John might have a mixed record for prognosticating, but nobody can deny his foresight in arguing against equipping small town police forces like Ferguson with military hardware back in the early 2000’s. Kids want to play with their new toys. Give people like Ferguson chief Thomas Jackson, apparently a big fan of Sean Hannity, the tools to beat a crowd into submission and pretty soon you will find that crisis management best practices manual holding up the short leg of a table.
"We're dealing with 4,000 animals in there, & you want to give me attitude?" The deputy yelled, mad I was taking a pic #Ferguson #MikeBrown
— Eli Rosenberg (@EliKMBC) August 14, 2014
No reason to talk with ‘animals’ when you can roll up with armor and smother their town in tear gas.
STL County Police Chief Belmar: "We've done everything we can to demonstrate a remarkable amount of restraint." pic.twitter.com/97AcVPPZGK
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) August 14, 2014
Lord have mercy, imagine what a lack of restraint would look like. If St. Louis cops are that eager to gun down unarmed protesters then you have a pretty watertight argument for issuing these assholes the London standard of a billyclub and a can of mace.
I suppose we can thank providence that St. Louis has not gotten its hands on newer crowd control toys like the deafening Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) or the microwave pain ray. It makes my skin crawl to think what undisciplined, racist wingnuts like Chief Thomas Jackson would do with those.
***Update***
I mean really, Jackson is the guy at the center of the storm. How he acts in public will shape how people judge the behavior of his force. Imagine for a second that I wanted to write a tboggesque parody of a bigoted half-assed excuse for a small town Chief handling an inexcusable but isolated incident about as badly as a person can. I’d start with stonewalling, a media blackout and heavy-handed crowd control to make things worse. Then, keeping in mind that this is an improbable fantasy story where you exaggerate for effect, I would have him give his first public interview to Hannity. And yet here we are.
Try to imagine an outlet that would say worse things about this guy’s integrity and leadership. Breitbart? The list is pretty short.
raven
The “military hardware” belongs to the county sheriff’s office.
elftx
They were using some type of acoustic device last night as I heard it on a livestream I was watching.
Another Holocene Human (now with new computer)
In a just world, calling 4000 citizens animals would be a firing offense right there.
Still think they need to mothball all the military equipment, that includes a LOT of that SWAT gear too, and bring in British style policing. Different structure, different goals, different attitude. And if the bullies don’t like it, let them go. Debt collection boiler rooms are always looking for new assholes.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Another Holocene Human (now with new computer):
QFT.
Porco Rosso
The thickly padded line. In more ways than one.
Tim F.
@raven: Not all of it but generally true. However the handling of this makes it clear that St. Louis county is thinking with its dick just as badly as the gomers in Ferguson.
Walker
There have been unconfirmed reports of LRAD in Ferguson.
raven
@Tim F.: roger that
NotMax
Or the ultra-cheap drones equipped with both gas and blinding lasers used against protesters in South Africa not that long ago.
acallidryas
I was in college in the 2000s and one of my very good friends was super into the military, weapons and new technology. He used to love to share information about non-lethal weapons, like the LRAD and others, and every time I told him how awful I thought they sounded. I remember having a conversation that generally went like this,
Him: Aren’t you a pacifist? You should be glad there are ways to defend ourselves and fight without killing people.
Me: Yeah, those aren’t taking the place of bombs, they’re for crowds and protestors. And there’s a pretty good chance one of those is going to be used on me one day.
I haven’t encountered them so far, but I’m still thinking I was more right than he was.
Patrick
That is just mind-blowing stupidity. Isn’t this also the guy with the confederate flag hanging proudly in his living room? He reminds me more and more of Cliven Bundy. I suppose he next will tell us what he knows about the negro…
MomSense
They were using acoustic devices on Ferguson last night. I was watching livestream and you could hear it. The cameraman was describing the pain in his ear drums.
Any news on Antonio French?
kc
@Patrick:
NO. Not the same guy.
Elizabelle
@MomSense:
Other than Antonio French has been released, and not charged with anything? (So why was he in jail? The question of the hour …)
Rikyrah posted a link:
I’m not watching TV. Might be behind the situation …
Halteclere
According to an AP story this morning the Police Chief has said that two dozen patrol vehicles have been destroyed. There are pictures of people throwing molotov cocktails, which does not help the protesters at all. But destroying “two dozen” patrol vehicles is a really big deal that I’m surprised the media has not jumped on (if that many cars really have been destroyed).
Anyone have any collaboration about these vehicles?
Shazza
@MomSense: He was released an hour ago. I saw a pic of him on twitter with some news mics in his face. Hopefully he’ll be tweeting again real soon.
RSR
Pretty sure Law Enforcement is utilizing LRAD. It’s heard in some of the live stream recordings.
Here’s a couple pictures with what I believe is LRAD on a LE vehicle:
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/499692589143298049
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/499691017533403137
scav
@Halteclere: Beyond confirmation of the number and condition of said cars, ain’t we all impressed by the rapidity of the local forensics team apparently able to not only determine the source of said vehicular destruction during a single busy night, but to write up a report on same and communicate it to the desk of police officials for release before coffee-beak the next morning? Such wonders of efficiency and paragons of transparent communication the have in Ferguson! Must partially be due to all the utter restraint and non-vehicle-endangering techniques so responsibly and absolutely on display by the badged boys in cammo.
Tim F.
@RSR: Yep, that’s an LRAD 500X on the humvee’s roof.
kideni
They were using an LRAD of some sort last night – you can hear it about seven minutes in on the livestream. It sounds a lot like what they used on us in the Wisconsin State Capitol last summer, which was confirmed to be an LRAD (they didn’t arrest anyone this day, and they never actually used the siren function again – just the loudspeaker).
Dog On Porch
Keep in mind that democratic party officials interact with FOX on a regular basis (including with Hannitty, if I’m not mistaken). That fact alone undercuts any criticism of the police chief’s choice of media platform to answer questions. I’d even argue it’s that very cooperation by democratic officials that serves to cloak FOX with whatever gossamer veneer of credibility it’s able to sustain. They might as well send their rank-and-file’s cash to the republican national committee for all the good their doing so has ever accomplished.
JaneE
They are demonstrating “remarkable amount of restraint” because what they really want to do is kill all them n****rs.
Sterling
I don’t understand the internet’s argument that militarization of the police is causing this. Black people were dealing with this kind of thing back when the cops carried revolvers and dressed in bowler hats. It’s an age-old problem that has nothing whatever to do with modern equipment or camouflage gear.
My Truth Hurts
This is the same Hannity who cheered the lawlessness of Clive Bundy? Now he’s all about law and order? Only for black people apparently. White folks refusing to pay taxes and pointing weapons at the cops are fine. Black folks getting all uppity at their betters and yelling at cops need to be jailed or killed. Got it.