Riot In Riverside! July 4th 2008! riot brings mayhem.

[Lunican]

Wouldn't someone have to request it first? They don't just strap it to a pigeon and 'release' it.

[thebrokenforum]

Religion is being pushed by the media?  Quite the opposite.  The media is actively hostile to mainstream religion (although it does celebrate religions which are not the mainstream in the US).

No, religion is based on numerous people's points of view. Much like this story.

[Downtown Dweller]

Weren't there police logs posted? Or did I just imagine that?

[Driven1]

Can we all just agree that there was no "riot"? 

I mean - come on.  Don't you think every news agency in the city would want to be all over this story?  This would mean HUGE ratings.  I think that a general concensus can be that...

1) there were some angry kids cause they couldn't get in a concert.
2) maybe even in completely unrelated areas/events, a couple of shots may have been fired somewhere - but these may have been fireworks as well.
3) there was no "RIOT". 

[thebrokenforum]

Can we stick to the general topic at hand?

Right...because you going off the deep end on this thread numerous times is staying on topic.

[thelakelander]

Why are we arguing on whether there was a "riot" or not?

Definition of Riot:

A wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people.

http://www.answers.com/topic/riot

Was there a wild disturbance created on the streets of Five Points that night?  Doesn't the police log back up this definition?

[Eazy E]

As i am very good freinds with several shop owners along the strip, and was actually in 5 Points up to the time the shit broke out, and had several friends there, let me say this:

1) There was no property damage to the shops. No one filed insurance claims.
2) While not a "riot" riot, I think, for most of us, when we see tear gas flying, police running down the block with machine guns in their hands, and hear gun shots, we think riot.


This is truly an atypical situation, which is what I think is driving this discussion, in that there were all the hallmarks and causes of violence and property damage, but no actual property damage or anyone hurt by the violence.  I, for one, would chalk this lack of news-worthy damage up to the fine job done by JSO.

[Driven1]

As i am very good freinds with several shop owners along the strip, and was actually in 5 Points up to the time the shit broke out, and had several friends there, let me say this:

1) There was no property damage to the shops. No one filed insurance claims.
2) While not a "riot" riot, I think, for most of us, when we see tear gas flying, police running down the block with machine guns in their hands, and hear gun shots, we think riot.


This is truly an atypical situation, which is what I think is driving this discussion, in that there were all the hallmarks and causes of violence and property damage, but no actual property damage or anyone hurt by the violence.  I, for one, would chalk this lack of news-worthy damage up to the fine job done by JSO.

Thank you Eazy E.  Could not have been said better.

[RiversideGator]

Has the supposed police log ever been authenticated?  For all I know, it was totally manufactured.

[fpj]

Has the supposed police log ever been authenticated?  For all I know, it was totally manufactured.

There might be minor typos or spelling corrections, since I did type in the thing in a hurry, but feel free to go to the PMB or any police substation and request incident report #644442 and its comments (it'll cost around 30 cents for the report and 3 dollars for the comments) and let me know what differences you find 

-fpj

[fpj]

Wouldn't someone have to request it first? They don't just strap it to a pigeon and 'release' it.

of course.  All the adults reading this thread are aware of this.

fpj seems to have the most familiarity with public records requests.  I wonder if they can weigh in.

It is easy but time consuming to do, I have been told, because of how things are filed at JSO.

In this instance, it took me almost three hours to track down #644442 because it was filed as happening at 800 Park Street, which is NOT the address of the Five Points Theatre building, but apparently the rough block address where the first bullets were heard shot, which translates into the initiation (I think that's what they called it) address of the call.

Furthermore, I found this out only after the JSO dispatcher I ended up working with truly took to the task and actually put out a call to EVERY police officer on duty asking if any officer knew what I was asking about and the officer who was working off-duty that night and was on duty Monday morning responded with the incident#. 

Before that, the officer at the PMB *and* the officer at the substation (yes, I went to both places) BOTH told me that nothing happened anywhere near the address (1024 Park Street) that night.

I was obviously incredulous, but thankfully the officer that answered the dispatch phone number was able to help and then with #644442 scribbled on the top of The Victims Advocate or whatever the free paper was sitting in the substation, I was able to get the information that is now I guess being disputed on here lol.

Now, *if* people were arrested that night, anyone can go to the PMB and ask for (and pay 15 cents per page of) any arrest report.  All you have to do is ask if anyone was arrested in Five Points on July 4th and request the commentary.

I heard people were arrested, but I don't have any first hand eye witness information, nor, alas, do I have the personal time to run downtown or to the substation for another morning of public records searching to find that information out...until next week.  Please, someone beat me to it

-fpj

[fpj]

 I, for one, would chalk this lack of news-worthy damage up to the fine job done by JSO.

I would like to chime in and say I am glad that the JSO officers that were in Five Points that night had the professional discipline to not fire on anyone.  They did a fine job in my opinion, which, I hope, is the first time any opinions of mine have entered this discussion, and I am choosing my words carefully here.

-fpj

[downtownparks]

Nice work fpj. I don't think anyone was questioning the validity of your material, per say. I think it was more a question of citizen journalism in general. I know I personally have accepted information off of here and other forums as fact a few times, only to later learn that it was in fact an interpretation, over-blown, or just off base.

People, particularly people in scary situations, have the tendancy to over blow what they see. That appears to not have been the case here, and I think JSO did exactly as they should have. Its really just too bad that so many of these "teens" at the teen bash have no respect for authority, or others safety.

[downtownparks]

Just as an FYI, "Citizen Journalist" is a commonly used term, not something I made up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalist

[fpj]

  I, for one, would chalk this lack of news-worthy damage up to the fine job done by JSO.

I would like to chime in and say I am glad that the JSO officers that were in Five Points that night had the professional discipline to not fire on anyone.  They did a fine job in my opinion, which, I hope, is the first time any opinions of mine have entered this discussion, and I am choosing my words carefully here.

-fpj

thanks fpj, and its ridiculous that you feel you have to choose your words carefully.  In reality you dont.

Sadly there have been a couple of personal agendas on parade by a couple of people who were no where near this event and actually uninterested in the event itself.

And DTP, your aware that quite often these 'citizen journalism' sites (as you have decided to start calling them) are quite ahead of the 'corporate media' blow jobs we often get.

As it turns out, this thread is a GREAT example of 'journalism'.

and FPJ, thanks for your contribution to this awesome thread.

I am not saying it's ridiculous, I am saying that I am carefully trying not to inject my opinions/biases--which are many, lol--into an accounting of this event.  Otherwise, this becomes an editorial essay, not journalism.  Thank you, though, for your comments, for, after all...

"All we want are the facts, ma'am," or, in this case, sir

--fpj channeling Sgt. Joe Friday