{"id":136791,"date":"2014-08-14T07:51:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T11:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/?p=136791"},"modified":"2014-08-14T12:48:25","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T16:48:25","slug":"ferguson-protests-police-fire-on-unarmed-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/ferguson-protests-police-fire-on-unarmed-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"A War Broke Out In Ferguson, MO Last Night While The Rest Of The Country Quietly Put Their Kids To Bed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.everyjoe.com\/2014\/08\/14\/news\/ferguson-protests-police-violate-constitution\/#1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ferguson police basically declared war on its city&#8217;s own citizens last night<\/a>. They were shooting rubber bullets into crowds of people, launching tear gas down quiet neighborhood streets and into homes, and arresting journalists attempting to cover the disgrace as it was unfolding. They instituted a media blackout and no fly zone. This happened IN AMERICA. Do you even know about it?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136799\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136799\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=ferguson&amp;src=typd&amp;mode=photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-136799 lazyload\" title=\"ferguson-cops-attack\" alt=\"ferguson-cops-attack\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"336\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM.png 556w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM-280x188.png 280w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/336;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-136799\" title=\"ferguson-cops-attack\" alt=\"ferguson-cops-attack\" src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM.png 556w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-7.25.37-AM-280x188.png 280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After my toddler finally fell asleep last night, I sat down for the few minutes of rest finally having two kids asleep affords me. I turned on the television and flipped to CNN as I often do at the end of the day, to see what I&#8217;ve missed while I&#8217;ve been in the mom-bubble; dinner, story time and the inevitable fight to get my kids into bed.<\/p>\n<p>To look at CNN last night at around 10:30 Eastern Time, you&#8217;d think there was no new news &#8211; just a constant loop of coverage of <strong>Robin Williams<\/strong>&#8216; death, with a smattering of the horrors in Iraq thrown in for good measure. Had I not taken to Twitter, I never would have known that there was a town engulfed in tear gas, instituting a media blackout and a no-fly zone &#8211; in our own country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136795\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136795\" style=\"width: 526px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=ferguson&amp;src=typd&amp;mode=photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-136795 lazyload\" title=\"Ferguson-police-attack-citizens\" alt=\"Ferguson-police-attack-citizens\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.30.37-AM-640x345.png\" width=\"526\" height=\"283\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 526px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 526\/283;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-136795\" title=\"Ferguson-police-attack-citizens\" alt=\"Ferguson-police-attack-citizens\" src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.30.37-AM-640x345.png\" width=\"526\" height=\"283\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I knew tensions had risen in Ferguson, Missouri <a href=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/unarmed-teen-shot-dead-by-cops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">since the <strong>Michael Brown<\/strong> shooting<\/a> &#8211; especially yesterday with the insane police presence that appeared after a peaceful protest erupted in rage. I just never expected that a city in America would take it upon itself to teach its own citizens a lesson. Ferguson sent a series of messages to it&#8217;s people last night, wrapped up in tear gas and rubber bullets. The messages were &#8211; don&#8217;t question. Be content with being racially profiled, humiliated, dehumanized and killed. Don&#8217;t expect us to treat you like human beings. We will gun down your children and we will not answer for it. And you will not express the rage that you have certainly earned &#8211; from years upon years upon years of mistreatment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136796\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136796\" style=\"width: 526px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=ferguson&amp;src=typd&amp;mode=photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-136796 lazyload\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.30.18 AM\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.30.18 AM\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.30.18-AM-640x430.png\" width=\"526\" height=\"353\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 526px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 526\/353;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-136796\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.30.18 AM\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.30.18 AM\" src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.30.18-AM-640x430.png\" width=\"526\" height=\"353\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136796\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ferguson Missouri was on fire last night &#8211; and it took hours for any major news outlets to take notice. Police were lobbing tear gas down quiet residential streets and into homes while the rest of the country watched Wednesday night TV and quietly put their kids to sleep &#8211; totally unaware.