FERGUSON, UNITED STATES // The images were reminiscent of the Arab Spring: helmeted officers pointing weapons from armoured vans, flash grenades lighting the night sky and tear gas exploding in crowded streets.
The ugly clashes between police and protesters in this St Louis suburb fuelled a torrent of criticism and raised questions about whether the police’s tactics were inflaming the same violence they aimed to suppress after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.
The repeated scenes of policemen wearing camouflage and gas masks and training their rifles on unarmed civilians – some holding their hands up – looked to critics more like an army trying to quell a revolution than a police department trying to keep the peace in a small suburb.
“It’s clear what is going on in Ferguson is a complete, hyper-exaggerated, hysterical response on the part of law enforcement,” said Thomas Nolan, a former Boston policeman and criminal justice professor at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. “It’s clear that there is no one in charge and no one to corral the officers ... and restrain them from engaging in an unprecedented show of brutal force against civilians. It’s horrifying and shameful and a disgrace.”
On Thursday, the Missouri governor Jay Nixon announced that the Missouri state police would take over supervising security in Ferguson.
He said the change was intended to ensure “that we use force only when necessary, that we step back a little bit”. The protests on Thursday had a much lighter atmosphere, with several people stopping to shake hands with state policemen who walked among the crowd.
Mr Nixon’s move came after protests had escalated on Wednesday into chaos. Police lobbed tear gas to repel a crowd of about 150 protesters, some of whom had thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers.
It was the fourth straight day of street confrontations spurred by Saturday’s fatal shooting of the 18-year-old by a white police officer. Police have declined to identify the officer, saying he has been the focus of death threats. More than 60 people have been arrested since Sunday.
The St Louis police chief Sam Dotson said he was so concerned about the way Ferguson police handled the unrest that he pulled his employees out. The city sent a 24-member tactical squad to help control protesters Sunday and Monday night.
Mr Dotson said he was not being critical because he was not there, but the actions in Ferguson were not “tactics I would use”.
Barack Obama and the country’s top law enforcement official, attorney general Eric Holder, aired their own doubts.
Mr Obama said on Thursday while “emotions are raw”, there needs to be a “respect for public order and the right to peaceful public protests”.
Mr Holder said he was concerned that the use of military equipment by Ferguson police sent a “conflicting message”.
Hank Johnson, a Democratic member of the House of Representaives, said he planned to introduce legislation when Congress returns in September to curb what he describes as an increasing militarisation of police.
“Our Main Streets should be a place for business, families and relaxation, not tanks and M16s,” Mr Johnson said on Thursday. “Militarising America’s Main Streets won’t make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent.”
The Pentagon runs a programme that provides free machine guns and other surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.
The Ferguson police department has been part of the programme.
It received two tactical vehicles – both Humvees – as well as a generator and a trailer and may have received other equipment, said a spokesman for the Defence Logistics Agency, the government’s combat logistics support bureau.
Mike McCollum, a resident of Florissant, nearby Ferguson, said police have created “a bullying environment”.
“We are not intimidated,” he said. “We are not scared to be shot. If a person can be killed unarmed, with their hands up, then I might as well fight,” he said. “That’s my mentality.”
The events in Ferguson were seen as part of a growing trend among police departments around the country.
In June, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report stating that police were overwhelmingly relying on Swat raids – involving the use of assault rifles, battering rams and flash-bang grenades – for routine work such as searching for small amounts of drugs and serving warrants. These raids, the ACLU said, disproportionately affected minorities.
In several cases, the paramilitary-style approach led to tragedy, such as a 19-month-old baby critically injured when a flash-bang grenade landed in his crib.
“The brute force – it’s not working,” said Mr Nolan, the former policeman. “It hasn’t been working for four days. It’s time to reassess and time for someone to get in there with a calm head and say ... ‘we need to try something different.”’
* Associated Press
