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[MisterFalcon]

It was higher in the 90's, and prob higher before.

The only thing that changed is that everyone carries a camera with them now.

Murder rates are historically low all over the world. How many have ever heard of Mark Essex ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Essex

Mark James Robert Essex (August 12, 1949[1] – January 7, 1973) was an American mass murderer who killed nine people, including five policemen, and wounded 13 others in New Orleans on December 31, 1972 and January 7, 1973.

The Essex case is quite similar. He made it seem there were multiple shooters by changing his jacket and it could be the reports we now see of up to 4 snipers were in fact one person.

 

[Violater]

Texas is an open carry state.

Man it's unfortunate for those 2 guys now.
Especially with the actual shooters identities not publicized as yet.

 

[entremet]

Dunno might be whole mass murder thing they are doing right now.

What does that have to do with sanity?

Rational, sane people kill all the time.

 

[guggnichso]

you probably dont "remember" because you are white and live in the suburbs.

Is that really necessary?

 

[Lime]

So there were armed protestors who were not involved?
WTF
Why take guns to a protest?

 

[Marvel]

Dunno might be whole mass murder thing they are doing right now.

Doesn't make the killer insane, come on think about it.

 

[teruterubozu]

Is that really necessary?

White priviledge is series business around here.

 

[ThatCrazyGuy]

I feel like racism, sexism and bigotry in general are the highest they've been in a very long time.

Maybe I was too young to remember, but I genuinely don't recall anywhere near as much hatred back in the early to mid 2000s.

Somebody please feel free to correct me

Naw. Shit was always bad.

 

[Mattlikewhoa]

Man it's unfortunate for those 2 guys now.
Especially with the actual shooters identities not publicized as yet.

I wonder why it hasn't been published yet? The media is quick to categorize EVERYTHING these days.

 

[andythinkpad]

Has the police said anything to imply the 2 male suspects are the shooters?

They are not looking for more suspect, just bombs?

 

[Measley]

Guest on CNN saying that BLM advocates violence against cops.

Nice.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I work in American law enforcement (not an officer, though) and this has been a tremendously hard few days for us.

I barely got enough sleep after hearing and seeing the officer-involved shootings -- disturbing for the race implications and for the clearly shaken officers in the traffic stop incident (just absolutely tragic and traumatic for everyone involved), went to work this evening and heard about Dallas and it is extremely heart wrenching.

I literally can barely contain the hurt this shift.

And I'm muzzled from expressing this sentiment openly on social media, because the law enforcement community can be very very divisive in terms of responding to incidents such as these. I was attempting to reconcile my feelings as a citizen versus my membership of the community after the officer-involved shootings with a peer support officer and Dallas just hit HARD at the worst possible time.

 

[Joelstinton14]

I feel like racism, sexism and bigotry in general are the highest they've been in a very long time.

Maybe I was too young to remember, but I genuinely don't recall anywhere near as much hatred back in the early to mid 2000s.

Somebody please feel free to correct me

I do think social media sites and the media do need to think about how to move forward , how they report news because i do think both do exacerbate the issue.

It is difficult though, at times the likes of Twitter etc are wonderful, but at the same time it feels as though for the most part the spread of misinformation, allowing "like minded" communities to form outweighs the positives. The left vs Right culture war on the internet is certainly bigger and more pronounced than it ever was, both sides are realising how good social media is as a platform in engaging people.

I also think that the spread of misinformation is the worst aspect of it. For some it is the only news they get, others who have a chip on their shoulder about something fall into groups of people that aren't nice people. I see often on my timelines, the recent being my aunt who converses with UKIP, Leave EU groups. Whilst on a technical level they're not racist groups, there is a fudge load of people who are racists and reading the comments you can't help but wonder if my aunt day to day opinion is shifting and gradually becoming more racist.

And i do think 24hour news is having a negative effect too. The papers themselves are more outright mainly right (but also left) opinon pieces that are becoming ever increasingly more sensationalist and provoking.

Entertainment. The middle ground is being eroded in favour of viewing figures and sales.

