How exactly does looting a liquor store give "voice" to anyone? Using a man's death as an excuse to steal is about as low as it gets. These are the same scum that loot after natural disasters like hurricanes.
Yes, there are rotten apples in every barrel. Some are seeing an opportunity to steal, burn building and cars, and other uncalled for acts. But, others are protesting the death of a man, while the man was in police custody. Everyone is not looting.
Enough people ARE looting that they've been forced to call in the National Guard. This is a recurring scenario. That the Mayor of Baltimore thought giving protesters space to destroy would calm things down simply illustrates how naive some of our leaders are.
And, in my opinion, if cops aren't held accountable for their actions, things are going to get a lot worse. I would encourage citizens to speak up and be counted on this issue. It's been a problem for way too long.
How exactly are the Police supposed to be "held accountable" for their actions before an investigation has taken place? I'm sorry, Sonny...but looting and burning a city down before the legal process has even started is ridiculous. Let the legal system do it's thing and THEN if you're unhappy with the result...protest. What's happened in Baltimore isn't a protest over an injustice...it's injustice that's being done by scum taking advantage of a situation to loot and commit violent acts.
If you think that throwing bottles at the Police is going to "fix" things between the Police and the black community then all I can do is wish you well with that! I think it's idiotic. You've got a black Mayor...you've got a black Chief of Police. This isn't Selma, Alabama in the sixties.
In the first place, cops are investigated by their own, and not by an independent outside agency. We saw what happened in Ferguson. Who investigated Mr. Wilson? When have members of law enforcement investigating members of law enforcement, what do you think the outcome will be? When have the Department of Justice, local and state investigators, doing the investigating, what is going to be the outcome 99% of the time? If you were suspected of a crime, do you think the legal system would let your family and friends do the investigating? Do cops rat cops out?
Justice is when evidence is presented, examined by someone without a dog in the fight, and presented for review and critique by a jury. If your brother does the investigating, how likely are you to be convicted based on the evidence? To answer your question: "How exactly are the Police supposed to be "held accountable" for their actions before an investigation has taken place?". No one should be held accountable until evidence shows wrong doing, no one, period. So, did Mr. Gray have his day in court? Did Mr. Brown have his day in court? Did the 12 year old boy that was gunned down in the park have his day in court? Did the 92 year old woman in Austell Georgia have her day in court? Did the man walking up the stairs to his apartment in New York have his day in court? Did the man shot 8 times in the back have his day in court?
How many cops are arrested and tried in a court of law? How many cops are investigated by an independent outside agency? How many cops are in our prisons and jails? How many families have been paid off by cities after it was determined that an injustice has been done? How many times has John Q. Public been given a desk job while awaiting a hearing into possible wrong-doing? How many times has John Q. Public been given a paid vacation after committing wrong-doing?
Yes, burning buildings and cars, looting, and property damage should be punished, I totally agree. But, by the same token, and using the same logic, shouldn't the cops involved be in jail awaiting trial? Shouldn't the city detain the cops until a trial is conducted? Wouldn't you and I be detained if someone in our custody was injured, and later died from those injuries? After all, we detain citizens all the time based merely on suspicion of wrong-doing. Some citizens are held for as long as a year before going to trial. Why don't we do the same to cops? Are we not suppose to have equal justice under the law? Or, do we have one set of laws for cops, and one set of laws for everyone else?