Yup, you get it free each month to help you avoid surprises with your credit. Good. I hate surprises. Surprise at discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card and see your fico® credit score. Stay tuned to msnbc for tonights breaking news from ferguson. Thanks for watch withing. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. Suburban war zone. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im in for chris matthews. Leading off tonight, all eyes are on ferguson, missouri, where authorities are bracing for another night of protests toefr shooting of an unarmed africanamerican teenager by a Police Officer last saturday. Protesters are once again taking to the streets at this hour. They have been joined by local Ferguson Police in the Missouri StateHighway Patrol. Ferguson police are expected to hold a News Conference at any moment. When that happens well take you there live. Last night the streets of the st. Louis suburb looked and felt like a war zone. Police in riot gear launched teargas and smoke bombs to disperse crowds. Some officers had guns trained on the crowds while standing on their vehicles. They fired teargas at a crew from aljazeera. A local politician was arrested for unlawful assembly. Today a host of National Politicians from Claire Mchaskill and Elizabeth Warren to rand paul called the Police Tactics over the top. Police say they were protecting themselves after getting attacked with molotov cocktails and bricks from some in the crowd. President obama spoke about the crisis for the first time this afternoon. Now is the time for healing. Now is the time for peace and calm on the streets of ferguson. Now is the time for an open and transparent process to see that justice is done. Meanwhile, missouri governor jay nixon this afternoon announced a major change. He appointed the states Highway Patrol to direct the security situation in ferguson. Whats gone on here over the last few days is not what missouri is about. Its not what ferguson is about. This is a place where people work, go to school, raise families and go to church. A diverse community, a missouri community. Lately it looks more like a war zone. Thats unacceptable. Today i am announcing that the missouri Highway Patrol under the supervision of captain ron johnson who grew up in this area will be directing the team that provides security in ferguson. I just felt at this particular point that the attitudes werent improving. And that the blocks toward expression appeared to be a
flash point. On msnbc today civil rights icon congressman john lewis said what hes seeing in ferguson remientds him of civil rights struggles of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. He had advice for president obama. My own feeling is right now is that president obama should use the authority of his office to declare martial law. Federalize the Missouri National guard to protect people as they protest. Msnbcs tremain lee is in ferguson. He covered the protests last night when police fired teargas. I have tried to get away from the smoke. I can barely breathe. My nose is burning. My lungs are burning. Cant escape it. The further back you go it hangs in the air. It looks like the police have taken over completely at the end of the street. But again, far down the street
the clouds of teargas engulfing everything. Trymaine joins us now from ferguson. Also from usa today and perry bacon. Trymaine you have been doing incredible reporting. We appreciate it. Its invaluable, especially last night. So the missouri governor holds a prochbs. We played a clip. He said that people in ferguson would notice immediate differences because hes bringing in the state Highway Patrol the to oversee the security situation. He said immediate differences. He said police would, quote, step back a little bit. Going forward right away. Now a few hours later are there immediate differences that are apparent and noticeable . The most apparent and noticeable is now they have a black face to put on a Law Enforcement apparatus. Until today you saw hostly white county Police Officers, mostly White FergusonPolice Officers manning the front line of this
contentious battle between protesters that dug in and they will fight for justice for the death of Michael Brown. Law enforcement are getting all the ire from the crowd. I spoke with people earlier. They said he was walking through the crowd, talking to people. He grew up in the area. Well see what happens tonight. If there is anything like last night, i cant imagine it will be different unlessle they are not firing rub arer bullets and canisters of teargas into the crowd which we dont expect. Once night fall hits in ferguson with the crowd growing you never know how it will turn out. Thats the question. So much has been happening when the sun goes down the last five or six nights out there. What are you expecting tonight . In terms of a Police Reaction based on the changes made today . I think people are really and me, we are all expecting much of the same in terms of the idea that people arent going to stop protesting. People arent going to go home. A lot of people here are fed up. I talked to a man today who said we are happy the st. Louis county police arent here anymore. Understand that we are united and we are frustrated and this the officers name needs to be released. They want the officer charged with murder. So people have real issues here. They have real things they want to happen. Changing the police will hopefully help people understand this is a different regime that maybe things will be calmer. In fact, people have the exact same grievances. We have to keep it in mind when we think what will happen tonight. People are mad that a young, unarmed black han was shot in ferguson. Today, Ferguson Police chief Thomas Jackson described the situation as a powder keg. He defended the defense from police and acknowledged that they need a new plan. Whats happening now is not what any of us want. Last night we started getting rocks, bricks, bottles thrown at
