Ordering the press to stop filming? Surely no true reporter would comply with such an order.
Ordering the press to stop filming? Surely no true reporter would comply with such an order.
Surrounding peaceful protestors and ordering them to disperse? How, when they're surrounded? By going through the lines of militarized police so the police can claim they were attacked?
Did Americans give up the right to peacefully assemble just because cops started acting more like a military force?
Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger
This is a live broadcast coming from #Ferguson at the moment. It's hard to get clear news reports right now, but it appears that much of the city is presently under martial law, with citizens being ordered into their houses, cell phones being blocked in areas, and a no-fly zone imposed over the city.
We're right now seeing (on video) a group of about 50-100 people protesting at an intersection; they are standing still and chanting. There are about 100 heavily armed police lined up a block away from them, who have just ordered all press to cease filming and ordered everyone to disperse, giving a "final warning."
If you can watch this live, do so now -- this is your chance to see unedited footage from an active situation. I'll continue to update the thread as the situation develops.
UPDATED: (See the comments on my post for the minute-by-minute) At this point, transmission has been lost, so we have no further updates. But I can confirm that I watched a protest consisting of approximately 50 people standing still in a residential neighborhood and chanting. I saw about one sign and one bullhorn, and no other activity. Approximately 100 heavily armed police approached from a distance of a block, supported by a helicopter, and ordered press to turn off their cameras. Shortly afterwards, the police opened fire on the crowd and the surrounding neighborhood with a combination of sonic weapons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. The shots were indiscriminate and hit protesters and houses alike. The protesters attempted to flee but were surrounded from all sides by police, at which point transmission ended.
The police made no attempt to communicate with protestors prior to opening fire, apart from their orders to the press and some orders to disperse. I'm not sure how those orders were meant to be followed, as the area was already surrounded at the time and there was nowhere to disperse to. It appears that the police have declared all public assemblies within Ferguson illegal (or at least, fair targets for armed assault) per se.
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9035483/events/3271930
Surrounding peaceful protestors and ordering them to disperse? How, when they're surrounded? By going through the lines of militarized police so the police can claim they were attacked?
Did Americans give up the right to peacefully assemble just because cops started acting more like a military force?
Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger
This is a live broadcast coming from #Ferguson at the moment. It's hard to get clear news reports right now, but it appears that much of the city is presently under martial law, with citizens being ordered into their houses, cell phones being blocked in areas, and a no-fly zone imposed over the city.
We're right now seeing (on video) a group of about 50-100 people protesting at an intersection; they are standing still and chanting. There are about 100 heavily armed police lined up a block away from them, who have just ordered all press to cease filming and ordered everyone to disperse, giving a "final warning."
If you can watch this live, do so now -- this is your chance to see unedited footage from an active situation. I'll continue to update the thread as the situation develops.
UPDATED: (See the comments on my post for the minute-by-minute) At this point, transmission has been lost, so we have no further updates. But I can confirm that I watched a protest consisting of approximately 50 people standing still in a residential neighborhood and chanting. I saw about one sign and one bullhorn, and no other activity. Approximately 100 heavily armed police approached from a distance of a block, supported by a helicopter, and ordered press to turn off their cameras. Shortly afterwards, the police opened fire on the crowd and the surrounding neighborhood with a combination of sonic weapons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. The shots were indiscriminate and hit protesters and houses alike. The protesters attempted to flee but were surrounded from all sides by police, at which point transmission ended.
The police made no attempt to communicate with protestors prior to opening fire, apart from their orders to the press and some orders to disperse. I'm not sure how those orders were meant to be followed, as the area was already surrounded at the time and there was nowhere to disperse to. It appears that the police have declared all public assemblies within Ferguson illegal (or at least, fair targets for armed assault) per se.
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9035483/events/3271930
Comments
Hopefully things will continue to get better.