"We are having a difficult time at night especially discerning...between those who wish to peacefully assemble...and those who wish to infiltrate and cause problems... " Ferguson Mayor James Knowles
Another Racially Motivated ShootingSaturday, August 9 th , a City of Ferguson police officer shot and killed a young black male, named Michael Brown. The shooting led to street protests and confrontations with the police. Accusations are flying that this is just another racially motivated shooting. But is that all there is to it? Isn't there a deeper problem related to how our police forces operate? In America today the militarization of our police forces threatens to destroy the essence of our communities. And it is unnecessary.
The Mayor's PleaThursday, August 14, 2014 on the MSNBC show News Nation, reporter Alex Witt interviewed City of Ferguson Mayor James Knowles. She asked a question suggesting that the root cause of the problem was "trouble between citizens and a predominantly white police force." The Mayor, in responding to the question, denied that racial animus was the root of the problem. He said:
You know the problem that we have in our community, and it's a problem all across North St. Louis County and probably the country, is that there is a housing crisis in which people are moving from community to community you know every six months. And this - this apartment complex is very transient. We don't have many of those citizens who...set down roots in Ferguson and become part of the community before they move on. So it's really hard to establish a good community relationship with the people in this apartment complex. And so you know that's something we have been working on. Something we are going to have to really strive harder to do but we have to get people to settle down and have stability in their life so that we can make them part of this community...Telling the good guys from the bad guys
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