Militarization

Who Profits From Militarized Police?

August 23, 2014 Alex Kane, www.alternet.org Educate! Ferguson, Militarization, Police, Wars and Militarism

The tear-gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs fired in Ferguson, Missouri have fed outrage over police militarization in the U.S. In response to the shocking images, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said, “We need to de-militarize this situation.” Journalists reporting live on the demonstrations sparked by the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown expressed befuddlement as to why the police needed high-caliber weapons better suited for war zones than protests in an American city. But one group of people is decidedly happy about the militarized response in Ferguson: those who work in the weapons industry. The array of police forces--the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the St. Louis county and city police and local Ferguson officers--that descended on the largely black Missouri city have used the products these corporations are selling in abundance. Tear gas, rubber bullets, smoke bombs, stun grenades, armored personnel carriers, sound cannons and high-caliber rifles have all been deployed to quell the unrest, though they have contributed to anger over police tactics.

Ferguson Violence Exposes America’s Political Decay

August 22, 2014 Thomas Adams, www.theage.com Educate! Ferguson, Housing, Militarization, Police, Violence

For anyone with a consciousness of American history, the events of the last week and a half in Ferguson, Missouri, a predominately African-American suburb outside of St. Louis, should seem all too familiar. A police officer murders an unarmed black man. As days go by and more information on the shooting is released, residents take to the streets to protest. Their protests are met with force utterly disproportionate to a free society. In response, the protests turn sporadically violent themselves, producing and even more violent response on the part of authorities. Harlem, 1943; Philadelphia and Rochester, 1964; Watts (Los Angeles), 1965; Newark, 1967; Camden, 1971; Tampa, 1987 and 1989; Washington, D.C., 1991; Los Angeles, 1992; Cincinnati, 2001; Benton Harbor (Southwest Michigan), 2003; Brooklyn, 2013 - all these incidents, and many others, contain the basic contours of the situation in Ferguson. By now many in the United States and across the world have weighed in on the underlying causes of the escalating violence in Ferguson. Analysts have rightly pointed out the massive build-up in American police militarisation, the depths of poverty that are endemic to many American neighbourhoods, a broad culture that equates young African-American men with criminality, a failed war on drugs that has led to the incarceration of generations of the American poor and the corresponding transformation of much of urban America into a police state.

Ferguson Deploys New Protest Control Tactics

August 21, 2014 Eric Blair, www.activistpost.com Educate! Journalism, Militarization, Police, Protest, Surveillance

It seems like the police state is using protests in Ferguson as a testing ground for all of their crowd-control weapons. Many are obvious like the curfew enforced by platoons of soldiers, armored tanks mounted by snipers, stun, tear and smoke grenades, no-fly zone, sound cannons, and designated free speech zones and media zones (apparently they're different now). However, some weapons are less obvious like technology to kill livestream feeds during questionable police activity. And that's precisely what happened last night according to Ferguson's most prolific livestreamer Argus Radio. The GIF above, taken from the final seconds of Argus Radio feed from last night, shows the moment the police bum rush the crowd and create mass panic in an attempt to catch someone. Moments later the livestream feed was cut and registered a network error, according to Argus Radio. The Argus livestream has been filming the protests non-stop for the last week manned by volunteer University of Missouri post-grad student Mustafa Hussein.

Could Civil Rights Movement Have Happened With Militarized Police?

August 21, 2014 Carl Gibson, www.occupy.com Strategize! Civil Rights, Militarization, Movement, Police

Would Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic marches to end segregation and grant voting rights to Black Americans have happened at all if Bull Connor’s police owned the same military equipment that the Ferguson Police Department has today? Can peacefully exercising First Amendment rights create any lasting change if police have the weaponry – and, apparently, the legal authority – to immediately and violently disperse crowds? Bull Connor became legendary as the Birmingham public safety commissioner who ordered police dogs and fire hoses to be used on peaceful civil rights protesters in 1960s Alabama. Birmingham became known as “Bombingham” after multiple racially-motivated bombingsaimed at intimidating the city’s black residents rocked the city, from the North Smithfield neighborhood to the notorious 6th Avenue Baptist Church bombing. In response, Dr. King declared “Project C (Confrontation)” on the Birmingham police, both to expose Connor’s heavy-handed law enforcement approach and to fill the jails with civil rights protesters willing to throw themselves at the grinding machine of the nation’s most racist police department.

