Anyone who has watched the dramatic events unfolding in Missouri these three months has seen that something is very wrong.
After the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, men and women locally and across the country have flocked to Ferguson to protest, alleging that the shooting was unfair, unjust and bordering homicide.
They were met with army tanks, rifle fire, tear gas and police brutality to an extent that has shocked the nation and rocked our trust in our police forces, ripping open police militarization tactics and calling policies and laws into question.
It seemed, however, that the big guys upstairs for a while just weren’t listening.
Now a judge has ruled that the police forces in Ferguson used unconstitutional tactics, the first step in the long journey toward resolving this racially and politically tense issue.
The specific tactic ruled on is what is called a “5-second rule.” It means that police are allowed to force protestors to move if they have stood or sat for longer than five seconds.
This means that police officers in Ferguson had the right to break up prayer circles, to move crowds away from buildings, and while it certainly wasn’t suggested, it became obvious that the officers were not gentle in their coercion.
The case was finally brought before the American Civil Liberties Union on Sept. 27 after ?video was brought before them.
The 5-second rule violates the protestors First Amendment rights. As the judge explained in her ruling, the rule is essentially a loophole to prevent the protestors from exercising freedom of speech by getting them to go away.
The Editorial Board wholeheartedly believes in the truth of the judge’s statement and supports the ruling.
Unfortunately, while this is a big step, and while we hope that it forces people to take a close and serious look at police tactics and police brutality, the ruling only addressed the 5-second rule.
Other forms of crowd and protest control are still allowed. This can range from the use of military equipment to, as we have already seen, tear gas.
It is highly disturbing that these police officers are so violent with peaceful protestors.
This is not a just a race issue ?anymore.
The problems in Ferguson extend across the nation in any future protest or demonstration regardless of what it is.
That Ferguson residents are demanding racism be recognized is incredibly important, but not something everyone can immediately relate to.
But we can all recognize that the treatment of the Ferguson protestors has been shameful, and that it speaks volumes about how much we can trust the police.
This is an issue that extends across race lines.
If we cannot trust our police forces to peaceably handle tense situations without inflaming riots or violence, then we can no longer trust in police protection.
This is certainly not what will fix the overall issue in Missouri.
Even as protestors marched demanding recognition of violence, waving signs asking if white lives were more valuable than black ones, telling stories about police violence, another 18-year-old was gunned down by an off-duty officer, shot 17 times in south St. Louis.
Now there are protests in St. Louis, on St. Louis University’s campus and in the area where the boy was shot.
Given the recent treatment of peaceful protestors, we can only imagine what will happen on the St. Louis city streets if government officials don’t step in and take a serious look at the weaponry and tactics of police departments in the area, if they don’t review policies and procedures for other unconstitutional policies.
Racism is not finished. We must all be aware of it. We must all protect ourselves.
This ruling will not change that. But it is a stitch in the wound.
