Riots

Pretty sleepless night. After years of fussing at me my wife was extremely relieved with our security and weapons setup. The police were not able to respond to calls. If you were not able to protect your family, there was no cavalry coming. The fact that my wife got to experience that, should secure her to the prepping mindset. Hundreds of looters caused millions in damage last night. We had reports of the mobs heading our way, but that was not the case. It stayed pretty localized. Al Sharpton is supposed to be coming, and no one seems excited about that. Another event is planned for this evening, hopefully it stays civil. The family has condemned the looters. The city is still on edge though.

Night two has kicked off. There’s talk of national guard and martial law if there’s a third night.

There’s some nasty rumors going around. Discernment is pretty important in times like these. Disinformation can be an infectious disease.

Most people I have talked to are tired today. Sleep patterns have definitely been affected. Should be an interesting night.

Last night was definitely calmer. A group of protesters assembled at the quick trip at the entrance to our neighborhood, and they remained peaceful.

The police were much firmer last night, firing tear gas where people would start to assemble. They fired bean bags when people did not directly respond. Then they kicked the media out.

The police had said they would announce the officers name at noon today, then changed their mind. This has some people concerned that people would riot again. I’m not sure why they ever thought releasing his name was a good idea.

On the other side of town a shoe store was looted by a large group of people, it’s assumed to be related. Obviously people taking advantage of the situation.

I think the worst has passed. We are remaining alert though. Thanks for your thoughts.

That seems to be the way these things usually work; citizens and neighbors looking out for one another. Hope it settled down soon and doesn’t spill over to affect you and yours directly.

This guy is already been tried and convicted in the media and the court of public opinion (ie the mob), I dont think he has much of a chance, even if he was justified. If he is tried and found not guilty, I am wary of public reaction. It seem that there are some trying to turn this into another Rodney King situation, based on news articles I have read.

I hope I am wrong.

As I mentioned previously, it’s been some late nights keeping up with the news and tracking where the looters are heading. At midnight last night there was a sudden media blackout. It was never called that, the police separated the media from the crowds and called them back to the command center for a presser. The police kept saying it was coming shortly, two hours later they held the presser. That meant two hours of guessing.

That was a reminder to me how small your world gets without comm or Intel. Instead of knowing where the crowds are headed or if spontaneous acts of violence are popping up, all you know is what you can see and hear. It had been a luxury to be able to track it almost instantaneous.