Bratton announced today that now is the time when NYC needs to implement a new anti-terrorism program which would empower a team of NYPD officers to roam around the city carrying machine guns.
This new squad will be used to investigate and combat terrorist plots, lone wolf terrorists, and… protests. “It is designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris,” Bratton said, according to CBS.
“They’ll be equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not,” Bratton explained. “They’ll be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns — unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances.” Capital NY adds that these officers will also be used “to assist on crime scenes, and help with crowd control and other large-scale events.”
The pilot program will start in two precincts in Manhattan and two in Queens, though it’s unclear when they want to launch it. Bratton said Mayor de Blasio was on board, and he expected the City Council to be as well. He also said he thinks this will help improve relationships between cops and local residents. “Cops will know their sectors and the citizens will know them,” Bratton said. “They’ll know the problem areas and the problem people. I truly believe when cops embrace their neighborhoods, their neighborhoods will embrace them back.”
More Troops Sent Into Ferguson Than Were Just Sent Into Iraq | The Free Thought Project
On Tuesday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced plans to deploy more than 2,200 National Guard troops to the Ferguson area. Keep in mind that this is more troops than the 1,400 Obama recently announced would be sent to Iraq to fight ISIS at a cost of $3.7 billion dollars.
This raises some interesting questions. Does it really take more soldiers to be deployed in an American city to stem potential violence, than it does to defeat a foreign boogeyman “terrorist group,” that possess’ heavy weaponry, that politicians describe as a “serious threat” to America?
Nixon made the announcement after being heavily criticized by Ferguson Mayor James Knowles as well as Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, who said that more National Guard should have been in the area last night to prevent the violence and rioting that left many buildings and cars in flames.
The scenes on the ground resembled that of a war zone, with buildings ablaze and a small number of protesters engaging in looting and vandalizing, and riot gear clad officers firing teargas and pepper spray at protestors.
Oddly, the ones rioting and looting were for the most part left alone, while those standing in solidarity to protest the decision peacefully were the ones that took the brunt of the police violence.
At a press conference, Nixon said, “No one should have to live like this. No one deserves this. We must do better and we will. This morning and into this afternoon, I met with Guard and law enforcement leaders. All agreed that the violence we saw in the area of Ferguson last night cannot be repeated.”
St. Louis police chief, Jon Belmar, said that he needed an additional 10,000 officers to quell the mayhem seen last night stating, “I don’t think we can prevent folks who really are intent on destroying a community.”
Perhaps if law enforcement wasn’t initiating violence against the peaceful protestors, there would be less outrage and exhibitions of renegade behavior. People are only willing to be beaten and gassed, while peacefully protesting, for so long before they have had enough and begin to retaliate with violence.
While the main stream media portrays the mayhem on the ground as a result of looters and rioters, this behavior didn’t occur in a vacuum and was often precipitated by law enforcement’s initiation of aggressive action first, according to numerous journalist live streaming from Ferguson.
(Photo Credit: AmericaWakieWakie)
| — | Greg Howard at The Concourse. America Is Not For Black People (via protoslacker) |
