Benton Harbor Michigan under state of emergency, fire, bricks thrown at vehicles and policemens, National Guard ready to be called out. Citizens say they don't want any more deaths in their community due to high speed chases. Looks like it's gonna be a hot summer in the cities.

(((UPDATE))) Local hospital is on lock down, no patient visitors,  firefighters injured, people showing up at emergency room, one man shot in arm, police not allowing anyone in, curfew ready to be set.

national guard huh?

any non-local news coverage?

They are making a big deal out of it in the news, wish they had better coverage, news stations are pulling thier crews out.

"Lets set fire to something and break something else, so the police will learn we want them to go easier on us."  

These people must have their thinking caps set to low power.

Yeah, it's the cops' fault the badguys do 100+mph.

I'm gonna take one guess.

i'll voice that guess



is this a predominantly black part of the state?

YES it is very black, St Joe and Benton Harbor, the twin cities, St Joe is upper class and BH is not nearly as nice as St Joe. Always problems with the spring parade as the BH'ers always cause problems.

*JUST REPORTED* 3 ppl shot and Lakeland Hospt. on lockdown

[url=http://bentonharbor.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm]Benton Harbor Michigan Demographics[/url]

[b]Race:[/b]
White = 5.48%
Black or African American = 92.4%

[b]Median Age:[/b] 25.4


[LOLabove]


I'm such a racist! [LOL]

Just had a car chase here in LA, Crenshaw District to be exact.  It was a low-speed chase around the same square mile with no attempts by the police to use the Pit maneuveur.  Perp rear ended one car but after about 45 min stopped and prostrated himself like a good boy.  About 15 cops and a chopper in on the chase.

It is now police policy to NOT use the Pit maneuver to stop chases.

And they wonder why Heathkit went out of business.

Its in a better part of town, but its probably hard to find good help to work there.

damn racist, always pointing out facts

i think we need an AR15.com'er to go down there with a video camera and get us some official footage

who's up for an adventure?

What is the Pit Maneuver?

I live about 45 minutes away and this is the first I'm hearing about this...

Geez the Fox guys were dolts.

LAPD doesn't do pits unless absolutely necessary, especially in a neighborhood where innocent bystanders can get hurt.

PIT = Pursuit Intervention Technique = strikng the rear quarterpanel of the pursued vehicle such that  the driver loses control and spins out.  Fox not withstanding doing it in the metro area sending the car careening into other vehicles aint a real good idea.    They could have ended it easily if they didn't worry about injuring folks, breaking police cars and police officers.  WTF they could have shotgunned him as he passed next to any one of several of the cars parked watching the parade.

I thought it was the [b]Pick[/b] Maneuver, and isn't it where the police / chase car attempts to bump / push the rear of the target vehicle to trigger a spin-out?

Im about 15 minutes away, but im too skeered to go around there, ill bet all our city cops are there now, (good time to speed??)

If I had a video camera, I might go down there.

^ No its "PIT"

Pursuit Intervention Technique= PIT, not pick, but it is what you describe.

Maybe it's the fat cops.


ED

Burn, baby, burn. [@:D]

cynic

One of my best friends lived there, and worked in their juvenile detention facility. Poor Bastard! He's in a better place now.....Wyoming.

Why doesn't it ever occure to the "citizens" in these "communitites" to throw rocks threw the windows of and burn down the houses of the criminals amongst them?

[url]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89723,00.html[/url]

Police Fight to Contain Crowd at Site of Motorcyclist's Death

Wednesday, June 18, 2003



BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Hundreds of people rioted for a second straight night Tuesday following the death of a biker who was being chased by police, setting houses and cars ablaze as authorities declared a state of emergency.

Authorities said one person was shot in the shoulder, four houses and five private cars were on fire and several police cars were damaged in this southwestern Michigan city of about 12,000 people where police harassment has long been a source of tension.

More than 100 police officers from the Michigan State Police (search), Benton Harbor (search) and other nearby cities were on the scene in riot gear and preparing to use tear gas on the crowd early Wednesday morning.

At least seven people had been arrested.

"Several hundred people are creating a significant disturbance in the streets," Berrien County Sheriff Lt. William Tucker said.

The violence stemmed from the death early Monday of Terrance Shurn (search), 28, of Benton Harbor, who lost control of his speeding motorcycle while being chased by a police officer.

The death sparked three hours of unrest late Monday and early Tuesday in which police officers were pelted with bricks and bottles.

The initial wave of chaos subsided at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, but more violence broke out Tuesday night.

The vacant two-story building that Shurn crashed into was set on fire, and the burning building was heavily damaged as firefighters were kept at bay by the crowd.

At least one firefighter sustained an injury from the crowd while trying to reach the building, Tucker said. The nature of the injury was unknown and the firefighter was taken to an area hospital.

A woman and a child were also hurt, but there were no further details about their injuries, officials said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved a state of emergency for the city. The declaration will allow for state resources, such as the National Guard, to be brought in if needed.

Some Benton Harbor residents blamed the problems on what they said has been years of police harassment.

"We're tired of it now. We're tired of it," said Antonio Cornelius, 21, who said he happened on the scene about midway through the first disturbance.

During the melee that ended early Tuesday, officers were outnumbered and unable to arrest any of the hundreds of residents involved.

During that disturbance, four Benton Harbor police vehicles suffered extensive damage and three more received minor damage. Two fire department vehicles also were damaged.

The chase started in Berrien County's Royalton Township, where a sheriff's deputy spotted two high-performance motorcycles traveling north toward Benton Harbor at speeds surpassing 100 mph.

