Not confirmed yet by the Governor’s office. But St. Louis Rep. William Clay says the Governor told him he plans to remove the St. Louis County police from duty in Ferguson when he arrives in St. Louis.
Here’s another point I keep wondering about on the “Hollywoodization” front. Why are a lot of police officers wearing jungle camouflage? Is there more jungle or forest terrain in Ferguson than I realize? It’s not even a standard military uniform. Obviously in Iraq the beige/brown desert camouflage is the standard, for obvious reasons. But it goes without saying that jungle camouflage serve no purpose in an urban setting than to signal a highly militant response to whatever citizens are doing.
So did the Ferguson PD get military surplus gear from that Pentagon program which has handed out various heavily armored ambush protection vehicles to local police departments around the country? Well, indeed they did!
As the situation in Ferguson has escalated, we and others have been talking more and more about the militarization of police work in the US – something we’re seeing to a wild degree in Ferguson but is actually pervasive across the United States. We have several pieces in the works you’ll probably see over the course of the day delving into various aspects of that part of the story. But there’s one part of this, one caveat, worth noting. A substantial amount of what we’re seeing might be better termed the “Hollywoodization” rather than the “militarization” of police work.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has just released a statement on the escalating events in Ferguson. Statement after the jump …
Harrowing images tonight out of Ferguson, Missouri. Incendiary and explosive devices deployed by police. Images after the jump.
As the situation in Ferguson has unfolded over recent days, one question I keep having is, is there a way the aftermath of this shooting could be handled anymore poorly? Zero transparency, over-the-top escalation. And is this really all being left in the hands of this small, close to all white police department which is at best deeply compromised by the original shooting of the unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown?
This editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (the home town newspaper I remember from when i was a little kid) has a good run down of facts as well as questions about just who is in charge and who should be. They come down, I think rightly, on saying that the Governor of the state, Jay Nixon, has to step in and take some charge of the situation – both in terms of deescalating the situation and in organizational a credible investigation into all aspects of what happened. It’s a good, important piece. Take a look.
“I had an affair on August 1st and four days later I left my husband. I wanted to go public with the information, just because it was heavy on my conscience and I am strong for honesty and integrity … ” Meet Gia Arnold, 24-year-old Republican state senate candidate from New York.
There are conflicting reports out of eastern Ukraine about whether Igor Strelkov (a nom de guerre), the guy who got caught boasting about shooting down that Malaysian jet before they realized it was a civilian jet, was severely wounded in fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Robert Draper defends his article on America’s “libertarian moment.”