The good citizens of Ferguson came together today to stand in solidarity. They were accompanied by some reporters who refused to leave their side. Even after the police told these journalists to turn their recording devices off, they refused---with one InfoWars journalist yelling: "NEGATIVE! I want the world to see what you're about to do!"
I watched live feeds for about five hours today. There were a bunch of reporters, unarmed men, women, and children singing, chanting, holding hands, and praying. At one point, a preacher even had a bullhorn and gave a fiery sermon, then led the crowd in prayer---not just for the protesters and Michael Brown's parents, but also, they prayed for the safety of all the officers at Ferguson PD.
Meanwhile, the police stood in the background, looking ominous and intimidating. They wore military fatigues, helmets, bullet proof vests, while perched atop armored vehicles complete with rooftop machine guns on tripods. They had rubber bullets, tear gas, dogs, noise makers, and various other riot gear.
Only problem was, there wasn't a riot.
People sang spirituals, and led chants (NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE). In the parking lot, a group of young girls shouted cheers, and did drills to a captive audience. As this was happening, a man came near one of the cameras and claimed to know the name of the officer who killed Michael Brown. He even said the name and commented that he and this officer had attended high school together.
Sometime later, one commentator alleged that earlier, an unarmed man stood in the center of the crowd with his hands up, facing the police, shouting, "Hands up! Don't shoot!" SWAT's response was chilling. The man looked down to see a red dot glowing in the center of his chest.
Some protesters (and one of the journalists) even claimed the police deployed some type of "heat ray" on the crowd in an attempt to disperse them early.
During the live feed I also heard protesters complaining about some of the police making snide remarks. One said it was almost like they wanted the crowd to do something so they'd have an excuse to shoot. While all this was going on, two reporters were getting arrested and Anonymous was shutting down police websites, and hacking into email accounts.
Near sundown, when things started getting more heated, the police got on their bullhorns and told the crowd to stay 25 feet away, to which a protester shouted (I'm paraphrasing) "Why should we? Y'all shot Mike at 30!"
All day, it had been a peaceful demonstration, but then the confusion started. There's a dispute about whether the rubber bullets and tear gas flew before the Molotov cocktails. I'm not sure what happened, and I watched it unfold.
Below Anonymous says they have video proof that the cops were the instigators.
Be that as it may, here is the video feed from KARG of the calm before the storm. This is what I watched tonight. You can see the build up of frustrations, and then the eruption.
Warning: Disturbing images.
Wed Aug 13, 2014 at 10:21 PM PT: I looked for the InfoWars live stream video, but it doesn't appear to be available. Here are some tweets though that give you an idea of what the reporters experienced during the attacks:
Notice the police even tried to take their video as well.
INFOWARS REPORTS:
FERGUSON RIOT POLICE WOUND REPORTER IN ATTACK ON PROTESTORS
Police use MRAPs, helicopters to hunt down journalists in Ferguson, Mo.
In Ferguson, Missouri, Infowars reporter Joe Biggs was shot in the kidneys Wednesday night by St. Louis Co. Police using flash bangs and rubber bullets during protests over the police shooting of an unarmed teenager four days ago. Additionally, the police were reportedly hunting down journalists amongst the demonstrators after arresting two prior to the assault….
“I got shot in the kidneys with one of those rubber rounds and had two gas canisters come right at me,” Biggs reported. “When I got up, I couldn’t see so I went in one direction and lost [Infowars reporter] Jakari Jackson and [Infowars cameraman] Josh Owens.” Owens made it inside of a car with a reporter from Vice News but police pinned down their vehicle and shot flash bangs and tear gas at them. Prior to the attack, police used an MRAP to get within firing range of the protestors.“You must leave the area immediately,” the police barked over a megaphone. “Failure to do so will subject you to arrest.”Not long after, the demonstrators on West Florissant Ave. were assaulted.
“We all got split up when a SWAT Team approached us and started throwing flash bangs and shooting tear gas and all kinds of [so-called] non-lethal rounds at us,” Biggs said, who was dropped to his knees by the round that hit him…“They are shutting down the entire road and there’s word that they are looking specifically for journalists to arrest them,” Biggs revealed. “Why? Because they don’t want the truth about what’s going on to come out.”
http://www.infowars.com/...
12:04 AM PT: Anonymous Press Release:
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For Immediate Press Release: National Day Of Rage
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To all who are reading this,
We are Anonymous.
We call upon the citizens of the United States to rise up and stand in solidarity with the people of Ferguson. They are currently fighting for their right to peacefully protest. The media will have you believe that these protesters are looters and criminals. This is certainly not the case. As we've seen tonight with our own eyes, the police began preemptively striking the protesters with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs. We've seen journalists assaulted and arrested, targeted by tear gas and rubber bullets, and told to turn off their cameras and move away or be subject to arrest. We witnessed as police threatened demonstrators to DISPERSE AND RETURN TO THEIR HOMES, and then firing tear gas in people's own yards.
We cannot sit still and watch this happen. It is our time to get off our chairs, turn off the TV, and make ourselves heard. Let us all stand in solidarity with Mike Brown, the people of Ferguson, and every single person that was brutality murdered by so-called authority.
Anonymous plans to assist with protests by leaving our keyboards and going on the ground with the people. Our collective will join those who demonstrate on the streets.
*DAY OF RAGE, AUGUST 14TH 2014
CITIES (Hours correspond with local time for each city):
CHICAGO - 6:00PM (Richard J Daley Center, 50 W Washington St, Chicago, Illinois 60602)
DETROIT - 7:00PM (Hart Plaza, One Hart Plaza, Detroit, Michigan 48226)
NEW YORK - 7:00PM (Lower Manhattan: Union Square; Upper Manhattan: By Morningside Park entrance @ 123 Street and Morningside in Harlem; Brooklyn: Fulton Park in Bed-Stuy; Queens: Baisely Pond Park, Jamaica, New York 11436)
WASHINGTON D.C. - 7:00PM (Malcolm X Park, Washington, District of Columbia 20009)
BOSTON - 7:00PM (INSIDE BOSTON COMMON near the corner of Beacon St and Park St in front of the Massachusetts State House)
LOS ANGELES - 4:00PM (LEIMERT PLAZA PARK 4395 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008)
NEW ORLEANS - 6:00PM (Lafayette Square, New Orleans, LA 70130)
(If your city is not mentioned, now is the time to organize.)
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Wear red ribbons or arm bands to show your support.++
#StandWithFerguson #OpFerguson
Expect Everyone.
12:28 AM PT: There are drones circling the town reportedly.