The Ferguson protests are currently home to what may be the most severe case of mass civil rights violations domestically in my lifetime. Since the police murdered Mike Brown in cold blood several days ago, all but one instance of protest has been peaceful. Yet the police have taken it upon themselves to aim deadly weapons at crowds, fire rubber bullets, flash bangs and tear gas into crowds, and to violate the rights of citizens to film police by arresting those, journalist and non-journalist alike, who refuse to shut their cameras off.
The police chief just used, verbatim, the phrase "outside agitators" when placing blame for the escalating situation. This is the EXACT WORDS Bull Connor used in Birmingham in June of 1963. Racism is alive in America and there is no better example than in this St. Louis suburb.
Citizens:
Reporters: