Cop Shooting in Ferguson Could be a Signal of Renewed Unrest

Memorial to Michael Brown Torched by Vandals

Things may be ready to heat up again in Ferguson, Missouri after a police officer was shot and wounded on Saturday night.  While the tensions have substantially died down after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in August led to mass protests and the dispatching of militarized police to put down the unrest they have been percolating beneath the surface. Earlier this week a memorial to 18 year old Michael Brown was burned down leading to renewed protests. This is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and the shooting could be the match that ignites the bonfire if the response is overly aggressive.

According to the Associated Press in a story entitled "Police: Ferguson Officer Shot; 2 Suspects Wanted":

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) -- A search for two suspects in a St. Louis suburb that's undergone racial unrest continued Sunday after a Ferguson police officer was shot in the arm following an encounter with two men at a community center who ran from him and then opened fire during a foot chase, authorities said.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a media briefing early Sunday that the officer approached the men around 9:10 p.m. Saturday because the community center was closed. As the officer approached, the men ran away. When the officer gave chase, "one of the men turned and shot," Belmar said.

The officer was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, he said. Belmar did not identify the officer or give further details about his condition. He said the officer returned fire but said police have "no indication" that either suspect was shot.

A search was underway for the suspects early Sunday in Ferguson, where some community members remain uneasy in the wake of the August shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer.

Belmar said he did not think the officer's shooting was related to two separate protests about Michael Brown's shooting that were going on Saturday night around the same time.

Around midnight at the police station, approximately two dozen officers stood near a group of about 100 protesters who mingled on a street corner, occasionally shouting, "No justice; no peace."

Nearby, part of a road was closed in town as police conducted a search for the suspects. Numerous law enforcement agencies were responding, and police helicopters were canvassing the area.

The officer's shooting comes after Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson issued a videotaped apology to Brown's family earlier in the week and attempted to march with protesters, an effort that led to a clash with activists and several arrests on Thursday.

Things are rapidly falling apart in the United States these days. The president is a fool, the outgoing Attorney General is a stone cold fascist, the entire system has been hijacked by scumbags and is rotten to the core with corruption. We are entering yet another endless war in the Middle East and the economy is a house of cards that could collapse at any given moment.  The spirit of fear and loathing rage through the land in a manner unseen since the 1960's and early 1970's and on Friday we had America's first workplace beheading.

It conjures up that famous old Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times.