St. Louis County Police are being relieved of their duties.

[kpete]

Source: Huffington Post

Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who represents Ferguson, told Bloomberg on Thursday that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) is expected to announce the decision later today.

"The gov. just called me and he's on his way to St. Louis now to announce he's taking St. Louis County police out of the situation," he said.


The situation, already tenuous after extensive police presence that included rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas since Michael Brown's death last week, exploded Wednesday evening after SWAT officers roughed up and arrested two reporters inside a local McDonald's. The journalists were unharmed, but the incident highlighted the town's ramped up police presence, which has been criticized as overly militarized.

It was unclear which authorities, either state police or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, would be taking over in place of St. Louis County Police Department.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/ferguson-protest-police_n_5678441.html

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BREAKING. Statement by President Obama from Martha's Vineyard around 12:15 PM Eastern.
— @CharlieKayeCBS
https://twitter.com/CharlieKayeCBS/status/499938450809028608

[BillZBubb]

1. Good news.

St. Louis County police really proved incompetent.

[WestSeattle2]

30. Understatement

[eggplant]

2. It's about fucking time. n/t

[chrisstopher]

3. Probably the national guard

[iandhr]

4. Or the State Troopers?

[gordianot]

7. Or like following 9/11 all Police employed by the State including National Guard?

[albino65]

8. Kent State, Selma, Birmingham, Watts, Detroit, Cleveland? n/t

[gordianot]

9. The 21st Century version of 1968 comes to mind.

[barbtries]

24. i keep flashing back to Birmingham.

when the police are the problem...

[gordianot]

26. Yes this is a police riot.

The entire year has been a mess.

[albino65]

5. a new Fort Sumter?

Thanks to a post by a DU'er in April, I became aware of a book by Howard Zinn, "A People's History of the United States"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024878255

A quote from the last chapter of that book especially seems relevant today:

"History which keeps alive the memory of people's resistance suggests new definitions of power. By traditional definitions, whoever possesses military strength, wealth, command of official ideology, cultural control, has power. Measured by these standards, popular rebellion never looks strong enough to survive.

However, the unexpected victories-even temporary ones-of insurgents show the vulnerability of the supposedly powerful. In a highly developed society, the Establishment cannot survive without the obedience and loyalty of millions of people who are given small rewards to keep the system going: the soldiers and police, teachers and ministers, administrators and social workers, technicians and production workers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, transport and communications workers, garbage men and firemen. These people-the employed, the somewhat privileged-are drawn into alliance with the elite. They become the guards of the system, buffers between the upper and lower classes. If they stop obeying, the system falls."

[rhett o rick]

11. Thanks for that. nm

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. Here, Here!!!

[Psephos]

6. SWAT teams driving APCs and toting military weapons...

...are not there to "protect and serve."

When someone comes at you dressed to kill, believe your eyeballs.

[jwirr]

23. The National Guard will also come dressed in military garb but they have a reputation as a group

that comes as helpers when it is stateside. In example in floods they come to help sandbag and to rescue people who are stranded. Here they will come to calm people down and to replace the ineffective law enforcement units that have caused this mess in the first place.

[PoutrageFatigue]

10. About friggin' time!

Let's hope that calms tensions down a notch...or five...

[rhett o rick]

12. I hope that we can find a just solution in Ferguson. But we must also use Ferguson as

a wake up call. Fixing Ferguson isn't fixing the growing militarization of America. How do we force the police that work for us to step it back?

[abakan]

13. We stop giving them grants for weapons of war. nt

[rhett o rick]

15. I think that's more difficult than it sounds. Where exactly do the grants come from? And

how do we effect that? The Powers That Be want the police militarized.

[abakan]

17. The grants come from the federal government...

I think we make noise, we vote, we do what the kids are doing by bringing it to the front so everyone can see. I don't think I have the answers but it seems a way to start. According to the myth of the US we the people have the power to change things if we are united.

[Blue Idaho]

21. Homeland Security...

Remember how freaked out you were when you heard that term used for the first time by Bush/Cheney? Remember how you thought it sounded more Orwellian than anything that came from the founding fathers, or FDR, or JFK?

You were right to be worried.

[abakan]

31. it may have already started

read this op

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014870829

[rhett o rick]

33. Great first start, but the bill won't get a single Repub vote. Maybe next session. nm

[abakan]

35. A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.

We have something to build on now.

[hopemountain]

36. agreed, abakan! nt

[heaven05]

32. The PTB

are ready to crack down on all fronts, racial, economic, class and really 1% against the 99%. Period. It's coming and it won't be pretty.

[rhett o rick]

34. But they will start by turning some of us against the rest.

Looks to me like the Black Community is the first target. The big question is, will the rest of us side with the Black Community or the PTB? I am sure that the heavily armed Repubs will be glad to side with the PTB.

[heaven05]

38. yep, yep

that sounds like the tactic. It won't work here, I know who never had my best interest in mind and their name starts with an R. The heavily armed rethugs can go suck it. to you

[rhett o rick]

39. And same to ya!

[Fantastic Anarchist]

14. I wonder if Anonymous helped with this decision?

Anonymous provided an ultimatum to Ferguson Police (and any other department) here.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. I can hear the Posse Comitatus types now screaming that the County is the Sheriff Department...

And the Sheriff Department is the ONLY legal authority of the land so this is an unlawful order.

[Hortensis]

19. Ferguson police have exposed themselves to the nation, without further deaths -- so far.

Citizens have come out to demand justice for that poor boy's death and for themselves.

State government is obliged to intervene between local police and citizenry.

The national media are - finally - focused directly on issues of police power and its abuse.

Wonder what the typical person is making of St. Louis County Police Department vehicles and military weaponry trained on those they are supposed to protect and serve? We might just be reaching a turning point after four decades of transfer of power from the people to local and state governments. Hope, hope, hope.

[Blue Idaho]

20. You can shoot and kill the locals - but keep your hands off the reporters!

Rule number one - NEVER rough up the press, there will be hell to pay! Go ahead and shoot, taser, gas, and beat up the locals but for Christ's Sake - keep your hands off the media!

[VanGoghRocks]

28. In this case, a gang that buys its bullets by the gross tangled with a gang that buys

its (figurative) ink by the barrel. Interesting stand-off (from an anthropological or sociological point of view).

[politicat]

22. And the city of Ferguson department?

They turned over the investigation to SLC, but they seem to be still on the job since the police chief has been commenting in that role.

They need to be relieved, too. A well-managed city cop shop doesn't create the soil in which these situations develop. Retaliation and resistance don't spring fully formed like Athena from Zeus's skull.

[safeinOhio]

25. Disarm the force and then reduce

their titles to security guards.

[lunasun]

27. They also directed fire at Al Jeez era reporters and took down their eqpt after crew ran

for safety. This will probably not be added to main stream reporting of their abuse. It it is another attack on the press by police there that has been documented

[hopemountain]

37. i saw a clip of this on

the ed schultz show this afternoon. it was brief - but the camera was being dismantled.

[lunasun]

40. Yes the police took down the camera and lights

I miss Ed on the radio. I have never seen his cable show but glad he highlighted the incident
Seems they were not happy about being documented or reporters on site

[Uncle Joe]

29. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.