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Home> WATCH: British Reporter in Ferguson Finds Whites Openly Carrying
Rifles and Peaceful Blacks Being Arrested
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WATCH: British Reporter in Ferguson Finds Whites Openly Carrying Rifles and
Peaceful Blacks Being Arrested
ByDavid Edwards[1]/ Raw Story[2]
August 12, 2015
Kylie Morris of Channel 4 in Britain visited Ferguson on Tuesday and tried
to explain to the British people why white "Oath Keepers" were allowed to
openly carry firearms on the street while peaceful black protesters were
arrested.
"The men, calling themselves Oath Keepers, only added to the already
simmering tensions," a Channel 4 anchor noted before tossing to Morris for a
live report from Ferguson.
Morris told her British audience that the commemoration of the one year
anniversary of Michael Brown's death had been interrupted by armed Oath
Keepers, who claimed that they were there to protect businesses and
conservative journalists.
"But certainly their presence, their state of wearing uniforms,
military-type uniforms - some of them are ex-military, some of them are even
serving police, we're told," she reported. "They were, you know, carrying
weapons."
Morris noted that black protesters faced pepper spray, arrests and other
actions by riot police.
The Oath Keepers, however, "openly carry sidearms and semi-automatic weapons
as is their right," she said.
"You and people who look like you, white males, have the sovereignty to walk
around with assault rifles," one black protesters told a white Oath Keeper,
"But we [black protesters] can't even like stand out here and assemble
peacefully and exercise our constitutional right to do so without being
gassed, maced and arrested."
"I don't have a perspective," the Oath Keeper replied flatly.
Morris said that she had a hard time understanding why police would arrest
otherwise peaceful protesters.
"It's hard to know how this keeps the peace, putting civil rights leaders in
handcuffs, including the prominent philosopher Cornel West and Black Lives
Matter activist DeRay Mckesson during a peaceful sit-in outside the federal
court," she remarked.
During an interview with Mckesson, she asked if the police appeared to be
taking retribution on the protesters for all of the negative attention the
Black Lives Matter movement had brought to the area.
"There is a long history of law enforcement targeting people who are
fighting for their rights," Mckesson told Morris. "The reality is that the
status quo didn't just happen overnight, the status quo [developed] over
many years and people work hard to reinforce it, including the police."
Morris noted that there was a "right-wing push back" against the Black Live
Matter movement, which she said "feels more and more vociferous every day."
"There are people whose bread and butter is sustaining racist oppressive
systems like for-profit prisons," Mckesson said. "The right's response to us
is a sign the movement is working."
As for the Oathkeepers, Mckesson said that they were a reminder that law
enforcement in Ferguson "police based on race."
"If black people had come out with rifles like that, it would have been
sheer pandemonium outside," he added. "But white people, there was no
response by the police. They left, they didn't return."
"And that's real. Policing is racially coded in places like Missouri and
places all over the country."
Watch the video below from Channel 4, broadcast Aug. 11, 2015.
.
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nly-carrying-rifles-and-peaceful-blacks-being
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[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/david-edwards
[2] http://rawstory.com/
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in Ferguson Finds Whites Openly Carrying Rifles and Peaceful Blacks Being
Arrested
[4] http://www.alternet.org/
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Published on Alternet(http://www.alternet.org)
Home> WATCH: British Reporter in Ferguson Finds Whites Openly Carrying
Rifles and Peaceful Blacks Being Arrested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
WATCH: British Reporter in Ferguson Finds Whites Openly Carrying Rifles and
Peaceful Blacks Being Arrested
ByDavid Edwards[1]/ Raw Story[2]
August 12, 2015
Kylie Morris of Channel 4 in Britain visited Ferguson on Tuesday and tried
to explain to the British people why white "Oath Keepers" were allowed to
openly carry firearms on the street while peaceful black protesters were
arrested.
"The men, calling themselves Oath Keepers, only added to the already
simmering tensions," a Channel 4 anchor noted before tossing to Morris for a
live report from Ferguson.
Morris told her British audience that the commemoration of the one year
anniversary of Michael Brown's death had been interrupted by armed Oath
Keepers, who claimed that they were there to protect businesses and
conservative journalists.
"But certainly their presence, their state of wearing uniforms,
military-type uniforms - some of them are ex-military, some of them are even
serving police, we're told," she reported. "They were, you know, carrying
weapons."
Morris noted that black protesters faced pepper spray, arrests and other
actions by riot police.
The Oath Keepers, however, "openly carry sidearms and semi-automatic weapons
as is their right," she said.
"You and people who look like you, white males, have the sovereignty to walk
around with assault rifles," one black protesters told a white Oath Keeper,
"But we [black protesters] can't even like stand out here and assemble
peacefully and exercise our constitutional right to do so without being
gassed, maced and arrested."
"I don't have a perspective," the Oath Keeper replied flatly.
Morris said that she had a hard time understanding why police would arrest
otherwise peaceful protesters.
"It's hard to know how this keeps the peace, putting civil rights leaders in
handcuffs, including the prominent philosopher Cornel West and Black Lives
Matter activist DeRay Mckesson during a peaceful sit-in outside the federal
court," she remarked.
During an interview with Mckesson, she asked if the police appeared to be
taking retribution on the protesters for all of the negative attention the
Black Lives Matter movement had brought to the area.
"There is a long history of law enforcement targeting people who are
fighting for their rights," Mckesson told Morris. "The reality is that the
status quo didn't just happen overnight, the status quo [developed] over
many years and people work hard to reinforce it, including the police."
Morris noted that there was a "right-wing push back" against the Black Live
Matter movement, which she said "feels more and more vociferous every day."
"There are people whose bread and butter is sustaining racist oppressive
systems like for-profit prisons," Mckesson said. "The right's response to us
is a sign the movement is working."
As for the Oathkeepers, Mckesson said that they were a reminder that law
enforcement in Ferguson "police based on race."
"If black people had come out with rifles like that, it would have been
sheer pandemonium outside," he added. "But white people, there was no
response by the police. They left, they didn't return."
"And that's real. Policing is racially coded in places like Missouri and
places all over the country."
Watch the video below from Channel 4, broadcast Aug. 11, 2015.
.
Share on FacebookShare
Share on TwitterTweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'.[3]
[4]
.
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Source
URL:http://www.alternet.org/watch-british-reporter-ferguson-finds-whites-ope
nly-carrying-rifles-and-peaceful-blacks-being arrested.
