The Amateur Message Boards of the World Famous VoyeurWeb

Yesterday Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said that the Ferguson Police Department is involved in an investigation into whether Head incited a riot. St. Louis County will apparently make all final decisions about what to do Presumably what is under investigation is Head’s statements quoted above. Of course, following those remarks, riots and looting broke out in Ferguson. Is Head guilty of a crime?

From what I can tell of Missouri law, the relevant statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. 574.0505, forbids rioting as follows:

1. A person commits the crime of rioting if he knowingly assembles with six or more other persons and agrees with such persons to violate any of the criminal laws of this state or of the United States with force or violence, and thereafter, while still so assembled, does violate any of said laws with force or violence.

Proof of intent doesn’t get any clearer than a videotape of a suspect proclaiming, “I’m going to start a riot….” Those words were from the lips of Louis Head, uttered before he climbed on a car and shouted, " Burn this motherfucker down! “Burn this bitch down,” would seem to indicate the need for him to be prosecuted...........forget about excusing Head as simply blowing off steam, reacting emotionally and spontaneously. He indicated criminal intent. If he is let off without being prosecuted it will open the door for riots across America.