Same as it Ever Was

Jeffery St. Clair reminds us that the militarization of U.S. law enforcement isn't merely a post-9/11 syndrome that revealed itself at Ferguson.

In 1921 General John T. Thompson invented the Thompson Submachine Gun (or Tommy Gun), the most lethal firearm of its time, which was capable of firing 1,000 rounds per minute. The first sales of the so-called “Annihilator” weapons were to the US Postal Inspectors Service. The gun was soon marketed to police forces across the country and by 1933 had become a standard weapon in the arsenal of Hoover’s FBI. Today’s FBI SWAT teams are armed with MP5/10 submachine guns, M4 carbine rifles, M1911A1 Springfield pistols, .40 Glocks, Remington 12 gauge shotguns, stun guns, tasers and grenades. The people at Waco and Ruby Ridge never stood a chance.

TS