# If Zimmerman is found "not guilty" will there be rioting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221 "2013-07-11T12:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/41 "2013-07-12T19:51:46Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Probably not, even if there is it’ll be on the scale of those drunken orgies after a sport team wins rather than the LA riots. By which side? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/42 "2013-07-12T22:52:50Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > It’s such a racist question: there will be no rioting. Interestingly, **Omar Little** , Storm front dot org also made a thread on this exact topic. You might want to participate over there as well. Click here for the link. I’m sure you’ll fit right into the discussion. > > - Honesty > > [Mod Edit: Link Disabled] Is it? Your Stormfront accusation notwithstanding, this trial is 100% about race, as was the OJ trial and the Rodney King trial. In the latter case there was a riot, and in the former a riot was expected if they returned a guilty verdict. They’ve been asking this question for months in the media, and the question is perfectly valid. I think there will be some modest rioting, some small property damage and the like, akin to a sports riot, but I can’t imagine that it will be widespread. There’s always some knucklehead, no matter what race, who uses something like this as an excuse to go nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/43 "2013-07-14T19:11:35Z")
Can our central Florida Dopers check in and let us know if you’re alright, as with the not guilty verdict, surely half the state is in flames by now. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/44 "2013-07-14T19:14:01Z")
I live in Lake Mary. Nothing’s happened so far. I’m kind of disappointed :’( (Though I half expect something to happen tomorrow.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/45 "2013-07-15T00:34:18Z")
What I thought is that there’d be more or less peaceful protests with a few anarchists trying to turn them ugly. Not so far, except in Oakland, which is predictable. [http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/zimmerman-protests-turn-violent-oakland/nYqFL/](http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/zimmerman-protests-turn-violent-oakland/nYqFL/) ---
**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:** [July 15, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/46 "2013-07-15T03:14:16Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I live in Lake Mary. Nothing’s happened so far. I’m kind of disappointed 😢 Howdy, neighbor. I live in Oviedo! My wife and I were outside smoking when the verdict was read, and that appears to be as close as we got to the county going up in flames. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/47 "2013-07-15T12:22:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What I thought is that there’d be more or less peaceful protests with a few anarchists trying to turn them ugly. Not so far, except in Oakland, which is predictable. > > [http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/zimmerman-protests-turn-violent-oakland/nYqFL/](http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/zimmerman-protests-turn-violent-oakland/nYqFL/) You’re obviously wrong. Didn’t you read the posts in here? There will be no violet protests. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/48 "2013-07-15T13:11:12Z")
_You_ clearly didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/49 "2013-07-15T15:10:39Z")
Well, so far as I expected. A few arrests here and there as in a large enough protest demonstration there’s always some doofus who wants to throw/break stuff, but no large scale civil disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/50 "2013-07-16T08:56:48Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > It’s such a racist question: there will be no rioting. From [here.](http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Protesters-March-Through-Streets-215618071.html) > [@](#): > > On Monday night, a majority of protesters were gathered at Leimert Park (map), but a violent group split off and walked up and down surrounding streets, rushing into businesses, attacking pedestrians and bicyclists, breaking windows and throwing objects at police. > > LAPD officers appeared to use rubber bullets or bean bag weapons against some of the protesters at one point. > > A local news station crew was apparently attacked, resulting in one person being transported. Details were not immediately clear. > . > . > . > > At one point, protesters blocked Interstate 10 at Arlington Boulevard for more than 30 minutes. At another, a group broke off and walked into the W Hotel, causing some $15,000 in damage to the lobby, said LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman. I assume this is not a riot. Just out of curiosity, though, can you share with me some neutral criteria for determining when “riot” has actually been reached? ---
**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:** [July 16, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/51 "2013-07-16T13:13:02Z")
When the first Molotov is tossed? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/52 "2013-07-16T13:26:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > When the first Molotov is tossed? That seems like a pretty limiting definition of a riot to me. Is that what everyone else had in mind? Kinda like ‘it ain’t a party until something gets broke?’ “It’s not a riot until some throws a Molotov?” ---
**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:** [July 16, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/53 "2013-07-16T13:34:50Z")
That was a joke. Oxford gives us this definition: > [@](#): > > a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd I guess the question of whether we had riots in LA depends on how many constitute a crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/54 "2013-07-16T13:36:21Z")
Haha. Folks sure seem thirsty for a riot, boy! How about we wait until the riots are so riotty that there’s no denying there’s a riot. If we have to sit here trying to find the precise riot line, it’s not a damn riot. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/55 "2013-07-16T13:38:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That was a joke. Oxford gives us this definition: > > I guess the question of whether we had riots in LA depends on how many constitute a crowd. I don’t mean to be contentious, but in my opinion, the news accounts so far meet any reasonable definition of “a crowd,” in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/56 "2013-07-16T13:39:11Z")
It’s funny how so many of the right-wingers seem to be just frothing at the mouth for some black folks to start looting. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/57 "2013-07-16T13:39:13Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Haha. Folks sure seem thirsty for a riot, boy! How about we wait until the riots are so riotty that there’s no denying there’s a riot. If we have to sit here trying to find the precise riot line, it’s not a damn riot. I would have said we’re there already, but since that shows my “riot meter” is poorly calibrated, I decided to ask for some more concrete definitions. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/58 "2013-07-16T13:48:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t mean to be contentious, but in my opinion, the news accounts so far meet any reasonable definition of “a crowd,” in my opinion. I haven’t been watching it on TV. I would say only the people who are _actually rioting_ count as part of the crowd, rather than everyone who’s there protesting. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/59 "2013-07-16T13:51:36Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > It’s funny how so many of the right-wingers seem to be just frothing at the mouth for some black folks to start looting. No. What I don’t like is people who are not accountable for their predictions. According to **Honesty** , predicting rioting was a racist reaction, and there would be no rioting. Thus far, we have had: [ul] [li]Over a dozen arrests[/li][li]over ten thousand dollars in damage to just one of the businesses involved[/li][li]the police declaring an unlawful assembly and ordering dispersal[/li][li]“LAPD officers swarmed a Walmart near Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza after a group attempted to enter the store. Another skirmish line was established at the entrance of the parking lot.”[/li][li]a news crew assaulted as they were covering the…um…“event.”[/li][/ul] And this is not a riot. Is it really unfair of me to ask, “OK, what is?” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221/60 "2013-07-16T13:55:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I haven’t been watching it on TV. I would say only the people who are _actually rioting_ count as part of the crowd, rather than everyone who’s there protesting. Sure, I agree - there are peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. They are clearly not part of the crowd. But watching te video of the police repelling the cr…er, the “group” attempting to get into Walmart, it sure seemed to me like that “group” was a crowd. Probably because I am racist, and stuff. Probably if the group had been Hispanic I would never have thought they were a crowd. Come on. Can anyone acknowledge that maybe, just maybe there’s a tiny itsy bitsy insignificant riot described here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty-will-there-be-rioting/663221.md?page=4)