We are now at a stage where we it is seemingly harder to sit down and discuss all this on a political level and news level because of all the shouting on either side.

on a side note, absolutely horrific events over the last couple of days.

 

[wesleyshark]

I think calling them crazies absolves of them blame. This was a very calculated attack.

Definitely. Coordinated and calculated.

 

[Diffense]

So there were armed protestors who were not involved?
WTF
Why take guns to a protest?

Since two legally (?) armed black men were recently killed by police he might have been openly exercising his second amendment right as part of the protest.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

I wonder why it hasn't been published yet? The media is quick to categorize EVERYTHING these days.

They probably aren't black. Was likely disappointing to find out.

 

[linkboy]

I do think social media sites and the media do need to think about how to move forward , how they report news because i do think both do exacerbate the issue.

It is difficult though, at times the likes of Twitter etc are wonderful, but at the same time it feels as though for the most part the spread of misinformation, allowing "like minded" communities to form outweighs the positives. The left vs Right culture war on the internet is certainly bigger and more pronounced than it ever was, both sides are realising how good social media is as a platform in engaging people.

I also think that the spread of misinformation is the worst aspect of it. For some it is the only news they get, others who have a chip on their shoulder about something fall into groups of people that aren't nice people. I see often on my timelines, the recent being my aunt who converses with UKIP, Leave EU groups. Whilst on a technical level they're not racist groups, there is a fudge load of people who are racists and reading the comments you can't help but wonder if my aunt day to day opinion is shifting and gradually becoming more racist.

And i do think 24hour news is having a negative effect too. The papers themselves are more outright mainly right (but also left) opinon pieces that are becoming ever increasingly more sensationalist and provoking.

Entertainment. The middle ground is being eroded in favour of viewing figures and sales.

We are now at a stage where we it is seemingly harder to sit down and discuss all this on a political level and news level because of all the shouting on either side.

on a side note, absolutely horrific events over the last couple of days.

I hate the 24-hour news. I can't escape it no matter where I go (and most of the time, it's Faux).

It's a major problem that doesn't help situations like this, just exacerbates it.

 

[Androidsleeps]

Naw. Shit was always bad.

I also have a similar feeling as Squish, but by a "long time" I'd say the past 6 or 7 years, and not just in the US. I don't have the numbers to support my claims, but fuck if it doesn't seem that more and more people are becoming sexist, racist bigots and not afraid to hide it, online, TV and out in the world.

 

[wesleyshark]

I work in American law enforcement (not an officer, though) and this has been a tremendously hard few days for us.

I barely got enough sleep after hearing and seeing the officer-involved shootings -- disturbing for the race implications and for the clearly shaken officers in the traffic stop incident (just absolutely tragic and traumatic for everyone involved), went to work this evening and heard about Dallas and it is extremely heart wrenching.

I literally can barely contain the hurt this shift.

And I'm muzzled from expressing this sentiment openly on social media, because the law enforcement community can be very very divisive in terms of responding to incidents such as these. I was attempting to reconcile my feelings as a citizen versus my membership of the community after the officer-involved shootings with a peer support officer and Dallas just hit HARD at the worst possible time.

I appreciate your openness. I can't imagine how difficult things like last night and the past couple days are for you folks. Stay strong. And stay safe.

 

[Nastrodamous]

I also have a similar feeling as Squish, but by a "long time" I'd say the past 6 or 7 years, and not just in the US. I don't have the numbers to support my claims, but fuck if it doesn't seem that more and more people are becoming sexist, racist bigots and not afraid to hide it, online, TV and out in the world.

they arent becoming sexist or bigots, they were always those things. Now they are just sexist and racist that use the internet.

 

[entremet]

I also have a similar feeling as Squish, but by a "long time" I'd say the past 6 or 7 years, and not just in the US. I don't have the numbers to support my claims, but fuck if it doesn't seem that more and more people are becoming sexist, racist bigots and not afraid to hide it, online, TV and out in the world.

Also remember, kids tend to be in their own bubbles.

This is a good thing. No kid should have a childhood filled with fear and worry.

