# Ferguson, MO **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354 "2014-08-12T04:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/261 "2014-08-14T15:59:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [There’s a bit more to it than that.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/ryan-reilly-_n_5677060.html) > > So that got pissed that Ryan was photographing the police intrusion and because of that, demanded his ID. He was right to refuse, we ALL have the right to photograph or videorecord police at any time. Then they assaulted him. > > No, no police brutality here. Nothing to see, move on, disperse. Exactly. Honestly, if this exact thing had happened to, say, a Fox News reporter during the Clive Bundy protests, the Ferguson PD’s defenders here would be the ones crying the loudest about their constitutional rights being violated. All this discussion shows is how people have further retreated into their partisan corners. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/262 "2014-08-14T16:01:45Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Yeah. That’s not reasonable. Sorry. Reporting != Loitering. If it was just the reporters’ presence that bothered the police they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of pointing the cameras towards the ground. They were ordered to disperse, and instead of doing so they stood around tweeting, taking video, acting like they didn’t know which way was out, and shuffled around pretending they couldn’t handle their luggage. The police were right to remove them. > [@](#): > > If you are a police force that fires on the press don’t act surprised when people are upset. The press have not been “fired on”. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/263 "2014-08-14T16:03:17Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Exactly. Honestly, if this exact thing had happened to, say, a Fox News reporter during the Clive Bundy protests, the Ferguson PD’s defenders here would be the ones crying the loudest about their constitutional rights being violated. > All this discussion shows is how people have further retreated into their partisan corners. My position would be unchanged. The press do not have the right to break the law in the name of corporate profits. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/264 "2014-08-14T16:05:07Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > You don’t have that right if doing so interferes with a police operation. How were the reporters sitting in a McDonalds interfering with police? > [@Steophan](#): > > It’s time people respected the police, instead of trying to stop them doing their job. You mean like at Clive Bundy’s ranch? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/265 "2014-08-14T16:05:35Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I watched his video. He (the reporter) was being a dick. Pure and simple. And I didn’t see any “assault”. So acting rudely is a crime now? Speaking as a fellow conservative, I would like to say that you are (A) being extremely stupid, and (B) alarmingly willing to tolerate dictatorial, military-type actions by a level of government that has no business possessing anything resembling military hardware. The governor should declare martial law and disarm the local police until things can be sorted out. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/266 "2014-08-14T16:08:05Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They were ordered to disperse, and instead of doing so they stood around tweeting, taking video, acting like they didn’t know which way was out, and shuffled around pretending they couldn’t handle their luggage. The police were right to remove them. You’re conflating two different situations. > [@](#): > > The press have not been “fired on”. [police fired rubber bullets in their direction. Police continued to shoot after crew members clearly and repeatedly shouted ''Press."](http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s3v24e) ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/267 "2014-08-14T16:08:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Would you right wingers make up your fucking minds about the police? You were all for Cliven Bundy in his standoff with police because, well because he had guns and therefore must be right. So you’re okay with armed citizens keeping law enforcement officials from collecting legally seized cattle but you’re also for police aiming sniper rifles and lobbing tear gas at unarmed citizens. If the people in Ferguson packed heat would that make you take their side? Is it whatever side brings the most weaponry that makes them right in your book? Unfortunately, most of the conservatives on this board have lost their collective minds on this issue. Tyranny is tyranny, whether it manifests as the federal government being unjust to Cliven Bundy, or whether it manifests as the Ferguson police acting in an unconstitutional manner towards citizens. Edit: the Ferguson police have long-since forgotten, if they ever knew, that they are public _ **servants.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/268 "2014-08-14T16:08:58Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > How were the reporters sitting in a McDonalds interfering with police? By refusing to leave when ordered to disperse. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/269 "2014-08-14T16:10:38Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > [police fired rubber bullets in their direction. Police continued to shoot after crew members clearly and repeatedly shouted ''Press."](http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s3v24e) Rubber bullets != bullet bullets. Shouting “Press” != immunity from an order to disperse. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/270 "2014-08-14T16:12:33Z")
Yes, yes, comrade. The end justifies the means. We know. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/271 "2014-08-14T16:13:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Rubber bullets != bullet bullets. > > Shouting “Press” != immunity from an order to disperse. I never said what kind of bullets were used. I didn’t say they were attacked, just fired on. I haven’t heard a report that they were told to disperse. Just that they were fired on (with rubber bullets and tear gas) and that the cameras were pointed at the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/272 "2014-08-14T16:13:42Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Unfortunately, most of the conservatives on this board have lost their collective minds on this issue. Tyranny is tyranny, whether it manifests as the federal government being unjust to Cliven Bundy, or whether it manifests as the Ferguson police acting in an unconstitutional manner towards citizens. Expecting people to obey the law is not tyranny. It is justice. > [@](#): > > Edit: the Ferguson police have long-since forgotten, if they ever knew, that they are public _ **servants.** _ Of course they remember. They’re protecting the people of Ferguson from the thugs and anarchists who want to do harm to the community. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/273 "2014-08-14T16:15:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’re protecting the people of Ferguson from the thugs and anarchists who want to do harm to the community. Not even you believe that. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/274 "2014-08-14T16:16:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Rubber bullets != bullet bullets. > > Shouting “Press” != immunity from an order to disperse. I may be alone in this, but in my opinion != ≠ ≠. I think \<\> is more logical. I’ve never been hit by a rubber bullet, but they probably sting like a bitch. They also fired tear gas at the press. I don’t think the press has an obligation to disperse. If there’s a disturbance going on, they have a duty to record it. Suppose the press had buggered off from Kent State, would the National Guard have killed more? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/275 "2014-08-14T16:16:17Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > I haven’t heard a report that they were told to disperse. It was in your own cite. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/276 "2014-08-14T16:16:52Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Unfortunately, most of the conservatives on this board have lost their collective minds on this issue. I’m not sure that’s the case. At least two of the most vocal “conservatives” in this thread lost their minds long ago. **Terr** , as you’ve noticed, is just fucking stupid. **Smapti** is not at all conservative; he’s an unrepentant fascist. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/277 "2014-08-14T16:17:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t think the press has an obligation to disperse. If there’s a disturbance going on, they have a duty to record it. Suppose the press had buggered off from Kent State, would the National Guard have killed more? What law grants the press immunity from an order to disperse? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/278 "2014-08-14T16:18:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’re protecting the people of Ferguson from the thugs and anarchists who want to do harm to the community. You mean the Ferguson police are protecting the people from the Ferguson police? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/279 "2014-08-14T16:18:54Z")
> [@andros](#): > > **Smapti** is not at all conservative; he’s an unrepentant fascist. No, I’m a liberal. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/280 "2014-08-14T16:19:09Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I may be alone in this, but in my opinion != ≠ ≠. I think \<\> is more logical. Hmm. If != ≠ ≠, than what does != equal? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354.md?page=15)