DHS Should Provide Press Same Armored Vehicles as Militarized Police

This past week the events occurring in Ferguson, Missouri have shocked our nation.  The protesting and intermittent outbreaks of violence and vandalism are becoming increasingly common as our nation deals with numerous recent accounts of police officers killing unarmed civilians.  According to witnesses, Michael Brown too was unarmed and at the time he was shot and this has spawned outrage in the St. Louis area as well as across the nation.

 

As news agencies descended on Ferguson to cover the growing protests, journalists were shocked at what they found.  Ferguson had become a militarized police state reminiscent of a war zone.  In fact, former Army Staff Sergeant Joe Biggs of Infowars.com related the experience to something reminiscent of his time spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Police and Swat teams were dressed in full battle gear, armed with assault rifles, flash bangs, tear gas, both real and rubber bullets, sound cannons and supported by their latest (and possibly most controversial) addition, decommissioned MRAP, armored vehicles.

 

MRAP stands for “Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected” (link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRAP) and is designed for warfare in the most dangerous parts of the world where IEDs are expected around every corner.  These efforts to arm American police with military equipment has been highly criticized by politicians such as Sen. Rand Paul (R), KY. (link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2725593/Rand-Paul-slams-militarization-American-police-forces-revealed-Ferguson-federal-program-freely-doles-surplus-armor-assault-rifles-war-tanks.html ) and recently Rep. Hank Johnson (D), GA. (link http://news.msn.com/us/congressman-wants-to-curb-military-surplus-program ) At a cost of more than $500,000 each to tax payers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been distributing decommissioned MRAPs to local police departments around the nation at virtually no monetary cost.  What these MRAPs did not cost in dollars, they often cost in trust as local citizens see the deployment of military equipment on civilian streets as a single step away from martial law.

 

That single step was taken in Ferguson, Missouri on the night of Wed, August 14^th, 2014 and continued into the early morning.  Militarized police gathered near the protestors and witnesses describe their actions as being “provocative”.  Snipers trained rifles on members of the crowd, often times calling out a description of the individual they were targeting.  Laser sights were projected onto the chests of protestors, a menacing reminder that they were specifically targeted.  Enough tear gas was fired to consume adjacent neighborhoods with its noxious cloud.  Flash bangs were fired at targeted individuals and rubber bullets were often times discharged indiscriminately into the murky cloud of tear gas wounding many.  (link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2725548/Howard-University-grad-shot-head-pastor-mediator-blasted-rubber-bullet-Ferguson-demonstrators-reveal-horrors-lethal-force.html ) In the midst of this chaos one of the last vestiges of our tattered Constitution was trampled upon with no remorse.  Members of the Press who were on site to cover the events were specifically targeted by the police.  Used to the insulation press credentials usually afford media members in these types of scenarios, the Press was completely blindsided by the deliberate acts of persecution in which the police engaged.

 

Members of both the Mainstream Press as well as Alternative Media were targeted with tear gas, flash bangs, rubber bullets, destruction of recording equipment, direct, physical confrontation, and even arrest while peacefully sitting inside of a local Mc Donald’s.  These actions have prompted many in the Mainstream Media to now echo what those in the Alternative Media have been saying for some time.  Major Media outlets such as Time, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera and others have now seen firsthand, the effects of a militarized police state as fostered by the efforts of DHS and other Federal agencies.

 

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http://time.com/#3111133/ferguson-journalists-arrested-police-media/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/washington-post-reporter-arrested-in-ferguson/

http://www.infowars.com/swat-team-claims-they-were-helping-in-tear-gassing-of-journalists/

http://www.newsweek.com/how-americas-police-became-army-1033-program-264537?piano_t=1

http://news.msn.com/us/missouri-protests-call-attention-to-police-militarization

 

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The hallowed First Amendment right protecting the Press has been abandoned and only NOW do these Main Stream Media outlets decry infringement upon our Constitutional rights.  The effect of this increasingly tyrannical state has been on display for years while these same Media organizations have served as talking point parrots in White House press conferences.  I hope with every fiber of my body that the events of August 13^th in Ferguson were a real wake up call for those in the media who have turned a blind eye to the obvious Constitutional infringement that’s been going on well before this week.

