Baltimore I think, got pulled over more than 20 times by the time he graduated college and only got 2 tickets because he was just being pulled over for being in the wrong place, but then when the cops figured out he was an educated black, they would just make up some reason for pulling him over and call it a warning. You grow ip with cops always treating you like a scumbag, you might lose some respect for them.
This is gruesome. Watch if you dare. [video=youtube;j-P54MZVxMU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-P54MZVxMU&bpctr=1408973905[/video] Shot 12 times for shoplifting two energy drinks and a pack of donuts from a convenience store. http://www.newsweek.com/new-video-police-shooting-2nd-man-st-louis-emerges-266041
I know, it's crazy. What's next, not selling surplus nuclear weapons to Iran? Surplus is surplus! That means we don't need it, so it doesn't matter who gets it, right?
So Mar your general position is the 2nd ammendment is necessary to protect your self from the tyranny of government, however, you support arming out police like a military state? These concepts seem to contradict.....
States govern under their Constitution and cities set the rules for police and people elect the officials that do these jobs. Where in the US Constitution has the Federal government been authorized to interfere or decided "what equipment is for civilians"? No is is not suppose to work that way. If Obama thinks so, he needs to be reminded he was elected President, not King.
Where in the Constitution is it stated that the federal government is required to give local police forces surplus military equipment? The right of local police to buy/acquire federal military equipment is not a Constitutionally protected right, so it's entirely up to the federal government whether they provide it to local police forces.
You do seem to have it muddled a bit. The 2nd amendment stands as it says, The right to bare arms shall not be infringed. People of a State and the Cities in a State decide the law enforcement they want or need. The federal government should have no hand in the process except as happens with making surplus gear available. Cops do need to be protected the best they can. They are not out there for the amusement of any bozo that might decide he wants to fuck with them. You can get your ass shot that way and I have no sympathy for the dudes that try it. It seems to me that their daddy failed to give them the necessary education for survival, you know, cops are not there for you to fuck with, they pack a gun and they will shoot you. The clip Denny showed is stupid, you hear the guys saying "you could have tazed him". Well hell the cops are not there to play fucking games of what's fair! The dumb shit was looking for trouble, waiting around for it to come. It came, he fucked with them and they shot his ass. What hell did he expect??
That is bull shit and you know it. Of course it is not in the constitution to give States surplus equipment and that is not the question. They have been making it available rather than junk it. Now having a review to decide if States "should" be using it is interfering because it is not their call to decide what gear the police use and everyone needs understand the separation. But there are those that would like to eliminate this separation for the one way rule, the Federal government rule. Which view do you have?