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Ferguson’s taste of tyranny

Let me do some fear-mongering for you.

It’s an interesting thing, what we are seeing in Ferguson, Mo. A mere premonition of things to come? The situation of incited rioting and chaos that came after an incident involving an officer using what seems to be excessive force-nay, lethal force-to stop an altercation with a potentially harmless and already subdued teenager, may very well be the pangs of how rapidly our structures deteriorate in a panicked situation. Imagine that nationwide. Whether race had a card to play in the issue only lends to add cannon fodder to the race-baiting and infighting amongst society and in the media. However, the response to a situation involving a portion of people who have resorted to violence, arson and major property crimes has lent the necessary shift to having a problem which would be able to be handled with proper policing tactics and good PR, into one that’s resorting to the type of militarized response that would warrant a war zone harboring an ammo dump. That’s exactly what we’ve seen in Ferguson; a domestic dispute turned into a military intervention. Militarized police and the National Guard are being deployed. Curfews have come and gone. Martial law is essentially in effect and the writs of Posse Comitatus nullified with the response and hostility towards peaceful protesters and reporters, simply wishing to be heard. Tear gas and rubber bullets. Agent provocateurs in the forms of the New Black Panthers and the American State of Islam inciting violence amongst otherwise well-meaning protests. It comes as a warning that if something ever happened here or if, God forbid, mass panic or rioting rang out across the land, our powers that be would be just as ready to deal with us, as they so readily are able to deal judgment to those in Ferguson. Depending on their competency, and the peoples response, of course. I’ve written in the past about this. Our county now has two shared BearCats-armored vehicles ready for a war zone-except they are right here at home with all of the other hardware and military tactics which the sheriff and the regional pooled resources possess. Are there legitimate uses for this stuff? Yeah, in a place like the Middle East (although, these endless wars are questionable, at best.). Albeit, the BearCats are the domestic cousin of the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles-over 600 of those being in the hands of police and sheriff’s offices all across the land including Ferguson, Mo.-but they still pack a punch. These machines and the methods of the tactics that go with them are not your standard run of the mill, circa 1970 SWAT teams. These guys are literally able to perform at or above the same level as a standard army infantry. Now, why do we need this here? This force? On American soil? I could speculate all day, but as time would have it and as our country, our world, falls farther into chaos, it would be the response to our unrest, albeit, on far larger scale than in Ferguson. The ability for the orders to go out with the power to control and quell an entire population. More than likely if you’re reading this, you’ll know of what I speak. If you don’t, I suggest some light reading in other publications. Learn about the militarization of the police in America. Learn about history, for Pete’s sake. Learn it and understand, or fail to learn it and be doomed to repeat history-except the next civil war will be much more high tech, much more global, and far deadlier to humans and even the tiniest notion of freedom. If you’re watching, Ferguson is spreading. It’s time To Stop and Think.

Sam Ludtman

Reno

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