Ferguson
Cop Points Gun At Protesters And Press, Screams "I Will F***ing
Kill You", Has Been "Relocated"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-20/ferguson-cop-points-gun-protesters-and-press-screams-i-will-fing-kill-you-has-been-r
In
the aftermath of recent violent events and now that even the US
Attorney General has arrived, one would assume that the Ferguson
police had at least some "sensitivity" training about how
to approach protesters, especially those "armed" with
cameras. Not in this case. The footage below out of Ferguson shows a
police officer pointing his gun directly at protesters and reporters
while screaming "I’m
going to f***ing kill you!"
The clip shows a Ferguson officer with his gun raised pointing it directly at a citizen journalist who was live streaming at the time: the incident was witnessed by Infowars reporter Joe Biggs who was also filming the incident.
"My
hands are up bro, my hands are up," states the journalist before
the cop responds, "I’m going to f***ing kill you, get back,
get back!"
"You’re
going to kill him?” asks another individual before the journalist
asks, “did he just threaten to kill me?"
When
the cop is asked for his name he responds, "go fuck yourself."
It
didn't end there.
As Infowars
reports,
"another clip shows the officer pointing his gun as protesters
demand he lower the weapon. A second cop intervenes to make the
officer lower his weapon as more irate demonstrators demand to know
the officer’s name."
The
officer’s response to people asking for his name almost immediately
prompted the launch of the Twitter hashtag #officergofuckyourself.
Biggs
live tweeted the incident, and also took this photograph of the cop.
One
also wonders: if not in Ferguson, just where can this pleasant, if
"relocated", individual be encountered?
According
to CNN, 11 journalists have been arrested in the course of the
protests, which have thrown a glaring spotlight on US race relations,
not to mention military-style police equipment and tactics now being
deployed on the streets of America.
Watchdog groups slam
Ferguson police ‘harassment’
of reporters
As tensions continue to simmer following nine days of street protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where a teenager was shot dead by a police officer, two watchdog groups have slammed the heavy-handed police tactics.
RT,
20
August, 2014
To
compound the physical and mental strain of reporting on the
weeks-long protests in Ferguson, where the public is desperate for
justice after a white police officer shot black teenager Michael
Brown to death,journalists themselves
are finding themselves the target of police tear gas, rubber bullets
and flash bang grenades.
However,
Robert Mahoney, Deputy Director of the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ), said the
police tactics would not prevent reporters from doing their jobs.
"Ferguson
is an international story and journalists are going to cover it. They
have a right to do so without fearing for their safety or
liberty," Mahoney
said. "The
harassment and detention of reporters must stop. From senior
commanders on down, the word must go out to security forces to let
journalists do their job."
CPJ
also released a guide for journalists on how to stay safe while
covering events in Ferguson.
Jasmine
Heiss, an observer with Amnesty International, expressed concern over
reports that journalists were being tear-gassed while
performing their jobs.
“Just
last night I’ve heard several journalists and community say that
either gas was thrown at them while they were reporting, or, in the
case of the community members that gas was thrown into residential
neighborhoods while they were walking,” Heiss
told RT.
“Increasingly
repressive tactics [are] being used to curtail free speech,” she
added.
Six
journalists were detained by police while covering the protests on
Monday and early Tuesday, compelling the American Society of News
Editors to describe the incidences as a "top-down
effort to restrict the fundamental First Amendment rights of the
public and the press."
Police in riot gear detain a
demonstrator (C) protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown,
in Ferguson, Missouri August 19, 2014 (Reuters / Joshua Lott)
Police
were caught
on video firing
a tear gas canister that exploded directly in front of an Al Jazeera
America crew, causing the reporters to discard their camera equipment
and flee the fumes.
In
another heated encounter, a police officer is actually caught on
video telling journalists, "I'm going to f***ing kill you!"
Meanwhile,
social media accounts have exploded with real-time proof of
the “severe
press intimidation,”as
the Huffington Post described the heavy-handed tactics, where
Ferguson police fired at journalists with rubber bullets and flash
bang grenades, in some cases preventing media from leaving their
vehicles for fear of being targeted.
German
reporter Ansgar Graw and his colleague Frank Hermann were detained by
police for taking photos of a burned-out gas station, close to the
spot where Michael Brown was killed.
“I
tried to take some pictures at a spot where before I think were taken
several thousand photos of the same spot, and some police officers
tried to shoot me and my colleague from Germany…but it was on
Monday at 2 o’clock, it was perfect…there was no threat, no
tensions were in the air,” he
told RT.
The
journalist said the police told them they could photograph, but they
had to continue walking otherwise they would be arrested. Despite
complying with the police orders, Graw said they were still detained.
Really, Vladimir Putin needed to have asked for restraint in Ferguson. But I see Egypt has!
Egypt calls for restraint in
Ferguson
19
August, 2014
Egypt
has backed the United Nation’s call for the United States
authorities to deal with protests in Ferguson, Missouri “according
to the American and international standards”.
A
spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in response to a
question from state-run news agency MENA, said the ministry is
“following the escalation of protests and demonstrations in the
city of Ferguson and reactions thereto”.
The
spokesman referred to comments made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon on Monday as a reflection of the “international community’s
position towards these events” including the calls for “restraint
and respect for the right of assembly and peaceful expression of
opinion”.
Ban
also said he hoped investigations into the killing of 18-year-old
Michael Brown will “shed full light on the killing and that justice
will be done.”
Demonstrations
in Ferguson began after Brown, who was unarmed, was shot dead by a
policeman. Autopsy reports showed that the teen was shot six times.
Protests have escalated with incidents of looting and police forces
have responded by firing tear gas.
The
US Department of State has in the past repeatedly called on Egyptian
authorities to respect freedom of assembly and expression.
Last
week Human Rights Watch released a report saying that Egyptian
security forces’ clearing of a two protest camps “probably
amounts to crimes against humanity”, saying at least 817 people
were killed.
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