...arresting journalists. Just like
in August. ...and just like many other times in the past few years when journalists in the US have been arrested or roughed up for just doing their job.
Ferguson has been a VERY bad place for journalists.
Just from my catches, I've seen THREE reporters there this week while on camera pelted with rocks. Torpedoing someone in the head with a rock is no joke. Really capable of severely injuring someone.
Last night a well known alternative media outlet was confronted by a ski mask wearing fellow who called them sellouts and all sorts of heated BS. Amazingly that didn't jump off into something, but very well is indication of alt media losing favor now too.
There are multiple accounts of other reporters being robbed, threatened, etc.
In many ways, journalists in Ferguson are in more clear and present danger than when covering abroad in active war zones.
I'll note that journalists, especially alternative folks seem to have really curtailed their roaming and are more and more sticking to the main drag in the police protected zone. Meaning the breaking news, and actual action, they aren't seeing or proactively reporting on.
Sad situation all around for reporting, news, integrity of matters. Still plenty going on in Ferguson but stuff is NOT BEING REPORTED.
Similarly, the police scanners has reduced activity. They are continuing to run half duplex-like conversations and certainly are offlining communications on crypto'd frequencies as well as on other mediums (cell phones and high powered walkies).
Ferguson statistically, on paper, public census and other data isn't a bad looking place. It's not Beverly Hills but it's very "normal" in most ways.
What is striking to me and remains unmentioned as such is not "politically correct" is the seemingly massive amount of folks that appear to live in public housing / projects. Where most of the activity is in these riots and where the shooting of Mike Brown happened really appears to me to be a housing project in the freebie nature. It's just off Florissant to the east in a sprawling road named Canfield.
It would be simple enough to close the two or so side feeder roads to that and an adjacent plan to the north. That would slash the insurrection and looting masses to barely a trickle (i.e. would leave outside invaders).
Last night in that Canfield Apartments area there were a number of reports on radios. Stuff set ablaze, volleys of gunfire, etc.
I'd wager to say half of what walked out of stores on Florissant can be found back in that housing plan.
Won't take long for ill gotten goodies to be consumed/sold/traded. If this rioting continues, this weekend there is going to be very challenging.
Other cities last night have varied degrees of stupid that happened. Media elsewhere has been ignoring most of the activity unless they have to cover it (i.e. big destruction, massive highway closures, etc.).
