National Guard in Ferguson: Protesters Are “Enemy Forces”
April 20, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Last November, right before the grand jury decided that Ferguson cop Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown, the Missouri governor declared a state of emergency. The National Guard was activated to assist state and local police in responding to protests.
Official communications and internal documents recently obtained by CNN through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the National Guard deployed in Ferguson referred to protesters as “enemy forces” and “adversaries”—using military terminology as if they were engaged in a war. The documents talk about how the protesters might use phone apps and police scanners to obtain information about Guard operations. According to CNN, among the groups characterized as “hate groups” were “General Protesters.” One communication specified gear that “rioters” would likely have for protection, like goggles, gas masks, and plywood shields—as if people trying to protect themselves was a crime.
Later, the National Guard worried about the repercussions if people found out the Guard considered them the “enemy.” Before the grand jury decision, an email from the Army chief of staff at the Missouri National Guard warned that such language could be “construed as potentially inflammatory.” Two days later, commanding officers were notified that all references to “enemy” should be changed to “criminal elements.”
Whether they use terms like “enemy” or “criminal elements,” the armed protectors and enforcers of this oppressive system see large sections of the people as forces that must be put down, repressed, locked up, and more. This system has no future for millions of Black and Latino people, especially the youth. Their “answer” is to try to keep a lid on all this by brutalizing and murdering Black and Latino people on an epidemic level. And when the people righteously stand up and rebel against this, the powers-that-be unleash their police and troops to attack the people with rubber bullets, tear gas, and mass arrests.
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