Looting and Rioting Overnight in Oakland

After an initially peaceful response to the verdict in the BART shooting, the idiots who are desperate for free sneakers or whatever else they can steal in the name of "justice" started stirring things up in Oakland:

A white former transit police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man last year in Oakland, California, sparking a wave of looting and destruction in the city on Thursday.

The verdict prompted a peaceful protest by up to 1,000 people in downtown Oakland, which gave way after nightfall to some people looting stores, smashing car windows, throwing powerful fireworks at police and lighting fires in trash cans.

The police, numbering in the hundreds, made more than 50 arrests, but Oakland police expected that figure could double.

"This city is not the wild, wild West," Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts told a televised news conference. "This city will not tolerate this activity."

They always go for the tennis shoes.

Based on the evidence, something the looters care little about, involuntary manslaughter was the only just verdict the jurors could have come up with. The people who were screaming that Oscar Grant was "murdered" are simply wrong. There's a legal definition of "murder" and the facts of this case didn't support it. There was an awful lot of ignorance demonstrated on TV last night by the anti-police activists I saw interviewed.

I'll guarantee you that most of the people causing problems don't give a rat's behind about Oscar Grant. This was just an opportunity to score some free stuff.  Despite the long build-up to this and all the media reports that suggested a big outbreak of rioting in the city, I think this whole thing will die down rather quickly.  The cops seemed to be prepared and the level of outrage such as was seen after the Rodney King verdict just isn't there.  And after all, once all the good shoe stores have been hit, what's the use?