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Ferguson Puts Focus On Fed’s Weapons Handouts
Obama: ‘There is a big difference between our military, local law enforcement’
WND
By Josh Ely
President Obama, responding to outrage toward the militarized police presence in riot-stricken Ferguson, Missouri, this week, has proposed a “re-examination” of the Pentagon’s weapons handout program.
“There is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement, and we don’t want those lines blurred,” Obama said.
The rioting erupted after a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teen. Evidence suggests the nearly 300-pound 18-year-old may have been charging at the officer at the time of the shooting, as the bullet wounds were in the front of his body. The teen’s advocates claim he had stopped and raised his hands in surrender before he was shot.
Billions of dollars worth of high-tech military equipment has transferred from the military to local police departments over recent years, allowing even small departments to have weaponized mine-resistant Army vehicles, massive weapons like grenade launchers and more under the nation’s “1033″ program.
“I think it’s probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars to make sure that what they’re purchasing is stuff that they actually need,” Obama said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized aspects of the handouts program, recently issued a report on the controversy.
The report, says Cheryl Chumley, author of “Police State USA: How Orwell’s Nightmare is Becoming our Reality,” is “insightful and informative.”
“The ACLU is dead wrong on a number of issues – but on this, on the red flag raised on militarized police, the group is dead on correct,” she said.
Reposted with permission
