Soldier
stands guard in front of building destroyed by riots in Washington, D.C.
following the assassination of MLK. (Image: public domain)
Back in
1967, National Guard and Army troops were deployed by Gov. Romney and LBJ to
handle race riots in Detroit.
The
worst unrest since the Civil War draft riots and until the 1992 Rodney King
riots in L.A., chaos in Detroit resulted in 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more
than 2,000 buildings destroyed, according to Wikipedia.
Much of
the disorder, which led to outright martial law, was captured by news cameras
and remains available through archive film.
Take a
look at just some of the disaster that was 1967 Detroit, and what could be
played out again in Ferguson 2014:
The Anti-Media catalogued this, and several other incidents
where martial law was implemented in recent decades.
Ultimately,
order was only restored at the hands of the National Guard and military-style
command-and-control structure.
This
time in Ferguson, Gov. Jay Nixon has already preemptively ordered martial law
in anticipation of the
Darren Wilson grand jury decision and expected riots in protest of a decision
not to prosecute the police officer who shot Michael Brown. Of course, riot
police have already been used against sometimes violent protesters there
since the August shooting incident.
How bad
could things get? Take a look at some of the video from past cases where
violence and unrest from the public was met with violence and strong-armed tactics
by the National Guard, Army troops or police.
Via TheAntiMedia:
The Race Riots: During the 1960s,
waves of protest swept the United States for a variety of reasons.
The most prominent riots erupted largely due to African-American frustrations
with institutionalized racism, from
economic inequality to police injustice. The riots were
almost always inspired by relations with police, if not sparked
directly by incidents
of police abuse. In urban centers across
the country, governments relied on armies of cops and the
activation of thousands of National Guardsmen to shut
down waves of often violent protest and looting.
1965 Watts Riots (L.A.): Race tensions in this infamous Los Angeles
neighborhoood ultimately led to 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests, and
over $40 million in property damage during six days of rioting, as Wikipedia
notes.
Obvious
anger fomented after the conspiratorial murder of civil rights leader MLK in
April 1968:
Further,
following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968 (which
the FBI may have assisted), African-Americans were
outraged and rioted again. This prompted activation of multiple
state National Guards and amounted to thousands of troops per city, including
Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
In the
aftermath, riots erupted in some 125 U.S. cities. Two days after the April 4
assassination, Baltimore rioted for a full week, leading to National
Guard, Maryland State Troops and a further request for federal troops:
April 1968 Baltimore Riots (following MLK Assassination): Baltimore,
along with Washington, D.C., Chicago, Louisville and Kansas City saw the
worst riots.
The Anti-War Movement: In 1968, the
trend of dissent against the state continued. This time, it was against the
Vietnam War. The National
Guard was activated in Chicago, Illinois to shut down protests at
the Democratic National Convention, where scorned President Lyndon B.
Johnson, had chosen not to seek re-election. Protesters (and eventually,
rioters), were discontent with the corruption and warmongering of the
leftist faction of the two-party system and thousands took to the streets.
In addition to thousands
of police officers who instigated violence, the National Guard helped to
put down the dissent and break up the protests.
The 1968 DNC convention riots were a show of extreme force
and a media disaster for authorities, as Chicago Mayor Daley unleashed some
23,000 police and National Guard to meet an estimated 10,000 protesters.
Police, accused of starting the riot, were witnessed beating a young boy
waving a flag, and using an excessive amount of tear gas that ultimately
disturbed presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey in a nearby hotel.
TheAntiMedia
notes also the related May 4, 1970 Kent State Massacre, also documented on
film:
When
that proved, unsurprisingly, to be a short-term solution, protests continued.
Three years later at Kent State University, Ohio governor James
Rhodes found it appropriate to summon nearly
1,000 National Guardsmen at yet another protest against the ongoing
Vietnam War. In the now notorious stand-off, four
university students were murdered by the National Guard (who were called
to “keep the peace in a protest for…peace). Eight more were wounded.
The Guard claimed they were returning fire, but no evidence supported
that claim.
The Rodney King Riots: In April of
1992, police officers were acquitted of the brutal 1991 beating of
intoxicated black motorist Rodney King in northern Los Angeles. The verdict
defied video evidence and riots broke out across Los Angeles. Nearly
10,000 National Guard troops were called upon to stop the riots
and looting. This proved that the government’s tactic of sending in troops to
stop violent protests (precipitated by violence and racism by the government)
as it had in the 1960s had failed. It also proved that the state refused
to learn its lesson.
While
there are definitely significant threats to social order that may justify the
presence of National Guard and riot police in these past cases, and today in
Ferguson, their presence underscores the disconnect between the people of
society, who feel pushed into response, and the enforcers/rulers of society,
who feel pushed into control and force:
Clearly,
governments have a tendency to call in the National Guard when “order” is
disturbed.
Even
more so, the National Guard is deemed necessary when the people revolt
against oppressive treatment from government. Though riots and violence are
never preferable, calling in the National Guard to treat symptoms of
underlying abuse is like prescribing pills to treat disease without
examining diet or lifestyle.
To be
clear, the National Guard is often called in when violence erupts, but while
it may be effective at stopping that superficial violence (by threatening or
using violence), it reliably provides an excuse for the government to ignore
the original reasons for that “unrest.”
Regarding
Ferguson, TheAntiMedia writes:
Regardless,
calling troops in signals that the government has no desire to
accommodate the people. Rather, it would prefer to continue
perpetuating the problems that led them to summon the Guard in the
first place.