Data On Transfer Of Military Gear To Police

August 20, 2014 David Leonhardt, www.nytimes.com Educate! Data, Militarization, Police

Since President Obama took office, the Pentagon has transferred to police departments tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft. In May, The New York Times requested and received from the Pentagon its database of transfers since 2006. The data underpinned an article in June and helped inform coverage of the police response this month in Ferguson, Mo., after an officer shot Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager. The Times is now posting the raw data to GitHub here. With this data, which is being posted as it was received, people can see what gear is being used in their communities. The equipment is as varied as guns, computers and socks. The Pentagon-to-police transfer program is not new. Congress created it during the drug war, as a way to increase police firepower in the fight against drug gangs. But since 9/11, as the Pentagon geared up to fight two wars, then drew down as those wars ended, the amount of available military surplus has ballooned. Now, after a week of confrontation between protesters in Ferguson and heavily armed police, members of Congress are criticizing the trickle down of military gear.

Amnesty International Comes To Ferguson

August 20, 2014 Amnesty International, www.amnestyusa.org Organize! Ferguson, Human Rights, Militarization, Police, Protest

On August 9, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old, was shot dead by a six-year veteran of the Ferguson police force. The next day, the community organized protests condemning the actions of the police and demanding to know the name of the officer who shot and killed Michael. Those actions continue still, a week later. The day after the shooting, I sent a text to my colleague at 3:30 AM. It read, “We need to go to Ferguson.” Later that week, I was on a plane, leading the Amnesty International USA human rights delegation to Ferguson, Missouri. Our goal: to observe police and protester activity, gather testimony, meet with officials, and offer support to the community. Importantly, our delegation also included organizers who supported local leaders in training community members on methods of nonviolent protest. On the plane, I read everything I could find about the situation in Ferguson, and spent time reflecting about community, solidarity, and intention. My heart broke as I thought about Michael Brown, the plans he had for his future, the pain his family and community feel at his loss, and the outrage the residents of Ferguson feel after the police harassment and intimidation of a grieving community.

Ferguson: Example Of Neoliberal State Violence Taking Hold Worldwide

August 19, 2014 Henry A. Giroux, www.truth-out.org Educate! Militarization, Missouri, Police

The recent killing and then demonization of an unarmed 18-year-old African-American youth, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri by a white police officer has made visible how a kind of military metaphysics now dominates American life. The police have been turned into soldiers who view the neighborhoods in which they operate as war zones. Outfitted with full riot gear, submachine guns, armored vehicles, and other lethal weapons imported from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, their mission is to assume battle-ready behavior. Is it any wonder that violence rather than painstaking, neighborhood police work and community outreach and engagement becomes the norm for dealing with alleged "criminals," especially at a time when more and more behaviors are being criminalized? To read more articles by Henry A. Giroux and other authors in the Public Intellectual Project, click here. But I want to introduce a caveat. I think it is a mistake to simply focus on the militarization of the police and their racist actions in addressing the killing of Michael Brown. What we are witnessing in this brutal killing and mobilization of state violence is symptomatic of the neoliberal, racist, punishing state emerging all over the world, with its encroaching machinery of social death. The neoliberal killing machine is on the march globally. The spectacle of neoliberal misery istoo great to deny any more and the only mode of control left by corporate-controlled societies is violence, but a violence that is waged against the most disposable such as immigrant children, protesting youth, the unemployed, the new precariat and black youth.

