Thursday, August 14th 2014, 10:45 pm
I wondered how long it would take authorities in Missouri to realize they needed to get the Ferguson Police Department away from the community, where an unarmed 18-year-old man was gunned down by a police officer.
Finally today, the Governor replaced them with the Missouri Highway Patrol, a third party, not necessarily seen as the enemy by the people of Ferguson.
The images from that St. Louis suburb the last couple of nights have been ugly.
The looting and vandalism to the area was done primarily by outsiders, who came in with no statement to make except 'I'm a thief and I'm going to take advantage of this riot to steal.'
Others threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers.
Just as bad are the images of Ferguson police officers decked out like special forces, aiming rifles at the protesters, tossing tear gas, plus bullying and arresting reporters trying to tell the story to the world.
It strikes me as a very heavy handed and paranoid approach to controlling the situation, and it certainly makes you wonder if that isn't the everyday mindset of this particular police department.
But one thing is clear, leaders were late calling in outside law enforcement to diffuse the situation but finally got it right.
August 14th, 2014
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