The deputy briefly pursued the pair but stopped because of the motorcycles' high speed. A short time later, Benton Township Patrolman Wes Koza witnessed one of the motorcyclists speeding and running stop signs, police said.

Koza pursued the motorcycle into Benton Harbor, where it drove through yards, came back onto the street and ran more stop signs, officials said. The officer was several blocks back when Shurn's motorcycle hit the building.

Shurn's speed in the residential neighborhood approached 70 mph at times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said they did not know why Shurn was fleeing from the officers, although his operator's license had been suspended and officers found a small amount of marijuana on him, state police Lt. Joseph Zangaro said

Just warming up for Juneteenth?

"Some residents blamed the rioting on the YEARS of police harrassment"

Anonio Cornielious(resident) says "we're tired of it!"

He's all of 21[rolleyes]

What a joke!

Have fun sleeping at the YMCA for the next couplea months assholes...........If you havn't already burned it down too. LOL!!!

As noted in previous riot threads...


WHY WON'T SOME GOVERNOR JUST DECLARE MARTIAL LAW ON THE FIRST NIGHT AND SEND THE NG DOWN TO KICK SOME RIOTER A$$???

I mean, the current let-it-burn-down attitude seen in most recent incedents is just promoting the idea that 'Rioting is cool, and it will get us on TV'...

There needs to be some serious pain administered before it becomes 'uncool' to riot...

Hot summer, gun fire, looters, elements of marines everywhere,

Iraq?

No. Somewhere in the good ole USA.

Dem damn mofo cops!!

Who dey think they ahr tryin' stop a wreckless driver? Sheeet!

So wha' if he be speedin' N runnin' stop signs N drivin' through people's yards N shit - he ain't hurtin' nobody!!!

Stop harassing the brotha!!!

NO JUSTICE - NO PEACE!
NO JUSTICE - NO PEACE!

BURN BABY BURN!
BURN BABY BURN!




Hmmmm... suspended license, carrying dope, 100+mph racing on the street.

Uhhh... Nope. I can't figger why he be runnin' from the poh-leese neither!! No watamsayin'? Uh-huh.

Same thing could happen in almost any American city in 24 hours or less. One day it will. And it won't be confined to one city, or one part of the city.




Pull out the firefighters, and send in the gasoline tankers. Hopefully they'll start a firestorm....

is this riot going on right NOW??? I can't find anything on google about this...some links would be nice...

I used to live just north of Benton Harbor and went to college near there.  I had a good friend on the St. Joseph Township Police Department I used to ride with a lot.  BH is a scary place.  Rocks and bottles get thrown at the cops on traffic stops.  We turned down one street one night and met a burning tire in the roadway.  Most of downtown looks like little Lebanon.  I cant remember what year it was in the mid 90's but at one point they had THE NATION'S highest per capita murder rate.

Its a town of gangbangers and crackheads. Its strategically located on the Lake Michigan shoreline along I-94 that connects Chicago to Detroit.  Amazingly, cross the bridge over the St. Joseph river and you're in afluent St. Joseph City.

Interesting place.

Weird. I have some family up in St. Joseph and it's a nice place - lots of rich people with fancy houses, and the downtown area seems like a nice little tourist area. You can see the run down areas of Benton Harbor from there, but I had no idea it was that vastly different.

Not amazing at all. Who do you think they sell drugs to, each other?

Hmmm. And we were just having a discussion about riots this afternoon here werent we?

Thats a stereotype that rarely lasts beyond sociology class.  The rich kids DO NOT drive down to that area to buy their drugs (theres this thing thats been around awhile called a car jacking).  It may eventually work its way up to St. Joseph, but the crack dealers in downtown Benton Harbor are dealing to Benton Harbor area crack-heads.

Yeah, you think the cocane market can be supported on welfare checks?

Are all Michigan members accounted for? We have anyone in danger from this?

So you know people from this town or interacted with them or are you going to keep giving my your pointy headed intelectual cliches on how the world works?

The point I made before you tried proving yours was the massive desparity between the two halves of what are call "The Twin Cities,"  Benton Harbor and St. Joseph.  You literally cross a very short bridge and go from the definition of urban blight to the definition of upper middle class living.  

Your concept of crack heads being the rich kids in the rich neighborhoods defies any explaination.  Im not writing a term paper on who funds the majority of the drug trade at the street level nationwide, Im talking about a specific area of a specific town.

Of course not.  That's why it has to be supplemented by thievery.

Paging: Jesse and Al.
Jesse and Al please report to Benton Harbor MI.

Hmm, GE Minigun and rubber bullets might have a positive effect on crowd control.

Why rubber??[flame]

I live about an hour from there; the State Police post in my town was called in.

Am-O-Tramp, you beat me to it - if anyone is interested in further details, see [url=http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=191795&w=myTopicPop] my post[/url], which I posted before catching this one.

Welfare checks, crazy checks, SSI checks and criminality plus [red]being satisfied with living like human shit[/red] leaves plenty of money for drugs.

I am sure some of it goes across the river but remember, crack is still the blacks' drug of choice.

You would be amazed at how the cocaine market has changed. Very little powder being sold compared to rock. White dopers are all turning to meth, it is cheaper, they can make the shit and the high last longer.

Remember when the only reason Benton Harbor was on the map was because of Heath Kits?  I guess them days are gone.

'Chairman Jeff' Cooper used to say that the way to stop a riot is to put someone on a building with a surpressed 22 rifle and systematicaly shoot the ringleaders.  

The Israelies use Ruger 10/22s to shoot rioters in the nuts.