Ferguson or Iraq? Photos Unmask the Militarization of America's Police

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Dustin DrankoskiAug 13, 2014

The racial tensions, looting, vandalism and police tactics that have followed Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, have raised the question: Is this really what America looks like in 2014?
Brown, a black 18-year-old who was unarmed, was reportedly shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of St. Louis. Residents protesting his death have flooded the streets this week, and photographs of police trying to contain them bear an eerie resemblance to a military operation.

As America scaled back its presence in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2012, military gear — amphibious tanks, weapons, uniforms and drones — spilled into local police arsenals. In June, an ACLU report warned of the "excessive militarization" of local law enforcement. "This has the effect of terrifying people, destroying communities and actually undermining public safety," Kara Dansky, ACLU senior counsel, told Mashable in June.
The photos below show the heavily armed Ferguson police officers, dressed in camouflaged uniforms. They are set side-by-side with images of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Left: Ferguson. Right: Iraq.

(L) Police in Ferguson wearing riot gear walk toward a man with his hands raised on Monday. (R) U.S. soldiers in Mosul, Iraq, search house-by-house for illegal weapons on January 20, 2005.

Image: Jeff Roberson/AP, Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
Left: Ferguson. Right: Iraq.

(L) St. Louis County Tactical Police fire tear gas along West Florissant Road in Ferguson. (R) A grenade explodes close to a U.S. Army humvee during clashes in Mosul, Iraq, on June 13, 2003.

Image: Robert Cohen/St. Louis Dispatch, Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty Images
Left: Ferguson. Right: Afghanistan.

(L) Police take up position to control demonstrators who were protesting the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson on Tuesday. (R) U.S. Army soldiers patrol a village in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on February 27, 2014.

Image: Scott Olson/Getty Images, Scott Olson Getty Images
Left: Ferguson. Right: Iraq.

(L) A police officer looks through the scope of his rifle as he gets into position to control demonstrators in Ferguson on Tuesday. (R) A U.S. Marine sniper prepares to fire at insurgents in the town of Kusaiybah on the Syrian-Iraqi border on October 27, 2005.

Image: Scott Olson/Getty Images, Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images
Left: Ferguson. Right: Afghanistan.

(L) A Missouri State Highway Patrol tactical vehicle travels down South Florissant Road in Ferguson on Monday. (R) A U.S. Army Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle is parked at the entrance of a U.S. outpost in Khost, Afghanistan, on June 28, 2011.

Image: Michael B Thomas/Getty Images, Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images
Left: Ferguson. Right: Iraq.

(L) Police prepare to encounter demonstrators in Ferguson on Tuesday. (R) U.S. soldiers point out to a sniper's position after coming under fire during an offensive operation in Najaf, Iraq, on August 15, 2004.

Image: Scott Olson/Getty Images, Joe Raedle/Getty Images