Drug Forfeiture Program Funded Militarization In Ferguson

August 18, 2014 Eapen Thampy, www.forfeiturereform.com Educate! Militarization, Police, War On Drugs

Those interested in the use of aggressive, militarized law enforcement tactics in Ferguson, Missouri, should consider the role of non-appropriated asset forfeiture revenues as a substantial funding mechanism for military weaponry and its use. First, consider this note from the website of the Metro Air Support Unit (a joint operation with the St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department): The contracts signed by each of the three participating departments specify the agreements of each department to provide the personnel as listed above and the annual dollar amount to be contributed by each department towards operating expenses. The contracts state the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are to contribute $150,000 annually and due to a lower call volume and usage of the helicopter the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department is to contribute $100,000 annually. All of the money contributed by each department is money that is collected from asset forfeiture. Asset forfeiture is a term used to describe the confiscation of assets which are either the proceeds of crime or the instrumentalities of crime. No funding of the Metro Air Support Unit comes from any of the police departments actual budgets.

Weapons Industry Backed Militarization Of Police By Congress

August 16, 2014 Donny Shaw, www.maplight.org Educate! ACLU, Corporatism, Militarization, Police

Local law enforcement around the country has become more heavily armed through partnerships with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. One of the key programs, the 1033 Program, allows the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) under the Department of Defense to transfer military equipment to civilian police. In June, the House of Representatives voted on an amendment from Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) that sought to partially defund the 1033 Program. The amendment failed on a bipartisan vote of 62-355. Representatives voting to continue funding the 1033 Program have received, on average, 73 percent more money from the defense industry than representatives voting to defund it. Fifty-nine representatives received more than $100,000 from the defense industry from January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2013. Of those only four supported defunding the 1033 Program. As the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) noted in a recent report, "it appears that the DLA can simply purchase property from an equipment or weapons manufacturer and transfer it to a local law enforcement agency free of charge." The ACLU states that 36 percent of the equipment transferred under the program is brand new (pg. 26).

Militarizing Of Civilian Law Enforcement Going On A Long Time

August 15, 2014 Undernews, www.prorevnews.blogspot.com Educate! History, Militarization, Police

The nomination of General Barry McCaffrey as drug czar symbolizes the nation's dramatic retreat from the principle of separation of military and civilian power. It further demonstrates the degree to which the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 -- which outlaws military involvement in civilian law enforcement -- is being ignored and undermined by both the drug warriors and the Clinton administration. Disturbing as the McCaffrey appointment may be, however, it is only an unusually visible sign of something that has been going on quietly for a long time -- the military's steady intrusion upon, and interference with, civilian America. In order to avoid violation of the law, General McCaffrey has retired from the military, but he will not retire from his military contacts, philosophy, loyalty and access. He is, after all, a man some thought in line to become the next chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General McCaffrey headed the US Southern Command, which provides military backup for American policy in Latin America -- a policy long linked with support of dictatorships, suppression of dissidents, human rights abuses, death squads as well as chronically ineffective and corrupt management of drug smuggling. The price of this policy has been heavy: for example, over 100,000 people have been killed since 1960 in Guatemala, many of them by armed forces and police trained and supported by the US.

In Wake Of Clashes, Calls To Demilitarize Police

August 15, 2014 Julie Bosman and Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Organize! Militarization, Missouri, police brutality

For four nights in a row, they streamed onto West Florissant Avenue wearing camouflage, black helmets and vests with “POLICE” stamped on the back. They carried objects that doubled as warnings: assault rifles and ammunition, slender black nightsticks and gas masks. They were not just one police force but many, hailing from communities throughout north St. Louis County and loosely coordinated by the county police. Their adversaries were a ragtag group of mostly unarmed neighborhood residents, hundreds of African-Americans whose pent-up fury at the police had sent them pouring onto streets and sidewalks in Ferguson, demanding justice for Michael Brown, the 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a police officer on Saturday. When the protesters refused to retreat from the streets, threw firebombs or walked too close to a police officer, the response was swift and unrelenting: tear gas and rubber bullets. To the rest of the world, the images of explosions, billowing tear gas and armored vehicles made this city look as if it belonged in a chaos-stricken corner of Eastern Europe, not the heart of the American Midwest. As a result, a broad call came from across the political spectrum for America’s police forces to be demilitarized, and Gov. Jay Nixon installed a new overall commander in Ferguson.