 

This brings me to a profound initiative I’m proposing which I think should be realistically considered by members of the Press.   President Obama stated the following in a press conference on Thursday, August 14^th,

 

“There’s also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests, or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights.”

 

“And here, in the United States of America, police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their jobs and report to the American people on what they see on the ground.”

 

(link http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-remarks-on-unrest-in-ferguson-mo-and-iraq/2014/08/14/c8ce971e-23c7-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html )

 

The President has publically acknowledged the right of people to peaceably assemble as well as the right of journalists to report the news without harassment from police forces.  Conversely his Administration, through the DHS has been orchestrating the deployment of these MRAP armored vehicles as well as the distribution of other military grade equipment and training to our nation’s police departments.  He must understand that the powder keg which looms in this country has been set under his watch.  If he truly means what he says and this is not lip service (as so often it has been).  Then as Chief Executive of this country, it is his job to EXECUTE the law as it is written.  There is now an epidemic of persecution against members of the Press.  As it is imperative that he act to provide greater protection of our First Amendment Constitutional rights from the militarized police state that has formed primarily under his watch.  As Thomas Jefferson stated

   

“Where the press is free, and every man is able to read, all is safe.”

 

To secure safety in this country we DO NOT start by arming the police like the military, we start by securing our freedom of speech through a truly free and impartial press.  Therefore, because he and the DHS have distributed MRAP armored vehicles freely to police departments who now use this equipment as a means of intimidation against citizens it is imperative that the citizens be protected from the ensuing unethical means of crowd control.  The only way to effectively protect citizens is to assure that there will be impartial accountability of actions used by both sides.  Thus, the press requires a means of establishing total security for its journalists where they may observe the events that transpire and report them honestly.  After all, authority without accountability becomes tyranny.

 

It is for this reason I propose that the Department of Homeland Security distribute MRAP armored vehicles to members of the Press.  These units will be painted white and feature bold letters indicating it is a Media Vehicle.  They will have light and camera arrays lining the exterior of the vehicle as well as satellite uploading capability.  The interior will be a command center, from which journalists may observe events as they unfold, knowing that there is little any outsider can do to hamper their ability to record events as they transpire.  As was witnessed in Ferguson, the police instructed journalists to stop videotaping the events.  After they failed to comply, officers assaulted them as previously mentioned.  Had these journalists been inside of a Media issued MRAP, their response to every unconstitutional instruction could have been a resounding NO.

 

-“Turn off your video cameras!”  

 

-“No”

 

-“Leave this area immediately”

 

-“No”

 

-“Come out of your vehicle”

 

-“No.  I am sorry officer, but we will not comply with any instructions you give us that will compromise our ability to report the events accurately as they transpire.  By the way, say “Hello”, we’re streaming live right now.  The whole world is watching your efforts to restrict our freedom of speech as well as that of the protesters who are peaceably assembled.  I suggest you reconsider your tactics and use restraint.”

 

It should be noted that after the media showed to the world the brutal and unacceptable tactics used against the media and protesters, they were forced to change their approach on the following night.  On the night of Thursday, August 14^th, no officers appeared in tactical dress, no MRAPs were deployed, no tear gas, flash bangs or rubber bullets were fired AND things didn’t get out of hand because the crowd did not feel threatened by aggressive bullies.  ONE NIGHT!  That’s how fast things can change when the press is free to report the truth and in doing so the people are stirred to action.  My proposition that MRAPs be distributed to the press is intended to be a bit tongue and cheek but the point it seeks to make is that we must ALWAYS protect the press so that they may perform their duties without oppression.  In doing so the accountability their coverage provides in turn protects the rest of our rights from those who would seek to trample them in the darkness of night.

 

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/14/with-highway-patrol-hugs-and-kisses-replace-tear-gas-in-ferguson

http://www.aclu-mo.org/newsviews/2014/08/15/aclu-secures-agreement-right-record-police

 

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I would like to extend my thanks to all of the media members who endured such an outrageous night of anti-American behavior, my condolences to the family of Michael Brown and a thank you to the police who showed up Thursday night and treated people with dignity and respect after such a horrible display just one night prior.  I urge all parties to seek peace and to recognize that the rights afforded by our Constitution protect us all.  We must find common ground and unite.  Do not be divided.  God bless and protect you all.

 

#MRAPSFORTHEPRESS

 

#WAKEUPPEOPLE1776