KUDOS to Alderman French & others RUSHING IN to help keep PEACE in FERGUSON last nite

[bigtree]

Last edited Sat Aug 16, 2014, 01:43 PM - Edit history (2)

. . . after confrontation and some chaos broke out in one spot.

CNN covered it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a hand in provoking it (no proof, of course, but my distrust of their network runs deep).

I jumped in here last night with a thread that I deleted before going to bed (didn't want it standing unattended).

I gave an account of events here that I was watching, care of Matthew Keys, live feed. He and his producer also deserve great credit for their steadfast and responsible coverage . . . while not actually press, they provided clear and responsible coverage under not a small amount of duress and direct threats from some of the folks that I don't believe were actual demonstrators. matthewkeys.net has a thread and video . . .

Alderman Antonio French of the 21stWard in St. Louis, deserves a huge amount of thanks for rushing back to the scene when he got wind of the conflict. He placed himself repeatedly between the protesting youth and, with others, including Nation of Islam members, repeatedly urged the young folk to step out of the street as riot police first confronted them on foot and then retreated to their vehicles and warned those gathered in the road to disperse or be arrested, "or worse" as they put it.

That's when the looting began. In almost an instant, at least three stores were broken into by provocateurs and out of town opportunists (with some locals, I'm sure, joining in - not demonstrators). That had the effect of scattering even the most adamant of the demonstrators and the scene was momentarily in chaos.

The police did a remarkable job of holding their positions (AFTER they had inflamed it with tear gas thrown) and not advancing. That has to be emphasized because it was a stark difference from the first three days of demonstrations. For several HOURS the police held their ground - no more tear gas, no smoke bombs . . . they also deserve a great deal of credit for listening to the protest leaders trying to regain order and stopped provoking with their bullhorn announcements.

Although the riot police's arrival and stand-off had been the first spark which blew the situation up in the first place, it should be noted that they were called in because of a few rocks and bottles thrown toward the police there. Whether that was a smart move to call in the armored trucks can and will be debated, but it's a mark of the new leadership over them from Cpt. Ron Johnson and others. I think, that they didn't make the situation which was developing even worse by attacking the crowd of youth gathered.

here's a few tweets this morning from Antonio French, and I'm going to leave it there . . .

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 42m
1st left the area around 11:30. Things were peaceful & rainy. I took my wife home & was hoping for a good night's sleep. Then got a text.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 40m
The text said, "Uh I think something popped off at the liquor store in ferguson". I put back on my clothes and raced down W. Florisant.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 38m
By the time I arrived, the police were gone, as were the tear gas and smoke. Based on previous nights, that seemed strange. #Ferguson

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 1h
When I arrived, I saw the men-to-boy ratio was not favorable. There wasn't the same number of leaders on the scene as the night before.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 36m
A photojournalist friend told me what they saw a few minutes before...

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 33m
They said after a tense standoff following an individual throwing a bottle at an officer, police were pulling back...

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 32m
They said as police and the tanks were DRIVING AWAY they shot tear gas into the crowd, "Like a big fuck you," they said. #Ferguson

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 29m
Based on later conversations, I don't know if that use of tear gas was authorized. But sure did make getting ppl calmed down more difficult.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 26m
When I arrived, I saw the men-to-boy ratio was not favorable. There wasn't the same number of leaders on the scene as the night before.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 23m
Then another standoff. Myself and others tried to hold back the crowd. I pleaded for both sides to stand down. pic.twitter.com/0D8qOnxdxV

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 21m
"We appreciate you, but we don't need you," one of the young men told me. He said they were ready for war. "We sick of this shit." #Ferguson



Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 19m
I really was about to lose hope of being able to keep the two sides apart. Then Anthony Shahid arrived. His presence helped redirect them.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 17m
Shahid said something to 1 of the men who I saw as being a real instigator of escalation. Whatever he said, he was on our team immediately.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 13m
Shahid then got the crowd to agree to hold their position while he and I went over to see Captain Johnson

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 8m
We agreed that another violent confrontation could be avoided if we got the crowd to move away from the police line back to Ferguson Ave.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 6m
Shahid also got police to agree to stop shouting instructions on the loudspeaker, which agitated the crowd, making our task more difficult.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 3m
We went back. It took some speeches, 1-on-1 conversations, some hugs, some gentle pushes, even a line of interlocked arms to move them back.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 1m
Others helping to push back the crowd included @Patricialicious and some strong young people determined to keep the peace.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 18s
The line did get back to Ferguson Ave, where it stayed the rest of the night. Objective #1: Avoiding another violent confrontation ☑️

