FERGUSTAN, USA

Fergustan, USA By Nick Hodge | Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 I’m not sure I can find the words to convey what the events of Ferguson say about the state of this country and what it means for you and your future. Or the words to explain why the clear signs that an event like this was imminent were ignored. I don’t know why a cop needs to shoot an unarmed teenager six times. I don’t know why the government hasn’t released information that could clear up the details. There is much I don’t know. There is much I’d like to know… I’d like to know if I, too, could be shot down by an officer of the law while unarmed. I’d like to know why the initial response to a constitutionally-protected right to assemble looks like this: I’d like to know why, in the age of social media, I was able to read on-location reports and see live footage of what was going on in Ferguson hours and hours before it appeared on a major news affiliate. I would like to know why, even after coverage began, no live footage was used… even though there were plenty of live streams available. I’d like to know why the shutting down of Times Square by Ferguson supporters was not covered on any major media outlet that I saw: I’d like to know what modicum of logic led Ferguson police to release the names of looters before the name of the cop who fired the fatal shot that led to the looting. I’d like to know in what world a town of 21,000 needs equipment like this: I’d like to know if it’s legal to arrest journalists for doing their jobs, then release them without charges, as happened to Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post. If it’s illegal, I’d love to know what the repercussions are. I’d like to know why local police have more body armor and weaponry than soldiers did when they invaded Iraq: I’d like to know why journalists interviewed witnesses to the shooting before the police did. I’d like to know if cops disassembling the media equipment of a news crew is legal. I’d like to know what happens if it isn’t. I’d like to know why tear gas is banned as a chemical weapon under the Geneva Convention but is perfectly fine to use in small American towns. I’d like to know why the American Civil Liberties Union has to sue to get the shooting report. I’d like to know why the president said there’s “no excuse for police to use excessive force” when Missouri has gotten $69 million in “counter-terrorism” funding from the feds during his tenure. I’d like to know why cops think it’s okay to talk to people like this: But I really think that’s how the government views its subjects — a herd to be dealt with as it sees fit. Whether spying on you, taxing you, choosing big business over you, withholding information from you, or militaristically policing you literally to death… We’ve reached a point where the government does whatever it wants, whenever it wants, to whomever it wants with little to no respect for the Constitution or common man. And I’d like to know why more people aren’t utterly fed up with it.