MSNBC host Joe Scarborough called the bipartisan national outrage at the St. Louis County Police Department for its deployment of heavy weaponry against unarmed protesters “a watershed moment” for militarized police forces all across America.
The “Morning Joe” host ripped into the St. Louis suburb’s disastrous handling of protests and riots earlier this week, particularly the deployment of tanks and heavily-armed and armored police officers to stave off a largely peaceful protest on Wednesday night.
“How do you know when you’re in trouble on a political issue?” he asked. “When Barack Obama, Rand Paul, CATO, the ACLU, Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz are all against you. I mean, the militarization of local police is crazy.”
“I’m sorry, you look at these people in Ferguson and, yes, you have to preface it, ‘there was rioting, there was looting,’ as Barack Obama said that is unacceptable,” Scarborough continued. “But there’s a lot of police officers in Ferguson who looked like they were on a power trip, playing soldier.”
“I think this has got to be a watershed moment for police departments across middle America,” the MSNBC host later concluded.