“Strict new protest rules and the presence of the National Guard in Ferguson didn’t prevent fresh clashes with police on Monday night, the ninth night of unrest since unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer on Aug. 9.
Police fired several rounds of tear gas into the crowd after a small number of protesters reportedly threw bottles at the officers. Shots were fired, and the cops ordered everyone without media credentials to disperse, then evacuated the media center as well.
“Air smells like gun powder,” the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery tweeted. “Not like tear gas. Gun powder.”
The National Guard, deployed to Ferguson by order of Gov. Jay Nixon (D) Monday morning, was posted at the police command center so that local police could concentrate on monitoring the protest, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson told reporters.”* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
*Read more here from Ryan J. Reilly, Amanda Terkel, and Braden Goyette:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/18/ferguson-protests_n_5689963.html
Comments
One of my FB friends (I’ll give you one shot at his profession) posted this infuriating sentiment today:
Want to De-escalate the Ferguson mess? Send the media home.
Riot gear not working? Tear gas not working? Curfews not working? Increased violence? Calling in the national guard?
Using the excuse of “free press” MEDIA, you are to blame. Reporting speculation, putting a camera in the face of whoever wants to make up a story for their 15 minutes of fame, you are to blame.
No cameras means no Al Sharpton, no Jessie Jackson, no KKK showing up.
For ratings you exploit the victims, the suspects, the innocents, the police, the government.
You say “freedom of Press.” I say how about trying some responsible journalism for a change?
You sensationalize school shootings for ratings. Congratulations. You made a dollar. But you also gave the next psycho a kill number to beat.
Turn off the cameras, leave, let things get back to normal. Stop empowering people to act like fools.
I’m not sure how you sleep at night
What?? What??? My response:
My favorite part was how he compared Sharpton and Jackson to the KKK Here is my response (please note- not one of his redneck, bigot friends has had the audacity to comment further).
Because the media doesn’t keep us informed, right? Some of the biggest moments in our history have been recorded and give to us via the media. The assassination of JFK? The attempted assassination of Reagan? I remember watching the Challenger burst into flames before my fourth grade eyes. Where were you when you heard about 9-11? I was on my way to class, listening to the radio. I will never forget that moment. The media is such an important and powerful tool. The original job of the media was to serve as a watchdog for the government but they’ve become so much more. Have some of them turned into ratings whores? You bet. But that’s on us, as citizens. Don’t want slimy, biased media outlets? Quit watching them. I suggest you find a different media outlet. Mine gives me nothing but the facts. And I would fight to the death to defend their right to do so