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 1m
But then some of the troublemakers, no longer supported by the crowd, started gathering separately on a nearby parking lot.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 25s
Next thing you hear is glass break. Some run through the busted door of a beauty supply store. Immediately, some ppl run to block them.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 52s
I'm really proud of those who ran to block looters. They tried to redirect back to the chant "Hands up! Don't shoot!" pic.twitter.com/dARQl1xTyx



Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 1m
After peace had been restored there, another ruckus on the lot of Ferguson Market. Looters pulled off the plywood and entered.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 31s
Again, protestors quickly arrived and block the entrance. I got in the middle. "We are better than this," I told them. This isn't protest.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 9m
Protestors secured Ferguson Market for that time. Most of the crowd of troublemakers moved further down West Florissant, towards the QT.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 5m
I reconnected w/Shahid to discuss strategy. We knew, given the mood, even a small group of police coming to secure stores would lead to riot

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 15s
We heard about guys w/guns and large Molotov cocktails ready. So to avoid violence, the ppl here had secure the businesses as best we could.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · now
With the beauty supply and Ferguson market secured for the moment, the troublemakers moved down towards Sam's Market.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 23s
By the time I arrived, looters were already in the building.



Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 51s
I'm not going to lie. This sight really broke my heart. I was so disappointed in these people. And I got out my car and told them as much.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 8s
Soon some protestors arrived and tried to secure Sam's Market too.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 22s
By this time it was just around 2AM. Still too many troublemakers. Still too much anger. Still too many weapons. Still too few grown men.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 29s
Now it was kind of a waiting game. How long before the troublemakers just go home? We knew it was going to be a long night.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 23s
Quick note: I think Shahid is close to 60. I know he'd been awake since 5AM when he wakes up for prayer. This wouldn't be over till after 4.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 25s
I want to be clear: Police not coming in at this point -- even with the looting -- was a good thing. It would've gotten very violent.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 9s
I began hearing reports of threats to some of the journalists who were trying to record the troublemakers. Also some plans to set fires.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · now
I heard that they were really determined to set Sam's Market and Ferguson Market on fire.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 19s
It became so clear the awfulness of the situation. Communities need police. But here & now, the slightest police presence enrages people.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · now
Soon looters overran the group guarding Sam's. Soon after that we heard they started to set it on fire. The young guy with me ran towards.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 29s
That young man ran top speed into the broken glass opening into Sam's Market, where some smoke and a small flame could be seen.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 15s
When I arrived he had an armful of grape soda 2-litter bottles & was pouring it on the small flame. I grabbed one of the bottles and helped.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 29s
Still not fully satisfied, the troublemakers hopped in their cars & started doing donuts in the now completely empty lanes of W. Florissant.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 21s
Others started taking license plates off their cars. "They're going to Walmart," someone said. And soon, after more car tricks, they left.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 24s
The police w/their assault weapons, tank-like vehicles, and gas bombs, held their line and had not left yet. Only a few people remained.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 13s
Then out of nowhere a white Suburban with all its windows down sped quickly up W. Florissant past our line and towards the police...

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 22s
Police raised their rifles and trained them on the vehicle as it quickly approached and then suddenly stopped just a few yards from police.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 38s
"Hey! Hey! Hey! WTF?!" and "Brother, what are you doing?!" could be heard from the crowd. The vehicle began to back up slowly.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 17s
As he backed up past me and then began making a U-turn to go back where he came from, I could see a shiny silver handgun in his right hand.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 46s
Quick note: My out-of-town followers should know that in the State of Missouri it is legal to drive around with your handgun.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 51s
It was nearing 4AM. The street was bare and I had heard a report that indeed they did go to Walmart. Soon police began to leave the area.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 17s
I was exhausted. A lot of us exchanged handshakes and hugs. Then I hopped in my car and drove home, saddened by the lost #PeaceInFerguson.

Antonio French @AntonioFrench · 36s
I'm proud of Bro. Shahid & @TefPoe who helped keep the peace. And @mflann & @LizPeinadoSTL who've been invaluable. All @21stWard residents.



Peaceful protestors trying to block looters . . .

just posted by Lauren Williams on August 16, 2014, 1:21 p.m. ET:
Vox ‏@voxdotcom 5m
How protesters protected #Ferguson Friday night — a firsthand account from @antoniofrench http://vox.com/e/5786318

[bigtree]

1. kick

[H2O Man]

2. Definitely recommended.

Thank you for this, Brother Big Tree. Very important.

Our best potential is reached when we turn bad to good.

[bigtree]

4. thank you for your reply, H2O Man

. . . always welcomed to have your vote of confidence.

"Our best potential is reached when we turn bad to good."

I strongly agree.

[calimary]

17. Beautiful wise words from our H2O Man!

"Our best potential is reached when we turn bad to good."

