From the shooting to the bungled investigation to the heavy-handed crackdowns on civilian protesters and reporters, the government handled Ferguson about as poorly as imaginable, and seemingly kept bungling into new situations causing more violence.
With the grand jury investigation wrapping up in St. Louis, officials aren’t shy about the fact that they’re going to create a lot more violence, with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declaring a 30-day state of emergency, with the mobilization of the National Guard, in anticipation of a bloody new crackdown they plan to launch after the verdict.
Officials tried to portray civilian protesters as “extremists” last time, but this time they’re not even waiting for the beginning of the protests to start condemning them, with the FBI predicting “likely violence” nationwide, and blaming the protesters, who mind you, aren’t even protesting yet, for the violence that the government is planning against them, but which hasn’t happened yet.
The FBI even went on to condemn the future protesters for potentially wearing gas masks and bulletproof vests to defend themselves against the endless tear gas grenades and rubber bullets they plan on firing against them.
They’re not waiting for the verdict to start trying to manage the narrative of their plan to violently crush dissent. Not cracking down on demonstrators appears to have never been considered, instead it’s just a question of selling it to the media better this time.