us and a molotov cocktail and gunfire went off. We need to get everyone to calm down and try to bring some peace to this. We want everybody to be able to protest. We know they are going to protest. We want to facilitate their ability to protest. Trymaine, let me go back to you. This is the line we have heard. We hear it there from the Police Department. Last night the police were under attack. It was the molotov cocktails, bricks being thrown at them. Youre on the ground. What you are hearing from the police about what they are saying protesters are doing to them. Does that square with what you are seeing on the ground . From my Vantage Point 35 feet away from where the first canisters were fired i didnt see rocks thrown. I didnt see molotov cocktails. Someone did throw something at one of the police vehicles. I heard it bounce off the truck just a moment before they ordered the crowd to disperse. Again my Vantage Point was mine. From everything i have seen it was a mostly peaceful protest. There were people in the crowd who were belligerent, who were increasingly angry. But that was by and large a small minority of people who came out and protested peacefully last night. I wonder, too, the response you see from the crowd there. We have talked so much about the term we use is the militarization of the police. Walking around camouflaged, heavily armed. Almost a war zone. What effect does it have on the crowds . I have an aneck do it. Last night i was at the foerg son police station. There were 50 protesters there. They werent throwing rocks or doing anything. The crowd starteded it started getting late. At 2 30 in the morning the Police Showed up in tanks. There were four tanks and 60 officers. More officers than protesters saying we want you to put down your weapons, put down your
rocks. That was when people got fired up. People got upset. When the cops were telling people this is how you need to act. This is what you need to do. Make sure you are nonviolent. Thats when people got upset and felt they were being profiled. Before that the crowd was pretty calm. There is something to be said there. I talked to the st. Louis naacp. They said we need to make sure the police arent coming, expecting the worst and creating the worst. President obama today talked about the need for people in positions of authority to hold themselves to high standards. They criticized people who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism and looting. Of course it is important to remember how this started. We lost a young man, Michael Brown, in heartbreaking and tragic circumstances. He was 18 years old. His family will never hold michael in their arms again. When Something Like this happens, the local authorities, including the police have a
responsibility to be open and transparent about how they are investigating that death and how they are protecting the people in their communities. There is never an excuse for violence against police or for those who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting. There is also no excuse for police to use Excessive Force against peaceful protests or throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. Perry bacon, let me bring you in here. When there is a contentious issue anywhere in the country there is always a lot of conversation in the white house about whether, when and how the president can or should speak out about it. In terms of this situation and the remarks we got from the president today, what do we know about the deliberations that were going on in the white house in terms of why they those today to speak and what specific message they wanted to send today. Last nights events with the teargas and the intensity last
night. Reporters arrested and things that happened last night drove them. Felt like the president had to talk today. Felt like today he had to talk. He had a statement on tuesday. Felt today he needed to address this personally. The key thing in terms of what he said was you have heard this not only from the president but attorney general holder, Claire Mchaskill, rand paul. There was a big focus today on reducing the tone, the intensity and trying to communicate to the Police Officers that the militarization was a problem. The a. G. Had a very strong statement. The idea that whatever is happening there, the militarization, all the tanks, the guns have ratcheted up in a way that the president was trying to calm down today. To go back to you in ferguson, the president s words today, perry is describing what they were hoping to achieve. Can you see on the ground a difference . Any result on the ground of what
