Joan Walsh: Nightmare in Ferguson: Cops become a brutal occupying force

[cal04]

Journalists are arrested, teargassed as protesters are abused for another night. Where is the political leadership?
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/14/nightmare_in_ferguson_cops_become_a_brutal_occupying_force/

The news and images from the conflict between a stunningly militarized police force and peaceful community protesters in Ferguson, Mo. were horrifying Wednesday night, even before reporters from the Washington Post and Huffington Post were arrested, and MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee was tear gassed and terrorized.

Let’s be clear: Michael Brown’s killing remains the horror here, but the cops’ continued brutality, against peaceful protesters and reporters, has been appalling. Every news anchor should broadcast from Ferguson on Thursday.

Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of Huffington Post were arrested after police tried to clear out a McDonalds in which they were working. MSNBC.com’s Trymaine Lee, who has been doing crucial reporting from Ferguson (as he has from so many scenes of violence and police-community conflict this year) was choking on tear gas, and could barely speak, as he tried to narrate the chaos on MSNBC’s “Last Word” Wednesday night. Lee said cops began lobbing tear gas and flash grenades within only 15 seconds of warning the crowd.


(snip)
Michael Brown’s killing was awful enough, but the Ferguson police department’s crude and brutal crackdown on protest reminds us that the so-called war on terror is now terrorizing innocent people — in this country too.




Mentioned in Joan's article
Claire McCaskill
Today & tonight dozens of calls including head of civil rights division at DOJ. Tomorrow call with Atty Gen Eric Holder.#MikeBrown
https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/499728185618345984

[neverforget]

1. All that cool surplus military gear needs to get used ya know

[bbgrunt]

9. but only on people considered

the "enemy" like minority communities, occupy protests, war protestors, and Katrina victims.......not "patriots".

[JEB]

11. That gear is like the proverbial first fix for free.

Now they'll need to purchase a new batch of gas and rubber bullets etc. Hell uv a business model.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, cal.

[0rganism]

3. live video stream

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9035483/events/3271930
some very brave people there

[L0oniX]

4. g0d bless ammeddiccahhhh

[sabrina 1]

5. The mask came off during the OWS protests when they did the same thing. We learned how they train

for this. They are NOT working for the people, this is obvious. The UN Rappateur for Human Rights was compelled to respond to the brutality against OWS by asking the Government to intervene on behalf of the people who were UNARMED and were being brutally beaten.

It will take MILLIONS in the streets to stop this.

It is most unlikely that there will be a response from the Government. We found out later that far from being interested in protecting the people from OWS, the attacks by the militarized police forces were coordinated at a Federal Level.

Shameful what this country is doing. It is regressing rather than progressing.

[The Traveler]

6. Thanks for pointing that out

You are exactly correct.

Trav

[kwolf68]

7. The whole world is watching

makes you think when we 'bring democracy" or 'wage war for peace', those we are "helping" will give us a friendly dish of FU.

[Moostache]

8. Its time to expand the protests.

The Ferguson police department is a terrorist organization that I fear 1,000X more than Al Queda or ISIS or Hamas.

They either need to be reigned in and disciplined severely for the over-reaction and violence they have perpetrated over the last 96 hours since shooting down an unarmed citizen in cold-blood through tonight's assault on the Constitution and the liberty of American citizens...or we need to shut down St. Louis first, the mid-west next and the whole damn country if the first two don't work.

We need massive civil disobedience to highlight that the military police do NOT have the consent of the people to rule this land....they are SERVANTS of the law, not MAKERS of their own.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Finally, our own home-grown jackbooted thugs.

Just what the Right has been working for for the last five decades.

[jwirr]

12. Anyone know if Chris Hayes is still going to do his show live from Ferguson tonight?

[cal04]

13. Yes, he's in STL

Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes · 40m
Just landed in STL. We'll be live from Ferguson tonight.

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes

[jwirr]

14. Good I am going to tape it. Thank you.