This video is neither safe for work nor comfortable to watch. It is the raw emotion of angry citizens confronting a police force that is not working for them or their community. It is two and a half minutes of raw distrust, frustration, and anger.
It is also brutal. I'm sorry, but slamming a pregnant woman onto the ground because she talked back is way out of line. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Monday evening, pictures flowed across Twitter of protesters with their hands up in the air while cannisters of tear gas were thrown at them. Police shot protesters with rubber bullets, and chased away the press who was there recording their activity.
They shut down all of the streets and then informed residents they could not go home, that the streets were closed and no one would be allowed through.
There is a history in Ferguson. The community is a working-class community with both black and white families living there. Yet there are only three black cops and over 50 white ones. Arrest statistics are startling.
This screengrab from CNN was rolling around Twitter earlier Monday. Those stats are mind-boggling.
Do you think perhaps there's a long-standing issue here?
Here are some other scenes posted in real time.
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(note and update: Justice Putnam says in the comments that this is a shot of Oakland during the Occupy protests, which it is. Don't do that, folks. Do the real deal or don't bother)
Mike Brown's family and community has a right to protest. When their hands are in the air and they aren't brandishing weapons, there's no excuse for this kind of police response. Where was the riot gear and tear gas when Cliven Bundy's pals were taking aim at BLM agents with high-powered rifles?
Oh, right. White.
This post was updated to note the inaccuracy of one of the tweets included.
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