What. The. Hell.
Way too many cops dressed up to play soldier there. It seems clear local authorities have no clue what they're doing. Thus far, I've heard nothing of the protests leading to property damage, never mind violence. The police response, which looks like an Iraq or Afghanistan hunt for insurgents, is grossly disproportionate to the threat - and seems almost precisely aimed at exacerbating a problem, which after all, deals with public anger at excessive and unjustified police use of force - way to prove the public right guys!
It looks like the state or the feds need to send in a peacekeeping mission to get the cops to put away their toys and get back to the donut shops, before things really get out of hand there.

I'm embarrassed for St. Louis and all of Missouri. I'm from Hannibal and was best friends with the police chief who was an honorable and trustworthy man.

Those of us in Iowa have always been embarrassed for Missouri.

What a mess. I'm embarrassed for America

Mr. Snyder, could you elaborate? It would be good for those of us who often disagree with you to hear what you find embarrassing here. I hope that it would turn out to be things we could heartily agree on. It is always good to find the things we have in common so that we can keep the other things in perspective and be able to talk about them.

While we previously covered the disturbing trend towards a militarized response to peaceful protest during the Occupy Wall Street movement, I must say that I found the first two photos Brad displayed in this article exceptionally disturbing.

The past brutality entailed police officers wearing body armor whose appearance was practically indistinguishable from that of the U.S. military patrolling the streets of Baghdad or Kabul.

But a sharpshooter perched atop an armored vehicle, peering through the scope of an automatic weapon on a tripod, zeroing in on an unarmed gathering of U.S. citizens?

CambridgeKnitter, the entire situation reeks. Especially the militarization of the local police force

Oh, my! Another one of those rare moments when Steve and I agree.

What is the world coming to?