BREAKING: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon orders National Guard to Ferguson to “help restore peace and order”
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 18, 2014
Livestream here
Ferguson teenager Michael Brown felled by bullet to head, autopsy suggests (Guardian)
Meanwhile…
John Oliver on ‘Last Week Tonight’ examines Ferguson and the militiarisation of the police.
Ferguson, Missouri last night
What transpired in the streets appeared to be a kind of municipal version of shock and awe; the first wave of flash grenades and tear gas had played as a prelude to the appearance of an unusually large armored vehicle, carrying a military-style rifle mounted on a tripod. The message of all of this was something beyond the mere maintenance of law and order: it’s difficult to imagine how armored officers with what looked like a mobile military sniper’s nest could quell the anxieties of a community outraged by allegations regarding the excessive use of force. It revealed itself as a raw matter of public intimidation.
What I Saw In Ferguson (Jelani Cobb, New Yorker)
Earlier: American Rage
https://vine.co/v/MYD6EYeuObu
Protestors condemning the killing of black 18-year-old Michael Brown were confronted by armed police in riot and military gear last night in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Washington Post condemned the detention of its journalist, Wesley Lowery, as “illegal” and an “assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news”. The Huffington Post attacked the arrest of its reporter, Ryan J Reilly, as “militant aggression”. Reilly said that the “police resembled soldiers more than officers”.
Ferguson police arrest reporters amid rage over Michael Brown shooting (Guardian)
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