Highway Patrol Captain Marches With Protesters

August 15, 2014 Cassandra Rules, www.thefreethoughtproject.com Resist! Militarization, Peace, Police, Protest

On Thursday afternoon Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain and 27 year veteran of the force, Ronald S. Johnson, was announced to be taking over security decisions in the outraged city of Ferguson. Local law enforcement intends to stay involved, but highway patrol is now directly on the ground. During the press conference held by Governor Nixon, Johnson stated, “We are going to have a different approach and have the approach that we’re in this together”, and so far, he wasn’t lying. Police Chief Sam Dotson says no SWAT gear, no military equipment tonight. pic.twitter.com/6HenbnkfSZ — Allison Blood (@AllisonBlood) August 14, 2014 As several thousand gathered to march Tuesday evening, the tone seemed entirely different. Ready to march for peace, love, & change #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/HgUBzCcBf4 — Tyson (@tysonmanker) August 14, 2014

Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement

August 15, 2014 Defending Dissent Foundation, www.defendingdissent.org Organize! Militarization, police brutality, Wars and Militarism

Dear Colleague: Our main streets should be a place for business, families, and relaxation, not tanks and M16s. Unfortunately, due to a Department of Defense (DOD) Program that transfers surplus DOD equipment to state and local law enforcement; our local police are quickly beginning to resemble paramilitary forces. Please join me in supporting the “Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act” before this problem gets any worse. This bill will end the free transfers of certain aggressive military equipment to local law enforcement and ensure that all equipment can be accounted for. The Pentagon’s surplus property, or “1033” program, provides surplus Department of Defense military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies without charge. This program is funneling military equipment to local police in unprecedented numbers. As the ACLU points out in a new study, “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing”, militarizing America’s main streets won’t make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent.

Video: The Militarization Of American Police

July 17, 2014 Alice Ollstein, www.youtube.com Educate! Militarization, Police, Wars and Militarism

The militarization and paramilitarization of US police forces is the subject of a major investigation by civil liberties groups, who say the overuse of Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT teams, has hurt innocent people and made communities less safe. Our reporter Alice Ollstein spoke to one victim of such a SWAT raid—the mayor of a small town just outside Washington, DC. Based on suspicion of marijuana possession, armed police broke down his door with a battering ram, held his family at gunpoint, shot and killed his two dogs, handcuffed and interrogated him for hours, and left without charging anyone with a crime. Now, he and many others are fighting for new laws that will restrain police and hold them accountable.

Sheriff: ‘America Has Turned Into A War Zone’

June 16, 2014 Mark Alesia, www.armytimes.com Educate! Militarization, Police, Wars and Militarism

In a pole barn in Franklin, sharing space with a motorcycle and a boat, sat an imposing military vehicle designed for battlefields in Iraq or Afghanistan, not the streets of Johnson County. It is an MRAP — a bulletproof, 60,000-pound, six-wheeled behemoth with heavy armor, a gunner’s turret and the word “SHERIFF” emblazoned on its flank — a vehicle whose acronym stands for “mine resistant, ambush protected.” “We don’t have a lot of mines in Johnson County,” confessed sheriff Doug Cox, who acquired the vehicle. “My job is to make sure my employees go home safe.” Johnson County is one of eight Indiana law enforcement agencies to acquire MRAPs from military surplus since 2010, according to public records obtained by The Indianapolis Star. The vehicles are among a broad array of 4,400 items — everything from coats to computers to high-powered rifles — acquired by police and sheriff departments across the state.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources