Just a terminology quibble although it is important - the standard required for a detainment aka 'Terry stop' is not 'probable cause' that a crime has been/is being/is about to be committed by the person being detained, but rather 'reasonable, articulable suspicion'.

The Supremes have held that state laws requiring detained persons to identify themselves (nb not 'provide ID', but 'identify themselves') when detained by police under the doctrine of the 'Terry stop' are not unconstitutional, and so you are required to comply if that is the law in your state.

'Reasonable suspicion' is sufficient grounds for a LEO to detain you, obtain identification from you if that is the law in your state, and pat you down for weapons. 'Reasonable suspicion' must be based in specific, articulable facts and reasonable, logical inferences (ie not just a hunch) and must be specifically associated with the detained individual (ie you can't detain everybody driving West because the wanted person was driving West.) But it is a significantly-lower standard of justification than 'probable cause'.

If you refuse to cooperate with a LEO who performs a lawful 'Terry stop', as described, you should indeed expect trouble.

However, regardless of circumstances, you are not ever legally required to answer any LEO's questions about anything at all (beyond identification in those states that require it).

llater,

llamas

Most people don't riot and loot.

Most people are out protesting, and this makes noise and confusion. Therefor, folks who are inclined to thieving take advantage of this to riot and loot.

Some borderline people who wouldn't normally be thieves but aren't the most honest either get swept up in the excitement and adrenaline and start rioting and looting too.

But most people don't.

Sorry, that should read "many people are out protesting" not "most people"

I heard Michael Brown's cousin on TV last night. His assessment of the aftermath was accurate. He called those who are rioting and looting "opportunists" who were just looking for an excuse. He also said he hopes the police can protect the innocent people and businesses.

He also said that, while he thinks Wilson should have been indicted, he also added that he attributes his actions to anger, saying he isn't convinced it was racism.

His clip was with Shepard Smith

As an amateur psychologist, I suggest these people riot because they have no investment in the community at all. Program after program appear, design to give them things as "a leg up", and these teach that there is no link between effort and reward.
Not only do you have nothing to lose if you did not earn it, the people around you cannot possibly have anything to lose because they did not earn anything either.

This deserves a fresher posting.

Some people aren't happy unless they are unhappy. Some cultures seem to produce a lot more of such people than other cultures do. There, I said it.

The sad thing is: The Ferguson rioters have, just across the river from them, a shining example of the endpoint of their kind of thinking. East St. Louis is a hellhole that should not exist in the United States or anywhere else in Western civilization. Apparently they weren't happy with one East St. Louis in their area, so now they want another one. So that they'll have yet anothe thing to be unhappy about, and by being unhappy they will then be very pleased with themselves. Because they "made a difference". You bet they did.

99% of all cop shootings can be avoided with following two simple rules:
-Never physically attack a cop
-Always obey the directives a cop gives you.

The latter is pretty simple. " Get off the street"
"Get out of the car and put your hands on the roof"

The cop may be a jerk, but at least you will live.
And if the cop is wrong, well that's what courts are for.

This kind of behavior is what both justifies and compels police to profile.

@NicoleK: Innocent people know better than to go out on the street when others riot and loot. Even if you yourself don't steal, you're both enabling the bad guys and needlessly putting yourself in the line of fire, and I have very little sympathy if you get hurt doing it.

People defending their own property are a different matter. If I owned one of the stores that were looted, I'd be inside it and armed to the teeth, and I'd shoot to kill anyone who comes in -- no questions asked.

THAT'S the justice that the people of Ferguson deserve.

99% of all cop shootings can be avoided with following two simple rules:

Unfortunately more than 1% of police shooting involve the cops shooting people in the back without warning, so your suggestions are in error

Radwaste, do you think your theory also applies to post sports win white middle class riots or are there other forces at work?

Of course there are other forces at work. To suggest otherwise is to say that there is only one reason to riot.

Do you have an example?

I cannot recall businesses and cars being burned because somebody who was white won a game. Maybe soccer?

Black on white crime – even black officers shooting white people - does not produce riots. It's not even newsworthy, because somehow, some races cannot be responsible for their own actions.

Question for someone who knows more about medicine than I do... The autopsy report said that Brown may have smoked so much pot that he became hallucinatory. Now, I have never seen this happen, and there are millions of people who smoke pot regularly without going into hallucinations. So the question is: how much pot do you have to smoke to have that happen? I'm guessing it's more than a couple of joints over 2 hours or so.

Im thinking everytime the red sox beat the yankees boston goes nuts flipping over cars.

How to start a riot.

So the question is: how much pot do you have to smoke to have that happen? I'm guessing it's more than a couple of joints over 2 hours or so.

Dave, I smoked pot - not frequently but fairly consistently -- from my early twenties to around 51 and I never experienced any hallucinations. Some intense feelings of paranoia on occasion, but never hallucinations. I'm not saying it can't, or doesn't happen...just that it never happened to me. I know that pot today is a lot stronger. If Brown did become hallucinatory, maybe he smoked some real powerful stuff or stuff that had a "bonus" substance in it.

99% of all cop shootings can be avoided with following two simple rules:
-Never physically attack a cop

I hadn't known until just recently that Brown had grabbed for Wilson's gun while Wilson was in his car. Numerous eyewitnesses apparently corroborate Wilson's recounting of a struggle with Brown at the window of his car while he was sitting in it. Brown certainly didn't deserve to be killed if, subsequent to that struggle, he wasn't posing any immediate threat to Wilson but someone who grabs for a cop's gun is a thug, not some sweet little innocent kid (as, it seems to me, he's mostly been portrayed in the media.)