I love the way police statements assert what things are or are not indicative of the people they are trying to control. Actions, after all, speak louder than words. If people are pissed off enough to burn something, well, that's what's happening. And even more so, that it's almost certainly the cops who are upping the violence levels "after hours" as they try to "contain" the demonstrations with tear gas and rubber bullets. The cops, being well-armed, typically make the first moves in street confrontations like this, IMHExperience.

It's also amusing that the all-white police force is telling the unarmed black residents what to do, while confronting them on the streets in full riot tactical gear and weaponry.

It's the details, I guess, that make the difference.

My small Illinois hometown used to have a sign on the highway in reading "N***** Don't Let The Sun Set On You Here".

A Midwest tradition continues.

Isn't this called Martial Law?

There's rampant speculation on social media about who the murdering asshole is. If the FPD gives out the information, they can also place the murdering asshole in protective custody. With their silence, they're effectively placing every cop on the force in jeopardy.

So should the police let people just burn the whole place down? Please advise.

Ferguson
Paramilitary
Deathsquad

I say let them burn the place to the ground and be done with it.

@4 precisely. Who actually has the power to declare Martial Law? POTUS, Governor? But I'm pretty sure a police force does not have blanket authority.

Then again, they ask for this and that, not demand it. I suppose you can take their request under advisement...

And police wonder why many of us call them pigs and don't trust them.

When I leave the U.S. and go to countries where people have more individual freedom and where the police aren't armed to the teeth, I feel a lot safer. When I come home to the U.S. I instantly feel less free and less safe.

Frankly, police in Ferguson have a lot of god-damned gall. Residents standing on their own front lawns peacefully supporting the protest, were fired on with tear gas grenades last evening. On their own property!

That's some pretty serious police misconduct, if not criminal assault.

if only there were something in the constitution that addressed when protests were allowed...

@11 Exactly what I was thinking. Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people peaceably to assemble. It's fairly unequivocal.

@7

So will Anonymous carry out their threatened retaliation?

@14

Hope so. Enough is enough.

@12 - Ah, but does the constitution say what the police can do? It's a constitutional free-for-all!

Police statement: "We ASK that any groups wishing to assemble in prayer or in protest do so only during daylight hours..."

SLOG headline: "Ferguson Police Release Statement TELLING Protesters Not to Assemble After Sundown"

Yep, that's some honest journalism right there.

@18 From what it sounds like, once the sun goes down the FPD start "asking" pretty hard.

@19: Oh how his face must be so red now...

@18 - Semantics, my friend. When the police make a public statement "asking" or "suggesting" not to do something, they're drawing a line in the sand: Anyone caught doing the thing they "ask" them not to do, gets the full brunt of 3-4 riot-clad cops on top of them.

Have you not ever been in street demonstrations before?

The police are trained to escalate in order to 'win' any confrontation because they have not only physical combat training, but weapons & armor, and ultimately the full support of the courts and legal structure on their side.

The statement is a hedge. "Oh we didn't say anyone couldn't be out after dark.. We're not making any rules..." But all types of shit go down on the ground when it's an armed Roman Centurion vs your puny ass.