It may look like a war zone, but it's Missouri

Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo.

The images are reminiscent of a war zone: helmeted officers pointing weapons from armored trucks, flash grenades lighting the night sky and tear gas exploding in crowded streets.

The ugly clashes between police and protesters in this St. Louis suburb have fueled a torrent of criticism and raised questions about whether the officers’ tactics are inflaming the same violence they aim to suppress after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.

The repeated scenes of police officers wearing military-style camouflage and gas masks and training their rifles on unarmed civilians — some holding their hands up — led critics to condemn the unusual show of force, suggesting it looks more like an Army trying to quell a revolution than a police department trying to keep the peace in a small suburb.

“It’s clear what is going on in Ferguson is a complete, hyper-exaggerated, hysterical response on the part of law enforcement,” said Thomas Nolan, a former Boston police officer and criminal justice professor of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. “It’s clear that there is no one in charge and no one to corral the officers ... and restrain them from engaging in an unprecedented show of brutal force against civilians. It’s horrifying and shameful and a disgrace.”

The protests escalated late Wednesday into smoky chaos after police lobbed tear gas to repel a crowd of about 150 protesters after some had thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers. It was the fourth-straight day of street confrontations spurred by Saturday’s fatal shooting of the 18-year-old by a white police officer.

More than 60 people have been arrested since Sunday.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said Thursday that police are trying to balance the public’s right to protest with public safety, including the need to keep streets open. But he added, “If firebombs are being thrown, property gets destroyed, shots get fired ... we have to respond to deadly force.”

The events in Ferguson were seen as part of a growing trend among police departments around the country.

In June, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report stating that police were overwhelmingly relying on SWAT raids — involving the use of assault rifles, battering rams and flash-bang grenades — for routine work such as searching for small amounts of drugs and serving warrants. These raids, the ACLU said, disproportionately affected minorities.

In several cases, the paramilitary-style approach led to tragedy, such as a 19-month-old baby critically injured when a flash-bang grenade landed in his crib.

Nolan said Ferguson authorities need to scale back, get rid of the advanced weapons and the armored trucks and appeal to Brown’s parents, community and religious leaders to stand with them and assure protesters and others there will be a thorough, impartial investigation into the teen’s death.