Overnight in Ferguson

I did a shorter version of this yesterday morning on Twitter and received a ridiculous number of retweets, so there’s obviously an appetite for “highlights” from the overnight feeds on Ferguson.

Last night, despite curfew having been lifted, police in Ferguson once again drove their armored trucks into residential neighborhoods and shot teargas into the area. Once again, media were gassed. Once again, media were arrested, though that had also been happening during the day. No media arrests I’m aware of have resulted in charges, just detainment.

I’m not in a position to find a link at the moment, but if you have the stomach, find Elon James White’s audio (with poor video) of his crew’s experience. They were not the only news crew that reported being fired upon. White also reported that the police appeared to be firing at anyone they saw on the streets.

The rationale given for the start of tear gas were one again shots fired and Molotov cocktails. Police reported two people shot, one of whom I’ve seen confirmed independently. Among the people the police arrested, they claimed—at a very early press conference—to have confiscated two guns and one Molotov cocktail. The Molotov is the target of much scorn, as it was improperly made, unlighted, and in a Colt 45 bottle. Locals told one reporter that Colt 45, despite the stereotypes, couldn’t be obtained locally.

There were agitators confirmed in Ferguson, including members of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The RCP claims that only revolution can fix societal problems, but they haven’t started one in the own communities. This is also the group behind Stop Patriarchy, a pro-abortion group that has been co-opting the idea of “freedom rides” for an abortion tour that appears to be mostly raising funds to film themselves talking about abortion. The RCP agitators were confronted by local black leaders.

Amnesty International observers had been ordered out of the area. At least one report said guns were pointed during the time they were ordered out, but documentation of that had not turned up by the time the Amnesty Twitter list stopped operating for the night.

The county police held a prayer circle before the evening’s activities, and a sectarian prayer was held during the press conference. The police were conspicuously working through the evening and, presumably, into the night, with no badges or other identifying insignia.

Darren Wilson is still at large. No one has so much as announced plans to find him or take him into custody.

 

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Overnight in Ferguson
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6 thoughts on “Overnight in Ferguson

  1. 4

    I don’t understand this no badge no ID thing the police are doing? It seems to be a new thing (is it even new). I understand during the G20 here in Toronto they did it as well and I didn’t understand how they were allowed to do that then either. It seems to me, then why should I even listen to you?

  2. 5

    To go along with what Julie says above, it’s always been a mantra among people I know that no badge, no ID = no uniform, no cop. Of course, I doubt that’d make much difference even to the extent that maybe true.

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