 

[Plinko]

I also have a similar feeling as Squish, but by a "long time" I'd say the past 6 or 7 years, and not just in the US. I don't have the numbers to support my claims, but fuck if it doesn't seem that more and more people are becoming sexist, racist bigots and not afraid to hide it, online, TV and out in the world.

Agreed. I think the racism has always been there. However, it feels like over the past 5 years, racists have gotten more brazen and public with it. It didn't feel at all like this 10 years ago.

 

[nature boy]

Too bad this terrible attack is already be used for political reasons ("BLM legitimizes violence against police, we must protect our cops").

RIP to the officers and hopefully those wounded fully recover.

 

[ColdPizza]

Wow. Just woke up to this. I honestly have no idea what to think except that this is probably unrelated to the two prior shootings. Seems like this "group" was just waiting for an opportunity when a bunch of cops were going to be near the same place.

 

[Corto]

They probably aren't black. Was likely disappointing to find out.

If that was the case I'm sure it would be quickly publicised or leaked. Authorities are surely trying to learn possible affiliations to organised groups and which, if it was a reaction plan to the events of this past week or something broader than that with more people involved in logistics and preparation of the attacks.

 

[wesleyshark]

Fuck, one of the officers who died just got married 2 weeks ago.

 

[Jackpot]

for the clearly shaken officers in the traffic stop incident (just absolutely tragic and traumatic for everyone involved), went to work this evening and heard about Dallas and it is extremely heart wrenching.

I think it was more traumatic for the black man they shot.

 

[Plinko]

I'm stunned they haven't released any description of those responsible yet. They generally seem to do that as soon as possible.

 

[Boke1879]

I'm stunned they haven't released any description of those responsible yet. They generally seem to do that as soon as possible.

Yea I'm kinda shocked nothing has leaked out on that front

 

[linkboy]

Agreed. I think the racism has always been there. However, it feels like over the past 5 years, racists have gotten more brazen and public with it. It didn't feel at all like this 10 years ago.

They have, it doesn't help when you have a political party catering to them (see Trump as a prime example, all the shit President Obama has had to deal with since 2008).

 

[Tosyn_88]

It is strange that just less than 24 hours after I said about shooting video on Facebook giving causes for extremist groups, this happens. I saw a documentary some months back about Afro American groups wearing uniforms, body armour and AR15 going around doing marches and sharing documents to people about their rights to bare arms. One can easily see a situation where more shootings like those that's happened this week can cause more extreme groups like that to become even more prominent because lets face it, the relationship between the police and afro Americans has never been good, this goes way back all the way to MLK period. One would think that there should have been an internal memo sent out to police men and women about not resorting to guns when dealing with afro Americans at least for a while because there still exist lots of anger over the other unresolved cases that's caused riots and things so far. But no, we get the first shooting, then few days after we get another shooting, it is just total bad PR from the police and if a civil war breaks out, it wouldn't be surprising.
It is a rather unfortunate situation because we have acts of a minority smearing a majority because I don't believe everyone thinks all the police force is bad because if we did the numbers, the good police far outnumber these ones, but the consistent videos that keep popping up all the time just makes it seem quite pronounced to the public that some members of the police are indeed abusing their position to fatal levels. I really hope the other police out there trying their hardest to do the right thing get protection and solace from the civil society because at the end of the day the police are our brothers and sisters, they aren't this faceless corporate entity as is most potrayed, that said I think the police also needs to do some soul searching with regards how they can get the confidence of the public back because the feeling at the moment especially from afro American communities is that if a police stops you, he is about to injure or fatally arm you and that isn't a good feeling to get. Nobody wants to live under a constant state of fear of those who are supposed to protect you

 

[Plinko]

They have, it doesn't help when you have a political party catering to them (see Trump as a prime example, all the shit President Obama has had to deal with since 2008).

The Tea Party movement definitely seems like a factor in some way. Not sure if it was the cause or a side effect.

 

[MThanded]

I'm perplexed that we have no information about the assailants.

 

[Ether_Snake]

People drawing all sorts of conclusions but we really don't know who these people are, or how many there was.

Si far there was apparently at least four who might have been involved, but police said they are not confident yet that all involved have been arrested, so possibly more than four.

