State of emergency, imposed curfew in Ferguson

Gov. Nixon declares state of emergency, imposes curfew in Ferguson
Nixon said at a press conference that though many protesters were making themselves heard peacefully, the state would not allow a handful of looters to endanger the community. The curfew will run from midnight to 5 a.m. 

Ferguson Protests: One Person Shot, Seven Arrested in Overnight Clashes
One person was critically injured and seven were arrested as violence broke out after a midnight curfew was imposed on the St. Louis suburb rocked by the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teen. Clashes erupted shortly after the curfew went into effect, with tear gas and the sound of gunshots hitting the streets of Ferguson, Missouri as dozens of protesters stayed out in the driving rain.

Stirring The Pot: DOJ Sends ‘Marshals’ To ‘Coach’ The Protesters In Ferguson
“Protest marshals” from the same Department of Justice division that organized protests against George Zimmerman in the aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon Martin have been deployed to the troubled city.

Ferguson focus turns from riots to militarized cops
“Why armored vehicles in a Midwestern inner suburb? Why would cops wear camouflage gear against a terrain patterned by convenience stores and beauty parlors? Why are the authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, so given to quasi-martial crowd control methods (such as bans on walking on the street) and, per the reporting of Riverfront Times, the firing of tear gas at people in their own yards?” 

Ferguson shooting: US police armed with 93,763 new machine guns
If Ferguson, Missouri, looks like a war zone, that may be because its police force is armed to the teeth with military equipment. In photographs from this week’s protests, officers can be seen toting assault rifles, wearing gas masks and body armour loaded with extra ammunition magazines, and riding around in mine-resistant armoured personnel carriers.

Rand Paul: We Must Demilitarize the Police
Soldiers and police are supposed to be different. … Police look inward. They’re supposed to protect their fellow citizens from criminals, and to maintain order with a minimum of force. It’s the difference between Audie Murphy and Andy Griffith. But nowadays, police are looking, and acting, more like soldiers than cops, with bad consequences. And those who suffer the consequences are usually innocent civilians.