FERGUSON, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Police have deployed military hardware from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan at protests over the killing by police of an unarmed African-American teenager in Ferguson, director of Veterans for Peace Michael McPhearson told RIA Novosti.
“The St. Louis County Police Department confronted non-violent protesters with mine-resistant ambush-protected [MRAP] vehicles designed for use against insurgent forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are these wars now coming home to our own communities?” McPhearson said.
“The entire situation is sad and outrageous. The long-time racism endemic in police departments around the country has now been compounded by the militarization of the police. We will memorialize lives that have been lost and demand justice by ending systemic violence,” McPhearson added.
Ferguson, a predominantly African-American suburb of St. Louis of some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by protests since the police killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen, as he walked with a friend on a residential street on the afternoon of August 9.
African-American residents, about 65 percent of the local population, often complain about harassment at the hands of the police.
Missouri National Guard troops have been deployed to tackle the violence, which has grown fiercer as peaceful protestors were joined by looters from California and New York, police said. Law enforcement officers have been criticized for using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
