News Editor
Perhaps
the most disturbing memory many of us have from this past summer is that of
riot police barricading the small Missouri town of Ferguson and the violent
scene that unfolded afterward, all spawning from the shooting of unarmed black
teenager Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. The police reaction was anything
but civil, turning a small Midwestern suburb into a modern day police state so
many have come to fear. St. Louis County police appeared in Ferguson sporting full
riot gear and military style weapons. In many cases police refused to identify
themselves and removed their own badges from their uniforms. One journalist, Ryan
J. Reilly, recorded footage of a police officer in riot gear arresting him for
not leaving a local McDonald’s quickly enough after police told him to leave. Reilly
took his feelings to Facebook after his release, saying, “A Saint Louis County
police officer in full riot gear, who refused to identify himself despite my
repeated requests, purposefully banged my head against the window on the way
out and sarcastically apologized.” Wesley Lowry, another journalist arrested in
the same McDonald’s claims officers announced, “We cannot guarantee your
safety. We will not be answering 911 calls.”
On
August 16, Governor Jay Nixon put a curfew in place and declared a state of
emergency after a night of police-incited rioting and looting. When protestors
refused to abide by the curfews put in place by Governor Jay Nixon, rightfully
so, police surrounded protestors and launched tear gas and rubber bullets into
the crowd. At one point police allowed protestors to continue marching but
arrested any protestors who stopped marching, increasing the amount of physical
and emotional anguish in protestors. How is it possible that the people who are
supposed to protect our rights were able to use our rights against us without
punishment? If anything, the police should be there to stop anyone from keeping
the people from the right to protest.
Since
the 1885 court case The South vs. State
of Maryland, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that it is the duty
of the police to enforce the law and that they are not necessarily obligated to
protect the rights of the citizen. The most recent example of the Supreme Court
making such a ruling took place during the Castle
Rock vs. Gonzales case of 2005. It’s easy to see how much power becomes
available to the government when rulings like this are made. The government
should work for the people and in favor of the people, not the other way
around.
What
happened in Ferguson was a complete police overreaction and a clear abuse of
power. It would make more sense to call the scene in Ferguson a social
experiment rather than a protest, the police did more to incite violence and
anger from the protestors than prevent it. Are these the lengths police will go
to make sure the people are doing exactly what the state wants them to?
Citizens
have a right to protest and should be allowed to exercise that right without restriction
or instigation from outside parties. The police should exist not merely to
enforce the laws put in place by the government, but rather to protect the
inalienable rights of the people.
How
can we be sure that nothing like this happens again? There must be a limit on
the kinds of weapons and tactics the police are allowed to use; to present the
police as a military force causes citizens to react to the police as they would
a military force. The police must be demilitarized and government affairs need
to be completely transparent; there can be no underlying political agenda. The people must have a voice and when the
government interferes with the message of the people is when it is time to
change the government.