Much appreciated. Balm to the soul after this uniquely shitty week. And thank you, big tree, for the OP. I hope the looting by the few doesn't overshadow all the efforts of many other young men and others in the community, to do what the police SHOULD be doing: protecting and serving. They're among the true heroes of this madness.

[bigtree]

18. +1

[calimary]

20. Sometimes the comfort I seek from the wild 'n' wooly world out there is here.

Not just the posts and thoughts and viewpoints (sometimes passionate as hell!!!) expressed here, but the WAY they're expressed. Just some BEAUTIFUL wordsmithing here. Just wanted to say how much I enjoy it and how the very beauty of not just the message but its delivery helps heal. I think we need just a few tons of that at the moment. There's a world of hurt out there, and a lot of it seems compressed and overheated and overwhelming - THIS week.

[bigtree]

3. kick

[sabrina 1]

5. I wonder about those rioters. Some may simply be from the community. But it isn't hard to

help rouse up the more easily angered in a situation like this.

The people of Ferguson who tried to prevent violence, these leaders who went out and helped calm people down, those are heroes.

If we had a real people's media, one that covers the facts, today's headlines would read something like this:

'Ferguson Community Condemns and moves to try prevent small group of Rioters'

[bigtree]

10. a lot of people there felt that these were not community members

. . . but opportunists who drove there from outside of town, waiting for the right moment to perpetrate whatever they could; waiting, perhaps, for a rush of a crowd to cover their looting.

I think your headline is absolutely correct . . .

'Ferguson Community Condemns and moves to try prevent small group of Rioters'

Absolutely correct.

[etherealtruth]

6. Alderman French

bravery and integrity .... something too often lacking in our elected officials

[bigtree]

11. so, so true

. . . and much credit due for his efforts (and many others) all throughout the strife.

[maced666]

7. Sanity and sense = heroes.

FINALLY.

[bigtree]

12. there's a great need to channel all of the energy and motivation of the youth there

. . . into positive and productive directions.

Thanks to all of the more experienced folks in Ferguson for stepping up and providing some of that. They were definitely 'heroic' in their efforts last night and beyond.

[jwirr]

8. This is a remarkable account of a city fighting for itself. So proud of the young people who worked

to keep the peace. Hopefully the trouble makers can be stopped.

Years ago when MLK was at his height this is what happened to peaceful demonstration. Troublemakers started using violent tactics and destroyed the power of peaceful demonstrating. I do not remember where I read this but I think it was true from what I remember.

[bigtree]

9. that is absolutely true

. . . there was a great deal of conflict between those who saw the need for direct action/confrontation, and others, like Dr. King, who advocated a confrontational, but a non-violent, peaceful response.

You'll find troublemakers and opportunists, and sometimes outright provocateurs working subversively to incite violence and unrest in many demonstrations like the one in Ferguson (I was a bit of a hothead, myself, in my youth).

You can see from history, though, that what often prevails in the end, are those who eschew violence and work for cooperation and changes with negotiation and dialogue. I do think though, that it does, unfortunately, take violent incidents like we've witnessed to draw necessary folks in and get them to step up and seek those peaceful solutions in the end. Tragic, in many cases, but a truism that we've yet to come to grips with and, in many cases, avoid.

[sabrina 1]

13. You always have to ask 'who benefits' from rioting and looting? Certainly NOT most of the community

so we are left with either a few troublemakers who exist in every community, though generally in a situation like this those people CAN be kept under control by the larger community, or outsiders who want to make the community look bad, and there are plenty who would benefit from this.

First to benefit would be the local and county police who have outright stated they were wrongfully judged for their handling of the situation and who now must be extremely resentful that without them, things WERE peaceful. To start riots and looting would help them claim that they did the right thing, that these people need that kind of control.

Others who benefit, those elected officials who have been ordering in the militarized units, see OWS. These include mayors, both Repub and Dem, big controversy over this during OWS, and Govs among others. Some City Council members, not to mention members of Congress who VOTED for the militarization of the police.

In Canada I remember, protesters who were peaceful, began to notice certain people who showed up to cause trouble and began watching them. They caught a couple of them and discovered they were wearing police issue boots under their disguises.

I think this is what these protesters need to do, start following the obvious disrupters around and try to identify them. We might be surprised, or not, by what they discover.

[tblue37]

15. Good that they though to get the idiots' license plates.

It will be interesting to see if they are all locals.

[bigtree]

14. kick

[bigtree]

16. kick

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bigtree.

[bigtree]

21. thanks for checking in, Joe

. . . and last night, as well.

World is watching.

[Tommymac]

22. K & R

[bigtree]

23. »