Tension eases in Ferguson after police shooting
Days after a police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, a St. Louis suburb has been the scene of violent protests.
As of Thursday afternoon, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says the Missouri State Highway Patrol will take over the supervision of security of Ferguson. Earlier Thursday, President Barack Obama called for peace and transparency into 18-year-old Michael Brown's death.
Newsweek Reporter Taylor Wofford has been covering the story:
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The idea was that if the U.S. wanted its police to act like drug warriors, it should equip them like warriors, which it has--to the tune of around $4.3 billion in equipment, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. The St. Louis County Police Department's annual budget is around $160 million. By providing law enforcement agencies with surplus military equipment free of charge, the NDAA (1990 National Defense Authorization Act) encourages police to employ military weapons and military tactics.
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush of Huffington Post is also covering the latest:
Black Americans are rightfully outraged, but it will require all Americans to be mobilized before the racism that undergirds these killings will end and the deaths along with it. White Americans like me have to stop channel surfing all the outrageously bad news from around the world and focus on the death that is happening in our own cities to our fellow Americans.
Learn more about the latest in Ferguson:
• Photos: Chaotic scene in Ferguson, Mo.