How the US police in Ferguson became a militarised unit equipped for war

By Nick O'Malley
Updated August 23 2014 - 6:18pm, first published 5:36pm
Land of the free: Sniper-wielding policemen have become the face of America this week. Photo: Scott Olson
Land of the free: Sniper-wielding policemen have become the face of America this week. Photo: Scott Olson
Baghdad or Missouri?: Khaki-clad police officers apprehend a man in Ferguson during this week's protests. Photo: Curtis Compton
Baghdad or Missouri?: Khaki-clad police officers apprehend a man in Ferguson during this week's protests. Photo: Curtis Compton
Battle zone: The images of heavily armed police shocked both the left wing and libertarian sides of US politics. Photo: Michael Thomas
Battle zone: The images of heavily armed police shocked both the left wing and libertarian sides of US politics. Photo: Michael Thomas
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Baby Bou Bou was sound asleep in what should have been the safest place in the world when the men came. His whole family surrounded him. After a house fire in Wisconsin the Phonesavanh family had moved in with relatives in a tiny town called Cornelia in north-east Georgia. There they shared a converted garage attached to a home on a sprawling rural block.

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