Ferguson, USA ‘looks like Iraq’

This video from Missouri, USA says about itself:

“They invaded Ferguson like they invaded Iraq”

Ferguson residents say police crackdown turns city into war zone

18 August 2014

After Monday’s deployment of the National Guard to Ferguson by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon following more than a week of protests, police tightened down on protestors’ right to peaceable assembly. In this video, residents speak about the connection between the militarization of society and the attack on democratic rights.

Police launched several rounds of tear gas and what appeared to be crowd-control percussion devices late Monday night to clear the streets of the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri after a tense half-hour confrontation between several hundred protesters and a wall of law enforcement officers 60 wide and five deep: here.

David Usborne arrived in Ferguson, Missouri to be greeted by a scene more redolent of Gaza and Afghanistan: here.

Are U.S. police departments responding to a real threat with their ramped-up militarization? No, of course not: here.

The events in Ferguson, Missouri over the past ten days mark a political turning point for the entire country. The immense scale of social inequality, the ruthlessness of the financial aristocracy, the disintegration of American democracy—all have been exposed in the execution-style police killing of unarmed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown and the vicious crackdown on protests that erupted in response: here.

An independent autopsy of Michael Brown, performed Sunday, provides graphic evidence that the 18-year-old unarmed youth was shot execution-style by Ferguson policeman Darren Wilson: here.

At least three journalists were arrested while trying to cover the demonstrations, allegedly for failing to follow police instructions to leave. The fresh clashes came the day after Mr Brown’s family released preliminary results of a private autopsy into his death. Dr Michael Baden said that there “weren’t signs of a struggle” on Mr Brown’s body and that he appeared to have been shot six times while trying to surrender to officer Darren Wilson: here.

Police Officer Threatens To Shoot Reporter Live-Streaming Protests In Ferguson: here.

The streets of #Ferguson are filled with the gut-wrenching reminders of a young life ended by police: here.

Workers and youth across US speak on police murder of Michael Brown: here.

Protester in Ferguson with sign: Humbly standing in for Nelson Mandela, photo by EPA

“Strict new protest rules and the presence of the National Guard in Ferguson didn’t prevent fresh clashes with police on Monday night, the ninth night of unrest since unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer on Aug. 9.” Two men were shot, two fires were started, and 31 people were arrested last night, including a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. Attorney General Eric Holder is heading to St. Louis tomorrow to oversee the case. The first day of school has been postponed to next week for all schools in the Ferguson-Florissant district. And lawmakers are already evaluating the Pentagon program that has resulted in the dispersion of military gear to police precincts across the country. [HuffPost]

Weapons fired in Ferguson come from companies supplying Israel, Bahrain and Egypt: here.

Parents with children killed by police were among those who attended a rally in front of New York City police headquarters on Monday to demand justice in the murder of Michael Brown and similar cases: here.

A 23-year-old African-American man was shot and killed by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers midday on Tuesday, less than four miles from the protests in Ferguson: here.