The Crisis in Ferguson Meets Libertarianism

The Crisis in Ferguson Meets Libertarianism

08/15/14

W. James Antle III

Domestic Politics, Law, Civil Society, United States

"Libertarians have been warning about the consequences of militarizing domestic law enforcement for quite some time."

Since Robert Draper’s provocative New York Times piece posed the question, national pundits have been consumed by whether the country is experiencing a “libertarian moment.” Their answers have varied, largely based on what they think about libertarianism themselves.

If anywhere in America could use a libertarian moment, it is Ferguson, Missouri. That’s where Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old, unarmed black man, was shot to death by the police. Since then, all hell has broken loose.

The police claim Brown was going for the officer’s gun. One eyewitness said all Brown did was instinctively pull away when the officer grabbed him by the throat. Some accounts have Brown running down the street with his hands up as he was shot.

Ferguson apparently doesn’t equip its police cruisers with dashboard cameras, so the facts remain in doubt. Police officers deserve as much of a legal presumption of innocence as any other American citizen; perhaps he is telling the truth.

What is beyond dispute is that since Ferguson erupted in response to this tragic incident, the authorities haven’t done much to instill public confidence. Not only have they declined to release relevant details, much like the police officer in question is accused of doing, they have escalated the situation very quickly by engaging in a series of clashes with understandably upset demonstrators.

Many in Ferguson’s black community feel Brown was at best a victim of wildly disproportionate force, at worst summarily executed at least in part because of his race. So how have the police responded? With tanks, armored vehicles, rubber bullets and tear gas—a show of force redolent of a Third World dictatorship suppressing a popular revolt. Observers have pointed out that they look more like an occupying power than a police force paid to serve and protect the community.

Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-crisis-ferguson-meets-libertarianism-11082