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136798\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136798\" style=\"width: 514px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=ferguson&amp;src=typd&amp;mode=photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-136798 lazyload\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.31.04 AM\" alt=\"ferguson-police\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM.png\" width=\"514\" height=\"338\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM.png 634w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM-280x185.png 280w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 514px) 100vw, 514px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 514px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 514\/338;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-136798\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.31.04 AM\" alt=\"ferguson-police\" src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM.png\" width=\"514\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM.png 634w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.31.04-AM-280x185.png 280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 514px) 100vw, 514px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136798\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t know the background of the shooting that spurred the protests of this week, last Saturday,\u00a0police in Ferguson, Missouri shot and killed an 18-year-old\u00a0unarmed man\u00a0named Michael Brown. The police department has repeatedly refused to release the name of the officer who killed him. Residents are frustrated &#8211; as they very well should be &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/thingsitellmyblackson-twitter-hashtag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">that once again there is the blood of an unarmed black man on the hands of a police officer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Via the <em>I Am Mike Brown\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/accounts\/9035483\/events\/3271930\/videos\/59166942\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">livestream<\/a>, I was able to watch as police fired rubber bullets into crowds of unarmed citizens. I watched as police bore down on a group of demonstrators. I watched terrified, confused citizens and a town engulfed in tear gas. And I thought to myself, If they can get away with this &#8211; what next?<\/p>\n<p>Missouri <strong>Governor Jay Nixon<\/strong> had this to say, via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/post-politics\/wp\/2014\/08\/14\/gov-jay-nixon-calls-ferguson-situation-deeply-troubling-will-visit-thursday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201dThe worsening situation in Ferguson is deeply troubling, and does not represent who we are as Missourians or as Americans. We all respect the solemn responsibility of our law enforcement officers to protect the public, we must also safeguard the rights of Missourians to peaceably assemble and the rights of the press to report on matters of public concern.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So seemingly the governor is not behind or endorsing the actions of the department. So a police department can take it upon themselves to declare war on its citizens like that? How is this even possible? As I watched these events unfold last night, I thought to myself, &#8220;Why isn&#8217;t the Federal government stepping in?&#8221; Where is the statement from the President? Why did it take hours for media to begin reporting on this? Certainly the news that they weren&#8217;t being <em>allowed<\/em> to report on it is news in itself, isn&#8217;t it? How the hell can this country be so tone-deaf to what is going on with its own citizens?<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t have answers to any of this. All I know is, the only ones who have blood on their hands in this whole scenario are the police. Not the protestors who had their arms raised to demonstrate that they were attempting to be peaceful. It&#8217;s this aggression that got us here in the first place. Cops, treating every black person out there like they are criminals for existing. Like they deserve to have their whole community turned into a war zone. These cops are so used to not having to answer for things, they had no problem tanking to the streets in reinforced vehicles and forcing themselves on their own citizens.<\/p>\n<p>After hours of watching our liberties erode right in front of my eyes, I<a href=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/trayvon-martin-terrified-of-raising-a-black-son-in-florida\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> climbed into bed with my child<\/a>, feeling lucky that he was breathing easy &#8211; unencumbered by the effects of being tear-gassed and terrified by the very people OUR TAX DOLLARS PAY to protect him.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-136801 lazyload\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.29.29 AM\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.29.29 AM\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM.png\" width=\"571\" height=\"598\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM.png 571w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM-191x200.png 191w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 571px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 571\/598;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-136801\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.29.29 AM\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 4.29.29 AM\" src=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM.png\" width=\"571\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM.png 571w, https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.29.29-AM-191x200.png 191w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ferguson police basically declared war on its city&#8217;s own citizens last night. They were shooting rubber bullets into crowds&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21295,"featured_media":136795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6809],"tags":[7353,6852,6840],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":6809,"label":"News"}],"post_tag":[{"value":7353,"label":"gallery"},{"value":6852,"label":"police shooting"},{"value":6840,"label":"protests"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-4.30.37-AM-640x346.png",640,346,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Maria Guido","author_link":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/author\/mguido\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":6809,"name":"News","slug":"news-2","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6895,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2405,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":6809,"category_count":2405,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news-2","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":7353,"name":"gallery","slug":"gallery-2","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7444,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2500,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":6852,"name":"police shooting","slug":"police-shooting","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6938,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":6840,"name":"protests","slug":"protests","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6926,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mommyish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}