Jophiel wrote:
Honestly, this is someone who just equivocated a few special officers during the LA riots wearing plain green body armor over their blue police uniforms with the stuff on display in Ferguson.
Assuming you meant "equated", there's just a few special officers using the military gear that everyone's complaining about too. So yeah, it's worth making the comparison. Point being that those are the guys who are clearing the riot areas, and that's the most dramatic footage, so that's what most people see on the evening news. The problem is that there's so much value in creating a narrative that blames the cops for everything going on that objective evaluation of their actions has gone out the window. Peaceful protesters pass "normal" police dressed in normal gear and not hindering them in anyway. Then they see people running from some altercation a few blocks away and head there to see what's happening. Then they run into the guys with the tactical gear firing tear gas into the street, and wonder why they're being targeted (they aren't, they just deliberately went to where the riot is going on). Then they see looters and rioters and come to the ridiculous conclusion that those people are rioting and looting because the cops are there firing tear gas.
That's what's going on. And the story that gets repeated is how the police are attacking peaceful protesters. And the media laps it up because it matches the narrative. Then people repeat it on forums like this.
What the police are wearing isn't forcing people to riot and loot, and it's absurd to even suggest it. And in my opinion, if your peaceful protest manages to turn violent nearly every single night, maybe you're not doing it right? Just a thought.