the president said today . Did it have an impact . I talked to a number of people who hadnt even heard anything about the president s statements. Its unclear whether it trickled down. Everyone is out on the streets, not necessarily in front of their tvs. They may not be tuned in to social media. What happened last night is the local Law Enforcement agencies created adversaries they didnt have days ago. There were people at the local target in the wendys who said before tonight i was on the fence. They came out with snipers, rifles and the chief said it was a powder keg. If so, the way Law Enforcement handles this could be a torch. Again, senator mchas kill is saying today will be a new day. National leaders and local leaders saying this is a time for peace. Tonight will tell the tale whether we are inching forward to peace or escalating the situation. Thank you. Coming up, how Police Tacticsmade the situation worse and what they can do to calm things down. Covering the biggest story in the country. Well talk to two reporters cuffed and arrested last night. President obama, the first africanamerican president , finds himself confronting a racially charged situation. Finally, well finish with something we havent seen for a long time in american politics. Senators saying this time the police have gone too far. This is hardball, the place for politics. Unlimited cash back. Let that phrase sit with you for a second. Unlimited. As in, no limits on your hardearned cash back. As in no more dealing with those rotating categories. The quicksilver card from capital one. Unlimited 1. 5 cash back on everything you purchase, every day. Dont settle for anything less. Ill keep asking. Whats in your wallet . In a Statement Today attorney general eric holder said Law Enforcement in ferguson should try to reduce tensions not heighten them. He said at a time when we must seek to rebuild trust between Law Enforcement and the local community i am concerned with the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message. At my Direction Department officials conveyed the concerns to local authorities. Also at my direction the department is offering through
our cops office and office of jut programs Technical Assistance to local authorities in order to help conduct crowd control and maintain Public Safety without displays of force. Local authorities in missouri have accepted the offer of assistance as of this afternoon. Well be right back after this. Padvil pm gives you the healingu at nsleep you need, it. Helping you fall asleep and stay asleep so your body can heal as you rest. Advil pm. For a healing nights sleep. Thats why i always choose the fastest intern. R slow. The fastest printer. The fastest lunch. Turkey club. The fastest pencil sharpener. The fastest elevator. The fastest speed dial. The Fastest Office plant. So why wouldnt i choose the fastest wifi . I would. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get the fastest wifi included. Comcast business. Built for business. There is an element that tries to provoke officers to take action. The officers by and large have responded very well. The amount of people and the amount of looting and some of the violence and virtually nobody got hurt. Thats a credit to restraint. Back to hardball. That was Thomas Jackson of ferguson, missouri, yesterday afternoon for the images over the subsequent 24 hours paint a different picture. We saw how a heavily armed Police Swat Team trained rifles on protesters demonstrating a
few yards away. We saw Police Descend on the crowd of 150 people after nightfall firing flashbang grenades and teargas to deafen and blind targets. All while knowing a dozen or so journalists were embedded it didnt resemble the restrained response the police chief described earlier in the day. Its raised questions about whether the line between Law Enforcement and military force has been blurred in recent years. According to a report in the economist magazine this year between 2002 and 2011 the department of Homeland Security disbushed 35 wl billion in grants to state and local police that cob used to buy surplus military equipment from the pentagon. According to the defense logistics agency, quote, in 2013 alone, 449 million worth of property was transferred to Law Enforcement. That can include anything from rifles and ammunition to mine
resistant ambush protected vehicles. In ferguson over 400 are in the hands of domestic Law Enforcement. The vehicle you see there was used by the military in the middle east. Its now the property of the Connecticut Police department. Across the country, local and state Police Departments have been rapidly militarizing forces. The underlying question is how you use the force prudently, if at all. Joining me now is Law Enforcement analyst jim cavanaugh. Former atf Special Agent and liz brown, attorney and columnist for the st. Louis americans. Jim, let me start with you. This has been a wakeup moment for a lot of americans, myself included. We realize the scope of the equipment and the raw force at the hands of Police Forces all across the country, even in places like this. This is a town of 20,000, 25,000 people. It raise it is question when you look at the equipment we were talking about. You look at the equipment being used in ferguson. How much of this stuff do police force miss this country actually
need . They need less. They could use more negotiators equipment. You can go to almost any Police Department and talk to the negotiators. They will tell you they cant get the money for rescue phones which is a sophisticated phone we use to deal in barricades or hos taj situations. The money doesnt go to the softer side, the brainy side. It goes to the vehicles and a lot of the heavy equipment. Its not needed. The police dont need the mrat. We were the bomb investigators for the government. We didnt get many mines. You dont need that kind of vehicle. Now an Armored Vehicle commercially built that the police use, there is a standard
for that. The police do need that. Even if if youre going to negotiate someone out o