As the violence escalates at the Ferguson protests which have entered their sixth day, takes a look at the brutal scenes of heavily militarized security forces using excessive force to disperse crowds rallying against police killing an unarmed 18yo.
The initially peaceful protests were prompted by the police shooting an unarmed teenager on Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri. It is not clear what prompted the shooting nor have the police yet revealed the name of the officer who shot Brown. Spreading rumors and lack of official information have fueled the protests on the streets of the suburb.
Police officers watch as demonstrators protest the death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 12, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
The protests escalated due to excessive force the police used to disperse the protesters. On Wednesday the police announced on a speakerphone at the scene that it was no longer a peaceful protest and urged the people to vacate the location.
Riot police stand guard as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 13, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
As many protesters stayed the security forces used teargas canisters and began advancing at the crowd.
Police officers keep watch while demonstrators (not pictured) protest the death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 12, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
The protesters chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “we are peaceful” as the police line pushed forward dispersing the crowd. According to witnesses Brown had raised his arms to police to show that he was unarmed before being killed.
Demonstrators stand in the street in Ferguson, Missouri August 11, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
Video footage and photos show dense clouds of gas the security forces used against the protesters on Wednesday night.
READ MORE: ‘No longer peaceful assembly’: Ferguson SWAT fire tear gas, rubber bullets
A protester throws back a smoke bomb while clashing with police in Ferguson, Missouri August 13, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
The Ferguson demonstrators faced heavily armed forces who at times trained weapons on them from armored trucks.
“A few people have pointed it out, but our ROE regarding who we could point weapons at in Afghanistan was more restrictive than cops in MO,” noted US Marine Logistics Officer Jeff Clement on his Twitter account.
“I don’t know how it was in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in Bosnia we had less firepower while on patrol than the cops in Ferguson,” commented Retired Navy Chief Dan Bramos on his Twitter.
A police officer holds his riot gun while demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 13, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
AP reported the police offensive was a response to the Molotov cocktails thrown at them.
Many people were detained, including journalists Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post.
The Al Jazeera-America crew was also attacked and tear-gassed by security forces as they tried to film the protest.
Huffington Post reported that according to Reilly, who previously reported from the notorious Guantanamo Bay military facility, “police resembled soldiers more than officers.”
Riot police stop a vehicle as they clear a street of demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri August 13, 2014.(Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
On Thursday, President Barack Obama condemned police treatment of journalists covering the protests in Ferguson during a speech in Edgartown, Massachusetts.
Demonstrators march in the street while protesting the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 12, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the arrest of US journalists while they were covering riots saying it was unacceptable.
“Summarily rounding up journalists while they are doing their jobs sends a dangerous precedent and must never be condoned,” said an OSCE representative for freedom of mass media Dunja Mijatovic on Thursday.
Demonstrators march in the street while protesting the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 12, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon issued a statement Wednesday saying the conflict “does not represent who we are” urging the police to “keep the peace, while safeguarding rights of citizens and the press.”
Demonstrators hold signs as they protest the death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 12, 2014. (Reuters / Mario Anzuoni)
If Ferguson photos of a ruthless, white, militarized police force against blacks looks like Israeli’s heavy handed racial war against Gaza Palestinians, there’s good reason. The Israeli Defense Force war crime-type tactics have stretched into the besieged Ferguson after the small Missouri town’s Police Chief Timothy Fitch trained in “counter-terrorism” with the IDF in Israel.
“We are Gaza now!” someone in the crowd Wednesday night was heard chanting, as The IDF was mobilizing forces along the border with Gaza ahead of the expiration of a three-day cease-fire.
Don’t Shoot!: Howard University Students with Hands Up
Now we have a hidden answer to Ms. Bertzikis’ question.
According to investigative journalist Max Blumenthal, the proper term for this “ruthless suppression of dissent” should be “Israelification.”
On March 25, 2011, the St. Police Department released the following media statement:
According to journalist Max Blumenthal, the United States militarized police began after September 11, when American law enforcement officers began to training in Israel for counter-terrorism expertise, with all expenses paid.
In response to 9/11, the Israel Lobby “provid[ed] thousands of top cops with all-expenses paid trips to Israel and stateside training sessions with Israeli military and intelligence officials.”
Blumenthal reported about the US police IDF training:
“Having been schooled in Israeli tactics perfected during a 63 year experience of controlling, dispossessing, and occupying an indigenous population, local police forces have adapted them to monitor Muslim and immigrant neighborhoods in US cities.
“Meanwhile, former Israeli military officers have been hired to spearhead security operations at American airports and suburban shopping malls, leading to a wave of disturbing incidents of racial profiling, intimidation, and FBI interrogations of innocent, unsuspecting people. The New York Police Department’s disclosure that it deployed ‘counter-terror’ measures against Occupy protesters encamped in downtown Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park is just the latest example of the so-called War on Terror creeping into every day life. Revelations like these have raised serious questions about the extent to which Israeli-inspired tactics are being used to suppress the Occupy movement.”
Raw Story reports on the IDF training of American police officers
Many of these trips and training sessions were arranged by JINSA, the stridently pro-Israel organization whose advisors have included such prominent Neocons as Douglas Feith and Richard Perle.
The Anti-Defamation League has also provided Israeli-run training senssions to over 700 police officers through its course on Extremist and Terroist Threats and claims to have provided a background in Israeli perspectives to another 45,000 through its Law Enforcement and Society program, which is required training for all new FBI agents.
So far the story (subject to change at any second) is: A robber of a store gets killed. The anti-law and order residents of the city start a violent insurrection by looting stores and throwing firebombs, protesting that the robber was killed. Certainly looks like effective force was not used. Had it been used the matter would not have deteriorated. Obviously the police there do need military level equipment to control the hordes in Ferguson, another place to avoid. Don’t be sad when the other local stores move out.
Just shoot all these protestors and be done. All over the world its the same problem and the same black race causing the problems! Eugenics, the only hope and solution for the future. Black races are like locusts that devour and destroy, leaving nothing behind, then they move on to the next field! We are seeing our country South Africa destroyed by these locusts and whites brutally killed by these savages, don’t let America go down the same path!