Have you heard of "Urban Shield", the military equipment convention? Check it out.
by digby
I've got a piece up in Salon today about the militarization of police, a subject I've been concerned with since I started writing this blog. I don't know that I add all that much to what's been written recently about it, but I haven't seen much out there about this:
Since 9/11 the United States has been spending vast sums of money through DHS to outfit the state and local authorities with surveillance and military gear ostensibly to fight the terrorist threat at home.
What we have been seeing in Ferguson, Missouri, these past few days is largely a result of that program — and an entire industry has grown up around it. Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly concerned about this deployment of military gear. Where in the world has Eric Holder and every other officeholder who’s expressed dismay these last couple of days been? This equipment didn’t just materialize on its own. As we’ve seen, it’s mostly been paid for by the federal government. Indeed, in less than a month a group of militarized police equipment vendors across the nation will be gathering for an annual confab called “Urban Shield” (“Critical training for critical time”) in Oakland, California. It features dozens of sponsors, from the Department of Homeland Security and police agencies all over the country to such vendors as Armored Mobility Inc., which bills itself as “the Worldwide Leader in Dynamic Mobile Armor and Shields: Today’s threat is rifle rounds and they are coming in bunches, through doors, walls and ceilings! Our Dynamic Armor and Mobile Armored Shields will save lives!!!!” Here’s one of its “highlight” videos:
There is a lot more at the link. But if you do nothing else, check out that Youtube. It's chilling.