And once again, back to the original question:

[Ken Burch]

At worst...at WORST...when this started, all Michael Brown had done was(supposedly)steal a freaking box of cigars. Even if he did that...why even call the cops for something that TRIVIAL? It was just cigars. $50 worth of cigars. That's ALL.

An illustration of the many ways our obsession with "private property" in this country is corroding our national soul.

[madamesilverspurs]

1. Indeed.

[onecaliberal]

2. The store owner has repeatedly said

He didn't call the police and the cigars were paid for, there is video evidence in public domain.

[Agschmid]

3. Link for this?

[onecaliberal]

6. Here

http://aattp.org/ferguson-cops-busted-new-video-seems-to-show-brown-paying-for-cigarillos-video/

[onecaliberal]

7. Here

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/15/lawyer-store-didnt-call-cops-on-ferguson-teen-michael-brown/14138121/

[Ken Burch]

4. Thanks for the clarification.

Makes it even LESS justifiable, then.

[Hoyt]

5. Customers called police, and I think the report of the cigars being paid for was debunked.

No way does any of that warrant killing him.

[onecaliberal]

9. Exactly!

[Agschmid]

10. This is what I thought as well.

[Ken Burch]

26. If the store owner didn't call the cops, the customers shouldn't have.

And here's what matters:

If a white kid had been picked up for the exact same thing, the cops would have let it go with a warning. No white shoplifter, especially over something as trivial as a pack of Swisher Sweets, would EVER be killed by the cops. And we all know it.

[Hoyt]

29. Unfortunately, it was a little more than that and had he been arrested for that

minor theft, he would likely have been released. Although I don't doubt for a moment some frat boy would have gotten every break imaginable.

Again, I'm not supporting him getting shot multiple times. Most policemen would have handled things differently, especially after whatever happened at the car ended.

[Robbins]

8. My take has always been

I don't care if Michael Brown was high on pot and did steal cigars.That didn't justfy public execution.

Think about this.Michael Brown's life was worth only 50 dollors worth of cigars if he did indeed steal them.Notice how robbery seemed to be forgotten till they needed it to justify why wilson pulled over brown.

Police used to say the robbery wasn't reason why Brown was pulled over.

[Logical]

11. So you suggest that no shoplifter be apprehended? Wow amazing. Nt

[Ken Burch]

24. No...I'm saying no shoplifter should ever be killed by the cops

(and no WHITE shoplifter ever would be...they didn't pop a cap in Winona Ryder's ass, after all).

[Logical]

32. I 100% agree with you. But calling the police should not be a death sentence. nt

[Travis_0004]

12. you dont think the cops should be called for theft and assault?

I dont see a problem with a shop keeper not wanting his stuff stolen, so he can earn a living.

[Ken Burch]

23. The store owner said there WAS no theft and no assault.

And the store owner said he didn't call the cops.

[maced666]

13. Why call the cops? IF he did that?

First, there is video. He did it.
Second....only 50 bucks worth of merchandise? You know what, no use.
This is getting just silly.

[safeinOhio]

17. Sorry, a pack of Swichers is much

closer to five bucks than fifty.

Racism and greed. Only greed trumps racism for the PTB. Adding up the damage in the terms of money will lead to reform. As much as I'm against violence, it has worked before to bring about change, remember the late 60s.

[Ken Burch]

18. The store owner said he paid for the Swishers(which were closer to $5, not $50)

And no, even fifty bucks of merchandise is not worth a human life.

People before property.

[Skittles]

14. they call the cops for white people too, FYI

[Ken Burch]

21. And yet white people would never be killed for petty theft. Not anywhere.

And the store owner said Michael Brown stole nothing and that he didn't call the cops himself.

[Travis_0004]

15. Please mail me 50 bucks of your property.

No big deal, right?

[Ken Burch]

20. Not worth killing for, no.

And the owner said that Michael Brown paid for the stuff, so there wasn't even any crime at all.

If a white kid had taken $50 worth of stuff, the cops would have let it go at giving him a warning, and we all know it.

[former9thward]

25. BS. A white kid would not be given a warning by the cops ANYWHERE for stealing $50.

Name the city you live where that is happening.

[Ken Burch]

27. At most, the white kid would spend an hour at the cop shop, and be home for supper.

NO WHITE KID would ever be ended by the cops for something that insignificant.

And again, it turned out that it was only(if it happened)a $5 item, NOT $50.

[Odin2005]

16. If you are Black even petty larceny is punishable with death.

[Recursion]

19. I don't know anybody who's claimed that the initial stop was about the cigars

The "Wilson line" as I'm seeing it from the transcript is that he encountered them for walking in the street, heard the description on dispatch, decided it matched them, and escalated from there.

[Lil Missy]

30. Not too many here are interested in any actual unbiased evidence. n/t

[former9thward]

22. Somebody robs you of $50 and you are supposed to ignore it?

Wow....

[Ken Burch]

28. It's not as though there's no options other than "ignore it" or "pop twelve caps in his ass over it"

No white kid would EVER be killed by the cops over even a $50 theft(in today's dollars).

Your posts are illustrating my point about what obsessing over "private property" is doing to us. Look what it's doing to you, man.

[Skittles]

31. white people are indeed killed by police

just not at the rates that minority folk are