Ferguson, Missouri has become a war zone as tensions continue to flare between police protesters.
Of course, if it is a war, it’s certainly one-sided as the police armed with assault weapons and armored vehicles have brought the brunt of their force to bear on journalists and peaceful protesters.
Indeed, both activists and reporters, alike, have been assailed with tear gas, rubber bullets and physical violence – a disturbing development in a country where the constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly and free press.
One of the more iconic photographs to emerge so far is this one, showing a clearly unarmed civilian being rushed by heavily armed riot police.
From this angle you can see the excessive amount of manpower, and firepower, being used to arrest and subdue protesters, simply for exercising their First Amendment rights.
This isn’t a one-off trend, or special occasion either. Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Police armaments have grown more sophisticated and their tactics more oppressive.
Equipment once reserved for foreign wars is being used by police departments right here at home.
The Department of Homeland Security has given about $34 billion to police departments to buy military-grade equipment since 9/11.
A recent New York Times article by Matt Apuzzo reported that in the Obama era, “police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.”
Snipers? Is this Ferguson or the Donetsk People’s Republic of the Ukraine?
Of course, one benefit of the modern age is that first-hand accounts of the situation are being documented, reported, and shared on social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Here’s one user showing off a rubber bullet wound…
It’s not just protesters, either. Members of the press that have been targets, as well.
These photos show an Al-Jazeera film crew being bombarded with tear gas before police rush in to disassemble their equipment.
Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly says he was working in a local McDonald’s with other journalists when police dressed in SWAT gear came in and threw them out.
No doubt, it’s the police, not the protesters, that pose the biggest threat to journalists in the area.
Even Missouri state senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal was tear-gassed while standing along-side with protesters Monday night.
“We were in that neighborhood and we were tear-gassed,” she said. “I could not breathe, I could not speak, I could not focus, I could not think because I thought that I were going to die because we were shot at and tear gas was constantly thrown at us.”
