What's Going On: Ferguson’s riots a troubling sign of our diluted freedoms

 On a nearly daily basis, you can see the images on a national television news broadcast: an invading or occupying army taking control of an urban neighborhood.

Usually, the soldiers armed with assault rifles with bullets strapped to their chests and the armored vehicles with mounted machine guns are strolling down the bombed-marked streets of some Middle Eastern city. Or maybe one in Russia. Or Africa or, on occasion, in Central America.

But last week, those images were from America. Not just America, but the Midwest. But not just the Midwest, it was in St. Louis, less than 30 miles from where I was raised.

I think the frequency of the international incidents of this sort had desensitized me. But when I saw Americans, Missourians in fact, literally in the crosshairs of a militarized police force, I felt a chill of fear. 

After a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager Saturday, the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson in North County transformed itself into a war zone within a few days. 

The occupying army moved in, dressed in fatigues and full battle gear, literally pointing assault rifles at American women and children. Protesters, peaceful and non-peaceful alike, were tear gassed. Looters attacked businesses and police started arresting (randomly at times) whoever opposed them, including members of the media. 

It was at that point when I realized how out of control the situation had become. Among the media arrested was a reporter for the Washington Post who had experience covering combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

This is a man who has experience in keeping his head down while interacting with the military in a fashion that allowed both to do their jobs. 

But when he refused to stop recording police and their interactions with the public, he was arrested. 

I then realized all I feared about the disregard of the constitution and our basic freedoms was reality. Right to peacefully protest and assemble? Nope. Freedom of the press? Forget it, unless you are willing to write and photograph what we tell you. 

What surprises me more though is the public’s willingness to accept this oppressive behavior. 

If a gun show in the Midwest was not only shut down, but all the weapons confiscated along with the all the weapons of anyone attending the gun show because of illegal sales there, we’d have a redneck riot. 

The illegal seizure of that private property and violation of the second amendment would send folks into a tizzy, promising a national revolution led by the NRA. 

But since it’s a bunch of black folks, of which a minority are breaking the law, we don’t bat an eye when their constitutional rights are entirely compromised. And as for the arrest of the reporters … well, they probably just deserved it and should have done (and always do) whatever the police tell them. 

I know I’m not supposed to mention race, but let’s face it, in general, as middle-class Caucasians, we can’t relate or care to sympathize with the plight of the urban black population. It’s easy to disassociate ourselves from them and their problems and ignore them when injustice occurs in their community. 

The danger in that though is if the constitution can be disregarded in Ferguson, it can be disregarded anywhere.

Part of my larger fear is as a society, we are more accepting of allowing our Constitutional rights be trampled, especially since 9/11.

The Sept. 11 attacks opened Pandora’s Box in regards to our guaranteed freedoms found in the Bill of Rights. 

After that terrorist attack, we rushed to approve the Patriot Act, which is the most destructive piece of legislation in the history of this country in terms of your personal freedoms. 

Thanks to that law, which was passed in the name of safety against terrorism, you can now be arrested without a charge and held in custody indefinitely. Additionally, the government can also monitor your personal activity, ranging from who you call to how much money is in your bank account to what books you check out at the library, all without a warrant or some other independent judicial approval. 

Federal legislators overwhelmingly approved the Patriot Act, advocating the loss of personal freedoms was the price that had to be paid to ensure national security. 

That may be true, but since then, that same philosophy has been used to advocate additional infringements on our rights and I believe we have reached a point where as a society, we are too willing to accept that. 

However, tear gassing homes, arresting reporters and disregarding the rules of engagement in the names of public safety is not something I’m willing to accept. 

It’s terrifying and it’s wrong. 

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.