Chris Hayes was just threatened by a cop live on MSNBC

[conservaphobe]

'Media stay back or you're getting maced next'

[fishwax]

1. was the cop on camera, or was there just audio?

[conservaphobe]

3. Audio.

Also threatening to arrest them if they move from their position.

[fishwax]

8. wow.

[ReRe]

38. Uhh...

Police: "Get out!"

Police: "Don't move!"

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. They gonna beat his ass on teevee!!

[winter is coming]

4. Whoa. That won't end well. I wouldn't think Hayes would back down much, if at all. n/t

[cal04]

5. They are also threatening to shoot

To call this a volatile situation is an understatement. Cops yelling at media crews w/ lights on, saying he would shoot.

https://twitter.com/akjohnson1922

[ReRe]

40. I was watching...

... when that happened on livstream.

[Warpy]

6. Yeah, the Al Jazeera guy just said he doesn't know why the cops showed up so early

They got there in full daylight. They're probably spoiling for a fight, they came equipped for it.

ETA: what do you want to bet this thing would quiet down immediately if the damned cops went home and were only called out if violence started to happen?

This is just plain nuts.

[DallasNE]

43. Is This The Missouri Highway Patrol

Doing all of this? Seems like not that much has changed.

[Warpy]

48. No, members of 3 departments showed up

including the St. Louis County cops who were supposed to stay the hell away.

[bravenak]

7. Wow.

Color me not surprised.

[kcdoug1]

9. is it time for the national guard yet?

[valerief]

34. Is there a difference between military and police nowaday? nt

[catnhatnh]

47. Yep

...the military still takes prisoners.

[ReRe]

41. Absolutely!

Bring the National Guard in, and do the fuck away with the curfew!

[davidpdx]

10. Which is crazy because Chris Hayes is not a person who is threatening in the least

[Agschmid]

11. Yup.

Not in the least.

[world wide wally]

12. Where is Capt. Johnson in all this?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. His hands are tied. He has absolutely no power. They are using him as a pawn and a scapegoat.

They are setting this black up to take the fall when something happens. They are making decisions without telling him and keeping him the dark. They're doing this on purpose. They are letting this man take the fall for them. Just watch.

I'm telling you: black people have seen this shit all our lives. We are trying to show you what we go through.

[frazzled]

18. I thought he was put in command

Doesn't that mean he can order the local police to stand down? I realize he can't control every individual action or utterance of any given cop on the ground, but he does (or so I thought) set the operational rules.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. No. He was put in charge of settling down the crowds and being the liaison between the community

and the cops. That's all the responsibility he has. Plus, he's a state trooper and therefore not in his jurisdiction.

[frazzled]

22. Wrong: Highway Patrol was put in charge of all security operations

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) announced on Thursday afternoon that the Missouri Highway Patrol would be taking over security operations in Ferguson, a town that has witnessed a series of tense standoffs between residents and heavily-armored police officers.

Nixon said that the Missouri State Highway Patrol would assume control of the law enforcement response to the protests in Ferguson.

Local officers from Ferguson and the county police would remain involved, as they have been all week, but the state highway patrol would direct security on the ground.

“We are going to have a different approach and have the approach that we’re in this together,” Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, said during a news conference with Nixon.

Johnson, who grew up in the region, promised a different approach with the highway patrol in charge. He vowed that he would be on the ground himself on Thursday night and said he planned to visit the QuikTrip that has become ground zero for the protesters.

“I understand the anger and fear that the citizens of Ferguson are feeling, and our officers will respect both of those,” said Johnson, who has been the head of the highway patrol’s troop in the region since 2002.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/14/missouri-highway-patrol-to-take-over-security-in-ferguson/

[kath]

24. "A different approach", my ass. Agree that the guy is very likely being used as a pawn and scapegoat

Tonight's approach is every bit as bad as that before Johnson was brought in.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

26. Exactly! Thanks. :)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. How is what I said any different? He was put in charge to guide the crowd, and I'm assuming that

also means "direct security on the ground".

The point is that decisions are not getting filtered to him. He's learning about shit from watching t.v. just like the rest of us. His influence seems limited.

And I stand by what I've said: I think he's being used and will be scapegoated should something go wrong.

[7wo7rees]

31. Crackers f'real

There's an essay by James Thurber in which he talks about the concept of the Hegelian dialectic. He says that it reminds him of a scene in a Marx Brothers film. In that film (Animal Crackers) they need to solve a theft. Groucho says that he thinks that the stolen item is hidden in the house next door. Chico says that there is no house next door. Groucho says that then they'll build one.

