A calm came over Ferguson, Missouri last night after Governor Jay Nixon ordered the state highway patrol to take over security operations from local law enforcement. That move came days after local passions exploded with the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old who was killed by the police in what have been characterized as "disputed circumstances."
Universal revulsion toward the tactics of the Ferguson Police Dept. crescendoed on Wednesday night, when images of their overwhelming force appeared to be exacerbating tensions, not relieving them. "The militarization of the response became more of the problem than any solution," said Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. And the fact that the Ferguson PD apprehended two reporters for seemingly no good reason and threw tear gas at an Al-Jazeera camera crew just didn't seem to make much sense.
That huge police presence in the form of military equipment and vehicles has brought back memories of what we lived with for a week in Tampa two years ago during the RNC, when the feds gave the city the outlandish sum of $50 million to turn the city into an armed camp. This blog always disputed the conventional wisdom about the number of protesters who were planning on coming to Tampa. $50 million for NYC three years after the 9/11 attacks? Yeah, that made sense. $50 million a piece for Charlotte and Tampa in 2012? It did not.
Yesterday The Atlantic'sConor Friedersdorf and Reason's Matt Welch chose to re-tweet links to stories they wrote while reporting on the 2012 RNC from Tampa. Welch referred to the security force here as "East German politburo-style," and remarked on how shameful it was that Americans had simply gotten used to it. Well, maybe, just maybe, Ferguson can change that sense of surrender.
In an essay called "We must demilitarize the police" posted on Time.com yesterday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paulwrote, "Washington has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies — where police departments compete to acquire military gear that goes far beyond what most of Americans think of as law enforcement."
He goes to write:
Given these developments, it is almost impossible for many Americans not to feel like their government is targeting them. Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.It should be noted that 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.
This is part of the anguish we are seeing in the tragic events outside of St. Louis, Missouri. It is what the citizens of Ferguson feel when there is an unfortunate and heartbreaking shooting like the incident with Michael Brown.
The watchdog group MapLight reports that in June, the House of Representatives voted on an amendment (H. Amdt. 918) from Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) that sought to partially defund the 1033 Program. The amendment failed on a bipartisan vote of 62-355.
In other news....
Attempting to show their flexibility, on Wednesday the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission proposed cutting in half the minimum fare rate and minimum time consideration for town cars as a good will gesture to ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft. On Thursday those companies essentially said, "Is that all you have?"
Activists tired of Duke Energy and the Public Service Corporation dragging their feet on energy efficiency held a rally in St. Petersburg yesterday. CL's Ashley Whitney reports.
Hillsborough County School Board District 6 candidate Dipa Shah was the victim of an extremely harsh direct mail attack last weekend. Yesterday Shah responded, sort of.
And there's another District 6 candidate we want to bring to your attention: 20-year-old Asher Edelson.