 

[Ravensmash]

I'm perplexed that we have no information about the assailants.

They took a few alive right?

Doesnt it tend to be slower when that's the case?

 

[Kusagari]

Agreed. I think the racism has always been there. However, it feels like over the past 5 years, racists have gotten more brazen and public with it. It didn't feel at all like this 10 years ago.

It's because of the Internet. These people can find various websites/groups/etc online that validate and verify all the wacky beliefs they've had for their entire lives and thus it makes them more and more brazen with it.

Just look at the various conservative chain mails sent around in email that became gospel about Obama.

The Internet is a horrible thing is this regard because somewhere on it there's a website that validates whatever wack job view you have.

 

[Diffense]

I think this is a bit nuts. I feel empathy in this case because the officers were human beings shot and killed without justification, as happens to so many American civilians. I think anybody who cant distinguish the individual from the group has a problem.

Good for you.

 

[Nokagi]

When I went to sleep it was just one dead which is bad but man to wake up and see it's 5 dead. Terrible. Cops killing citizens. Citizens killing cops. Such a dark and disturbing road we're heading down.

 

[ColdPizza]

I'm perplexed that we have no information about the assailants.

It's been 4 hours since it ended.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

CNN Evan Perez saying sources in investigation they find no international link to terrorism yet. Group was using the protest as a cover for their ambush.

 

[The Lamp]

I could have been there. How sad for my city. This will only escalate violence.

But I'm keenly aware of my friends on Facebook who had nothing to say this week until cops die last night. Cops willingly sign up for the risk of getting killed on the job by violent citizens, black people do not willingly sign up for the risk of being executed by cops in daily interactions. It is okay to be outraged that people are dying, and death is something to be mourned, never celebrated, but it is extremely noticeable when you don't have anything to say as black people die for years but suddenly this tragedy happens and now you have an opinion on police brutality and black lives matter.

 

[Boke1879]

They took a few alive right?

Doesnt it tend to be slower when that's the case?

Dallas pd is probably gathering info. Making sure no one else is still out there.

 

[BriGuy]

Incredibly sad, and has potential to get sadder still. There's going to be retaliation for this in some form or another, either at the hands of some misguided "avenger" with access to a weapon he shouldn't have, or a particularly on-edge officer who swears the wallet of the guy he pulled over looked like a gun, or by the passing of sweeping "blue lives matter" bills which criminalize giving the cops a dirty look.

Just a shit situation all around.

 

[Bedlam]

I'm perplexed that we have no information about the assailants.

I find it kind of amazing that nothing has leaked so far but in general I welcome the restraint that is shown here. Too often premature information gets out and stirs prejudices etc.

But yeah, I want to know as well.

 

[Bubba T]

.....this isn't much better than living in Nigeria.

 

[DiscoJer]

I
The recent killings by police officers on black men and women are unjustifiable, all killing is unjustifiable unless of course the individual is a clear threat to your own life, just because a few disgusting racist police officers have murdered innocent people does not justify the actions of what is happening here, it is repugnant and disgusting that anybody would think such a thing.

But the whole system is the problem. Police know they can use excessive force because other police will back them up. They know their union will back them up. They know the local government will back them up, and even if they should get charged, they almost certainly won't be convicted, because for whatever reason, juries don't like convicting cops.

And that doesn't even touch on other issues, like too many laws that disproportionally affect the poor and minorities, and selective enforcement of laws so they are only applied to the poor and minorities. Basically laws that are meant to keep the poor, poor, yet at the same time fill the coffers of local (and state in some cases) government.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

I'm perplexed that we have no information about the assailants.

I guess they learned their lesson after the Mark Hughes clusterfuck they created for themselves.

 

[Mesousa]

.....this isn't much better than living in Nigeria.

The place where boko haram took like 80 school girls and the government is too apathetic to even try to look for them?

I'd say this is much better.

 

[wesleyshark]

.....this isn't much better than living in Nigeria.

Yeah I'll have to disagree with that.

 

[HK-47]

.....this isn't much better than living in Nigeria.

Why dont you go live in Northern Nigeria and get back to us on that.