Category: Uncategorized

This Is The Terrifying Result Of The Militarization Of Police

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This Is The Terrifying Result Of The Militarization Of Police

Their uniform would be mistaken for a soldier’s if it weren’t for their “Police” patches.

…When did this become OK? When did “protect and serve” turn into “us versus them”?

“Why do these cops need MARPAT camo pants again,” I asked on Twitter this morning. One of the most interesting responses came from a follower who says he served in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division: “We rolled lighter than that in an actual warzone.”

Let’s be clear: This is not a war zone — even if the FAA banned flights under 3,000 feet.

…If there’s one thing I learned in Afghanistan, it’s this: You can’t win a person’s heart and mind when you are pointing a rifle at his or her chest.

Sigh…

 

 

Obama weighs in on Ferguson, likely satisfying no one

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Obama weighs in on Ferguson, likely satisfying no one.

…One of the main reasons police forces have become so militarized is that the federal government has been giving them all manner of military equipment — not just guns, but even things like armored vehicles built for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to this recent ACLU report, an estimated 500 local police departments have even been given MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, which are designed to resist armor-piercing roadside bombs. Perhaps the madness of an ill-trained but overly-equipped police force in Ferguson confronting American citizens with that kind of equipment should prompt a reexamination of the transfer of all that military equipment. That’s something members of Congress can do something about, so we ought to press them to see if they plan to.

hmmmm.

Ferguson, Mo., Is Destroying Public Faith in Government

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Ferguson, Mo., Is Destroying Public Faith in Government

Well to be fair, this is how modern American police forces operate. We shouldn’t have any faith in them to protect anyone but themselves.

The astonishing absence of oversight from government officials as the local police, armed to the teeth, have effectively laid siege to local protesters, shooting them with rubber bullets and tear gas, arresting reporters, and inflaming the situation in a way that seems likely to lead to more violence.

What I Saw in Ferguson

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What I Saw in Ferguson

Inside of a week, two black teen-agers have been shot by police and, in both instances, the bureaucratic default setting has favored law enforcement, fuelling a perception that the department is either inept or beholden to a certain nonchalance about the possibility of police brutality.

…When I spoke to Umana and Malik Ahmed, the C.E.O. of Better Family Life, they acknowledged that the anonymity of the officer may have something to do with the death threats, but said that it also would make it easier for the department to avoid scrutiny until an official narrative has been crafted. “Nobody out here believes that young man actually went for the officer’s gun,” Ahmed told me.

Although the following scenes sound like they are describing some place we are at with, this is the United States. Well, perhaps a better way to say it is that this is the United States where our domestic military is at war with the citizens they gold dominion over.

 

…Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the armored vehicles rolled into place just beyond the charred shell of the QuikTrip gas station that was burned on the first night of protests. Police, some outfitted in riot gear, others in military fatigues, barricaded the streets. At least one of them draped a black bandana over his face; others covered their badges.

…Police stopped anyone but residents from entering, but the tear-gas also prevented the people who were already there from getting out. Umana invited me into his home; outside, clusters of protesters and journalists wandered the side streets, hemmed in for hours. One homeowner walked out of his house to find a spent flash grenade on his lawn. An armored truck rolled down the street, a flume of tear gas issuing from the back.