RT @JamilSmith: President Obama, go to Ferguson.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 18, 2014Good morning, America. Here's an account via Twitter of what went on in one American suburb last evening. As Gabrielle Bluestone was reporting for Gawker as this fresh hell broke loose in Ferguson, Missouri, the police abruptly appeared well before curfew began, donning gas masks as they jumped out of their vehicles, and hitting reporters and children (the gathering was a peaceful gathering of people on the streets at this point) with the gas. Bluestone writes,
It's not clear what sparked the sudden violent turn just after 10 pm on Sunday. The St. Louis Police Department posted on Twitter around the same time that molotov cocktails had been thrown at officers, but reporters on the scene described a peaceful protest that quickly turned into a cloud of tear gas and piercing LRAD sounds.
What follows is the account that unfolded on Twitter as the tear gas was deployed and tanks rolled through the area — the account, insofar as I was following it on Twitter as it was happening.
Police are rioting in #Ferguson
— StrikeDebt (@StrikeDebt) August 18, 2014Tear gas, armored vehicles, flares. Reporters standing here with hands up so we don't get fired at. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/Pv9mewADWS
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) August 18, 2014I got tear-gassed good. Cop grabs me, drags me to truck and hands me water. "You media??" "YES" "hahahahaha Welcome to Ferguson!"
— Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) August 18, 2014They're firing tear gas near media staying area.Our security guard kicked canister away from our car #ferguson pic.twitter.com/9PScn4q3zb
— Christina Coleman (@ChristinaKSDK) August 18, 2014#Ferguson RT @daweiner: It really looks like a war zone: http://t.co/JM9xAoXBA1
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 18, 2014
Whoa. This kid was just hit with tear gas. Mom is freaking out. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/5SHrdZvFqV
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) August 18, 2014Tear gas is a chemical weapon banned in war. But Ferguson police shoot it at protesters. Why is this happening? http://t.co/bBpkS1YYfM
— Terrence McCoy (@terrence_mccoy) August 14, 2014RT @No_Cut_Card: they'll tear gas a crowd of people on international television before they release an autopsy report.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 18, 2014Starting the night off right, police in #Ferguson arrest @Telegraph (https://t.co/ruJtAR7IiW) + @SInow (https://t.co/mv3nm2Ioi9) journalists
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 18, 2014Livestreamers gassed. Here comes the sound cannon again. http://t.co/RfwVXNC9BL
— JeffSharlet (@JeffSharlet) August 18, 2014More of what was used against crowd of protestors in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/0mdKF8P3mJ
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 18, 2014Autopsy shows Michael Brown was shot at least six times http://t.co/yKpOvSx0Kw #Ferguson
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) August 18, 2014"Get the fuck out of here or I will shoot you with this" to a member of the media cop says as he holds his gun up at a reporter. #Ferguson
— Anon2World (@Anon2earth) August 18, 2014"You're getting maced next time you pass us." #ferguson https://t.co/vlMTvELjhQ
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 18, 2014Police: "Media do not pass us, you're getting maced the next time you pass us." @chrislhayes on the scene.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) August 18, 2014
Watching a livestream while a cop is POINTING A GUN AT AND THREATENING the journalist recording it. #Ferguson
— Rachel Edidin (@RaeBeta) August 18, 2014
Just think: this is how the St. Louis County cops conduct themselves when they know that the world is watching. #Ferguson
— Tim Stewart (@timstwrt) August 18, 2014Also, if their go to reaction is to silence those trying to show what they're doing, I'm disinclined to believe their version of events.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) August 18, 2014Ferguson police are fighting for the right to continue to subjugate the black residents of the city and cover up for Darren Wilson.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 18, 2014Last week, I was skeptical that Obama should say anything re: Ferguson. Now…we need the president there.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) August 18, 2014Riot cop to me just a few minutes ago: "Get back! Or next time you're gonna be the one maced."
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 18, 2014RT @katz: Just very telling. RT @JebBoone More and more foreign news outlets sending their war correspondents to cover #Ferguson
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 18, 2014If you walk about 100 feet from OK'ed press area you find yourself lit up by a spotlight and a squad of police on hair trigger.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 18, 2014Woman on @CNN "I just got back from 10 mo in #Iraq where I served my country. They shot me with tear gas. I didn't even get gassed in #Iraq
— McBlondeLand (@McBlondeLand) August 18, 2014RT @jeff_deeney: Now that the autopsy report's out you know why Darren Wilson ran directly home, packed his shit & tore ass out of town.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 18, 2014Getting word of armored vehicles driving down residential streets, firing gas. #Ferguson
— Danny Wicentowski (@D_Towski) August 18, 2014SWAT now being requested.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 18, 2014CNN guest says 14 times police responding to protesters shooting at them--even tho police admitted didn't happen.
— Greg Mitchell (@GregMitch) August 18, 2014Tonight, #Ferguson cops have: * Tear-gassed an 8-year old * Driven a truck through a crowd * Threatened to kill a reporter on air
— Paul Hagan (@thepaulhagan) August 18, 2014
