Who do we thank for this......

[bornaneer]

MADISON, Wis. -
A Madison police officer was confronted by a crowd and punched after a street fight on Prairie Road Wednesday night, according to a release from Madison police. The officer stopped in the area of Prairie Road and Jacobs Way around 6:20 p.m. after spotting a large number of people in the street. He said that as he approached he saw a woman punch a man in the face, and he could see that the woman had a can of pepper spray.

The officer said that as he went to arrest the woman he was surrounded by a crowd that was voicing anti-police sentiments, including "We need to start killing these officers."

Police said the woman’s daughter was grabbing the officer while trying to free her mother. The officer said he tried to diffuse the situation by explaining to the crowd that the woman had just punched someone and was armed with pepper spray. Police said his words were ignored, and the struggle with the two people continued.

The older woman punched the officer in the face and grabbed him by the throat, according to the release.

The officer said he could see many in the crowd were recording the incident on their cellphones while some accused him of misconduct and using excessive force.

A witness told police he or she "felt the officer was in trouble" and said it appeared someone had gone for his gun.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

MADISON, Wis. -
A Madison police officer was confronted by a crowd and punched after a street fight on Prairie Road Wednesday night, according to a release from Madison police. The officer stopped in the area of Prairie Road and Jacobs Way around 6:20 p.m. after spotting a large number of people in the street. He said that as he approached he saw a woman punch a man in the face, and he could see that the woman had a can of pepper spray.

The officer said that as he went to arrest the woman he was surrounded by a crowd that was voicing anti-police sentiments, including "We need to start killing these officers."

Police said the woman’s daughter was grabbing the officer while trying to free her mother. The officer said he tried to diffuse the situation by explaining to the crowd that the woman had just punched someone and was armed with pepper spray. Police said his words were ignored, and the struggle with the two people continued.

The older woman punched the officer in the face and grabbed him by the throat, according to the release.

The officer said he could see many in the crowd were recording the incident on their cellphones while some accused him of misconduct and using excessive force.

A witness told police he or she "felt the officer was in trouble" and said it appeared someone had gone for his gun.

Many will try to do so, but you can't put the blame for these things solely at the feet of one group, or one person. Human behavior is never that simple, especially when you take into account that this is going on all over a country of over 300 million people.

It's all Sharpton's fault!! It's all Obama's fault!! I won't disagree that they have done some things that may have inflamed the situation.

It's the media's fault!! Should the media be censored from covering stories in which officers have killed unarmed people?

There's a lot of blame to go around, and some of that blame has to fall on the police themselves. But the dangerous thing that we see happening is people feeling everybody in blue is complicit in the actions of a few. It's not different than going and killing a black person or a white person because a black person or a white person killed your brother. Doesn't matter if it was the exact person that did it, killing any of them will do. It's crazy.

However, as in the Freddie Gray case, and a couple of others, it seems as if SOME police have been engaging in poor practices for awhile, and a lot of it is being exposed now since everybody had video cameras on them all the time. The reports by police are being shown to be totally inconsistent with actual events in a lot of cases and people are outraged.

I'm worried for our country right now. Things are spiraling out of control and if it continues we will become a military state.

There is room for EVERYBODY to look in the mirror and focus on how they can change the situation instead of looking for somebody else to blame for everything.

 

[bornaneer]

Many will try to do so, but you can't put the blame for these things solely at the feet of one group, or one person. Human behavior is never that simple, especially when you take into account that this is going on all over a country of over 300 million people.

It's all Sharpton's fault!! It's all Obama's fault!! I won't disagree that they have done some things that may have inflamed the situation.

It's the media's fault!! Should the media be censored from covering stories in which officers have killed unarmed people?

There's a lot of blame to go around, and some of that blame has to fall on the police themselves. But the dangerous thing that we see happening is people feeling everybody in blue is complicit in the actions of a few. It's not different than going and killing a black person or a white person because a black person or a white person killed your brother. Doesn't matter if it was the exact person that did it, killing any of them will do. It's crazy.

However, as in the Freddie Gray case, and a couple of others, it seems as if SOME police have been engaging in poor practices for awhile, and a lot of it is being exposed now since everybody had video cameras on them all the time. The reports by police are being shown to be totally inconsistent with actual events in a lot of cases and people are outraged.

I'm worried for our country right now. Things are spiraling out of control and if it continues we will become a military state.

There is room for EVERYBODY to look in the mirror and focus on how they can change the situation instead of looking for somebody else to blame for everything.

The world would be a better place if most people had your wisdom. Sadly, most don't.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

The world would be a better place if most people had your wisdom. Sadly, most don't.

Thank you for saying so.

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and humility didn't come easy for me. I have argued points that I've been totally wrong about. I have judged too quickly. I have done everything you're not supposed to do. I still make mistakes and I always will.

At some point you have to realize what you can control and what you can't, and about the only thing you CAN control are your own thoughts, actions and reactions. That's pretty much it. So you have to start there, always.

In this case, the people lashing out at police. Why are you doing that and what do you think it's going to solve? Why are you doing this to THIS guy/gal who had absolutely NOTHING to do with whatever incident you're upset about?

And the police. You have to realize that you need to clean things up and you need to stop protecting cops that are doing the wrong things. It adds to the outrage and puts every other one of them at greater risk.

I'm too young to have lived through all of the civil rights stuff in the 60s, with the fire hoses and riots and Kent St. and everything else. It seems like history is on the verge of repeating itself.

What can I do? I can make sure my interactions with cops don't escalate. I live in a small town so when I see the police in my town I can extend a thank you and appreciation for their jobs. For everybody else, I can be polite and extend kindness. (I struggle with this on this board a bit too much)

These are things that we can ALL do. Jumping in our fox holes and tossing grenades doesn't help anybody or anything.