Thurber says that this is the technique of dialectic. Thesis: The stolen item is in the house next door. Antithesis: There is no house next door. Synthesis: We'll build a house next door.

THESIS - ANTITHESIS - SYNTHESIS

Scapegoats are the SYNTHESIS part


DISCLAIMER: This opinion was lifted intact from another board. I just happen to agree with it, and find it relevant to your point.

[frazzled]

46. Or maybe he's more in charge than you think?

Now, I'm not casting any blame on him when I pass on these accounts--things on the ground can be pretty confusing, a sort of "fog of war"--but three professional reporters have said that Captain Johnson followed them and then ordered them handcuffed last night. They were quickly released, as in the earlier detention of reporters last week, but still, they were clear about who issued the order, and you can hear it on the audio ...

Echoing the arrests of the Huffington Post's Ryan Reilly and the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery earlier this week, three reporters said they were briefly handcuffed and detained by police. Other reporters said officers threatened them with mace, while one radio reporter caught an officer's threat to shoot him on tape.

Three journalists -- Neil Munshi of the Financial Times, Robert Klemko of Sports Illustrated and Rob Crilly of the Telegraph -- tweeted that they were briefly detained and handcuffed by Missouri highway police Capt. Ron Johnson. Munshi emphasized that the three of them were held by police but were not arrested.

(Please see their on-the-scene tweets with video/audio at http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/police-threaten-reporters-in-ferguson-mace

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

49. I hope you're right. I hope they are not using this brother for their own selfish ends.

He's amazing. A wonderful gift to this community.

[tblue37]

33. He said on Saturday that he was not told that SWAT was being

brought in, and it was the SWAT officers who provoked the croud around 2:00 a.m. Saturday.

[freshwest]

27. I really thought he was going to be given a chance to change things. I bet he did, too.

Johnson gave a press conference today and now it's 'business as usual.' No way this should happen. The feds need to step in, I know technically may not be the same thing as this:

http://metamorphosis.democraticunderground.com/10025124771#post7

But it feels like it to me. This is what I want to have happen. Perhaps it is because there is no action in motion to be saved, and the cause is more diverse.

The government seems paralyzed. I feet the incalcitrance by the PD is a prelude to something bigger, and I don't know what it is. But the whole thing is a RW fantasy.

Am I wrong? Doesn't the Federal government have the authority to do this now?

I know states are pushing their old posse comitatus routine, but this is part of a state's government that is breaking federal law. I can't cite which was it is, but I think the one in the link was enforcing a court order.

Sorry, thinking out loud. All I've seen on the faces of black people I know this week a look of PAIN and HURT. I try to keep having hope this will turn around... But it keeps getting worse.

Thanks for teaching us.

[HooptieWagon]

30. I'm thinking you're right.

At this point, it does appear he was being used as a pawn.

[bananas]

42. yeah, sounds like he's just a facade. n't

[flamingdem]

13. That'll leave a mark

The radicalization of Chris Hayes begins

[grasswire]

29. I think Chris was radicalized some time ago.

He deserves a pulitzer for tonight.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

14. Listen, there are a lot of black people here just praying and hoping that the cops' aggression

against reporters will open your eyes and make you guys understand what we black folk go through on a daily basis.

WE ARE NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP!!!

[enigmatic]

17. +1 n/t

[gvstn]

19. +1000

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. plus 1000

[kath]

28. +1000 more

And I, for one, never thought that black folk were making this shit up

[The Traveler]

32. Read ya 5 by 5, citizen

It's like what happened to Occupy, on steroids.

I don't have adequate words. I'm white, but I don't feel guilty. I'm way too disgusted and pissed off to feel guilty. What we are seeing is wrong, and needless, and should not be happening in our country.

Solidarity. We need to find that spirit now ... The beast is before us and we have got to stand together.

Trav

[shaayecanaan]

35. too right (nt)

[uponit7771]

36. +1

[flamingdem]

16. Latest tweet from Chris Hayes

Christopher Hayes ‏@chrislhayes

Police now saying earlier reports of shots fired turn out to be fireworks. #staywoke

[Rex]

23. A brave new world. Curfew time for journalists.

Unless you WANT to get hurt.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. TURNN OFF YOUR CAMERRAAAASSSSSSS

[Cleita]

39. The new totalitarian states of the USA seems to be emerging.

There was a lot of truth spoken today on MSNBC by the weekend hosts. I hope Chris Hayes and them don't lose their jobs.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

44. These idiots need to ALL be lined up and slapped by a 5 year old girl.

[Gothmog]

45. WOW

The cops are out of control