Missouri Shooting Reignites Anti-Police Sentiments

A Missouri shooting in the town of Berkeley, Missouri, which is very close to Ferguson, has reignited protests against police officers. The new Missouri shooting has lead several people to condemn the “racist” cops. Nevermind that Antonio Martin, 18, pulled a gun on a police officer first.

The Missouri shooting led the Huffington Post to scream the usual exploitive headline, “Antonio Martin, Black Teenager, Fatally Shot By Police 2 Miles From Ferguson.” Many of the readers used the article to condemn the state of Missouri, police officers, Caucasians, and Republicans. Some, however, mocked the ones who were outraged about the latest Missouri police shooting.

“I’m going to express complete outrage over the headline without reading the actual article. When another commentator replies with the fact that the victim pulled a gun, I’m going disregard that information as it interferes with my already established perspective.”

There were still some people on Twitter who denied the facts of the shooting.

After the Missouri shooting, the Berkeley mayor tried to urge calmness in the situation. A crowd of about 300 people gathered where Antonio Martin was shot late Tuesday. The crowd threw rocks and bricks in a a scene that was similar to the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting of Michael Brown. A smaller crowd gathered Wednesday night for a vigil and then marched to Missouri Interstate 170.

Perhaps releasing the video showing Antonio Martin pulling out a gun has helped; the Missouri shooting protests haven’t been as loud as recent ones. ABC News notes that officials claim this shooting is much different from the events in Ferguson, Missouri. Mayor Theodore Hoskins, who is African American, spoke about the situation at a press conference.

“All of us are saying the same thing: It’s a white policeman killing a black man, and when does this stop? I can assure you that is not what happened last night. You couldn’t even compare this with Ferguson or the Eric Garner case in New York. The Garner case in New York, they had the video; Ferguson they did not. We have the video. I can assure you what is on the video, we’re going to use.”

Protests of the Missouri shooting are expected to continue throughout Christmas and into the weekend. What do you think of the recent events in Missouri? Do you think the shooting was justified? Do you think people are using the Missouri shooting to exploit their own agenda? Tell us in the comments section.

[Photo Courtesy of the AP]