Ferguson Under Siege: No Reporters, More Paramilitary, More Blood Day 4

For the safety of “law enforcement activities,” the FAA declared Ferguson a no fly zone early Tuesday, more paramilitary recruits with more military weapons have been deployed, and authorities have blocked all ground traffic into the area preventing reporters from seeing what police are doing, violating a basic First Amendment right. There has been more violence and bloodshed in the aftermath of police killing an unarmed youth, Michael Brown.

Police told reporters to leave because they were “endangering lives” – and then hit them with tear gas fired into a group of people.

Late Tuesday, the no-fly zone was lifted, but paramilitary are in force and demanding that people stay off the streets in Ferguson – including reporters, a violation of press freedom and reporter rights according to the United States Constitution First Amendment.

While some news anchors are claiming that police have been firing nonlethal rounds to disperse crowds, locals have taken photos of pepper balls, wooden pellets and tear gas being fired into the crowds and subsequent bloody injuries.

American Apartheid Exposed

An unamed Furguson police officer killed unarmed Michael Brown, 17, on Saturday. After weekly, sometimes daily police killings of people of color in the United States, the Brown killing is the one that has sparked what has been brewing for years: retaliation against a deep-seated, underlying racism of American Apartheid, racism too often upheld by the US justice system.

Since the Saturday killing of young Brown, outrage has manifested across the nation and Twitter with the epicenter in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.

More: Mike Brown: #Ferguson White Cop Kills Unarmed Black Youth. Hundreds Storm Streets, Thousands Storm Twitter 2023

By Tuesday morning, after a second night of protester and police confrontations, the FAA had issued a No-fly zone order for Ferguson, MO, effective until August 18th, next Monday. The state reason wais “to provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities.”

Local news crews were hit with tear gas and then explicitly told to leave the scene because they were “endangering lives.”

Live on Channel 5, a police officer seen in the middle of a phalanx of other officers in riot gear, lobbed a tear gas grenade towards a group of people.

Sunday night, a crisis state exploded in the Missouri town after police stated the death of the unarmed youth Michael Brown on Saturday from a police officer shooting him multiple times, was his fault.

More: Ferguson Erupts After Police Blamed Unarmed Dead Victim. Armored Vehicles, Swat Teams, Tear Gas, Looting, Burning Building To Ground

Brown’s grandmother has said that Brown has never even been in a fight. He’d just finished high school and was due to start college this week, according to reports.

Since the Furgeson police are not require to wear cameras and no video footage has surfaced of the police repeatedly shooting young Brown to death, it is the police officers’ words against local witnesses.

Police are using tear gas, rubber bullets and dogs and pointing rifles at protesters, according to reports and video coverage. Sunday night, there were 300 police on the scene as violence erupted after police publicly stated the reason they blamed the killing of the unarmed youth Mike Brown, 17, with his hands up — was his fault. Brown was shot multiple times.

According to one eyewitness, after killing him with multiple shots, the police continued shooting at his corpse.

Dorin Johnson, a friend of Brown’s, told Fox 2 that he and Brown were walking in the street when the police car pulled up. The officer said, “Get the eff onto the sidewalk,” he recounted. As of Tuesday afternoon, Johnson has not been home or available for police interrogation.

Johnson said the officer reached out of the car window and grabbed Brown around the neck.

Another witness, Piaget Crenshaw, another witness said she saw police chase Brown.

“He ran for his life,” she said. “They shot him and he fell. He put his arms up to let them know that he was compliant and he was unarmed, and they shot him twice more and he fell to the ground and died.”

Anger erupted into looting and burning at what was to have been a peaceful vigil Sunday night.

At least one civilian has been injured, reportedly from rubber bullets.

A member of the Ferguson Police Department fired the shots. An outside agency, the St. Louis County Police Department, is investigating along with the FBI and Justice Department.

Officials refuse to name the alleged shooter, saying this is due to death threats.

President Barack Obama, heavily critizized for publicly offering condolences regarding the untimely death of actor Robin Williams and saying nothing about the untimely death of Michael Borwn, made a statement at the end of Day 4 of Brown’s death:

Protesters have said they want the officer who killed Brown to be identified, fired, and charged and they want the Ferguson police force to reflect the racial demographics of the largely African American community.

They also have said that they want respect from police and that they don’t want to be shot the way Brown was.

As the crowds protest in front of police with militarized weapons aimed at them, they hold their hand high over the heads and chant, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

Sources: LA Times, Twitter