Protests entered their fifth and most tense day in Ferguson, Missouri, in response to a police officer on Saturday fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, and it's hard to look at the photos and believe the scene is in the United States.
From heavily armed SWAT officers aiming rifles at unarmed civilians to the use of intimidating armored vehicles — it looks less small-town U.S.A. and more like Egypt's Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring. The behavior of police is similar — albeit less deadly — in the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and a deafening loudspeaker meant to break up the demonstration officers had declared "no longer peaceful."
Various live streams showed a defiant but mostly peaceful crowd chanting and singing songs. But some protesters have indeed been seen, as St. Louis Post-Dispatch's David Carson tweeted, throwing rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails.
On Wednesday evening, the situation escalated as officers over a loudspeaker told the protesters they needed to go home, although they were told their "right to assembly is not being denied." Two reporters were later arrested while working inside a McDonald's restaurant nearby for no apparent reason. (They were both later released, with no charges filed.)
Soon after, the police moved in on the crowd, firing tear gas and rubber bullets, and police officers instructed people to turn off their cameras.
These are the unbelievable images we've seen so far:
More tear gas on another violent night in Ferguson. #MikeBrown #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/iFnElwJWAa
— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) August 14, 2014
More unrest in #Ferguson, Missouri, as police fire tear gas at protesters: http://t.co/k6gSxxbH1H pic.twitter.com/VFQYXasvtJ
— ѕyndιcalιѕт (@syndicalisms) August 14, 2014
Photo of teargas being fired in #Ferguson via @jonswaine pic.twitter.com/rgLGnpFg6I
— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) August 14, 2014
This is someones front lawn in #Ferguson. pic.twitter.com/JCLQW4xxqJ http://t.co/eTUdOHT0BW
— grasswire (@grasswire) August 14, 2014
#Ferguson crowd threw rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails, saw a gun, right before this stepped off pic.twitter.com/qNngeVLtVL
— David Carson (@PDPJ) August 14, 2014
The photos from Wednesday are among other disturbing images taken in recent days, showing militarized police units being used:
