the efforts appeared to work, the unanswers questions and discrepancies involving the ferguson, missouri police department. we'll keep you posted all day long. a special edition of the stream happens right now, here is lisa fletcher. >> hi i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." what a difference a day makes from tear gas tanks rubber bullets. from st. louis police to the highwahighway patrol. we speak with representative hank johnson, about a bill he proposes that would limit tanks and m-16 rifles. and as racial tension have reached a boiling point what's next for a suburb where

segregated neighborhoods. >> a riot on twitter, hear from those in ferguson, unarmed black teen michael brown's death. >> my co-host and digital producer wajahat ali ask here. so much faster online. >> fast and mad on twitter. hashtag ferguson, calls it fergus-tein. press conference right now, captain johnson is now trending. check out my page, it's happening that quick.

global solidarity movement. we have the hashtag don't shoot, a young boy holding the sign don't shoot. if they gun me down what picture would they use? the gentleman said they'd probably use the picture on the left, that's been tweeted 21,000 times. we've got some really wonderful solidarity movements popping up, mos 14. national moment of silence, in new york, yesterday and today, cities across america. >> and that don't shoot hashtag, woman who start id it, actually on the show today. how did we get here, what's led to the racial tensions in ferguson? tashara johnson. responsible for the hashtag don't shoot. and one of the leading applications for the city's african american community and t. manyj j. conrad.

thank you, c.j, waj and i were just talking about it, we just heard from governor nixon and highway patrol officer johnson. hugs and handshakes he said, declared his task to be ensuring the safety and security of citizens, the people of ferguson must have their voice and their right to gather maintained. no question on anyone's mind that he was there solely as part of the people. how has his message changed things on the ground since he arrived there less than 24 hours ago? >> it's a night-and-day difference. just the calm now. there was so much tension and frustration prior to this. and right now, i mean, it's -- there are really not even words for it. it's just completely different. there's a whole 'nother love in

the air. he should have been here three days before quite honestly. >> isishmael, it didn't seem lie he did much other than i hear yah, we're going to keep you safe, is it that simple? >> that it's simple. i don't know the reason that didn't happen before but as i was down there at quick trip, as you call ground zero yesterday i saw him walk through the ground. he was talking to the individuals. he was listening to what they said. some of them are still angry, still outraged but he allowed them to express that outrage, was not threatened by it, he did not call in armed police officers for it. just those people seeing that he cared was enough to quell the protests. >> so things are moving in the right direction. tashara you started the hashtag, don't shoot.

it got unbelievable traction. now you've got people's attention for a second. what do you do with it before they're on to the next trending hashtag? >> we started don't shoot, a group of young concerned citizens and mief myself so we n get their attention. there are a list of demands on don'tshootmo.com. our number one concern going forward, for this to be a fair and transparent investigation and for justice to be served is that a special prosecutor needs to be assigned by the missouri attorney general. >> aldara says my seven-year-old wrote this. dear police it was not nice to

shoot mike brown and i did not like when you threw the pregnant woman on the ground. stop. sincerely, alice, age 7. people knew about watts in the '60s, l.a. in the 90s. the world would not have known or engaged in this conversation without social media. c.j, you have been working with social media on this. do you think the world would have known would have cared about what's happening in ferguson, what happened with mike brown, unarmed shooting of a teenager without social media? >> no way. there's no way possible. definitely not this fast. to me it was mind blowing to see it had gotten across the nation overnight and around the world the next day.

the media aren't covering it the way it is now, the national media wasn't covering it, it was only after we kept speaking posting articles over and over and you know grass roots reporters came in. that's whether it was like oh this is something we need to pay attention o. >> so ishmael, waj just asked, would the world have known, but can the world pay attention, that's my question to you, how do you sustain this to the point where you actually see change? >> i think the protests are the first step in this. people making sure that their voice is heard and people making sure that message is positive. i don't believe that the media coverage would have been the same without the violence which is unfortunate, but now that the media is watching, the protesters have to remain peaceful they have to have a positive message.

tashara has the website and the list of demands. people have to come together and have a message on the same page to be resolute with it and the leaders will be forced to listen. >> tashara you work in local government. do you sense racial tensions in your environment there? >> yes, there are some tensions there and they're more covert rather than overt, when you get to local government. and i've experienced it. in slight ways. but this position allows me to -- allows me the power to speak truth to power. and so i just move past it. racism is one of those things that's always going to exist. and the way we have to deal with it is, you know, to make sure that we call it out as we see it and we have those uncomfortable conversations with our peers about how what they said made me feel. it's simple psychology.

when you said this, i felt like this. and until we have those conversations, and make sure that you know our peers see where we're coming from, i think we'll still have that issue. >> lisa you and tashara, you're talking about racial tensions. we asked our community what are those problems how can it be fixed? manny, how can we where di disassemble, racial inequality? lack of community outreach, pick one, c.j. what are the deep and existing problems that, in the nation, that are reflected by what's happening in ferguson right now? >> i think all of that was said, is all valid quite honestly.

everything tashara was saying, it's gotten to the point that racism is as overt now, it's all under. and there's no way to pinpoint or point out things until it becomes a physical or verbal or violent things it seems as though. but it's deep-seated and i don't know how we could change it without totally changing the system, quite honest. because it's what this country was developed on. you know? >> ishmael the tensions didn't happen -- go ahead tashara. >> i'm sorry. >> no, go ahead. >> c.j. made a good point when he talked about changing the system. we look at ferguson, how we got here. two-thirds african american and they have little representation on the school board or the county council.

we encourage people to participate in the process and make that easy to participate in the process. our secretary of state tried to get early voting to make it easy for people to participate in the civic process. >> ishmael, disproportionate representation is certainly the issue, but these types of racial tensions don't happen overnight. the nuanced things like lower socioeconomic places, they don't have good public transportation to places where there are jobs. what are things that are fundamentally embedded in the system that keep these tensions just percolating right under the surface? >> one of those, the key is education. we see in a lot of our lower socioeconomic districts, we have struggling schools, they don't have the funding they need, they don't get all the proper resources. so that is a big issue.

we also see a lack of businesses in these areas. so i think until we get the community, until we get them to a higher socioeconomic, until we provide them with more opportunities that tension is going to exist. also here in st. louis county, i believe there are 91 municipalities. and there's an issue with officers, again, who don't necessarily represent the community. they look at the community members, specifically young black males, as a threat. the piece i wrote, i was pulled over i'm estimating more than 50 times. i know it was more than 50 times between the age of 18 and 25. >> 50 times? >> five-zero, absolutely. there are a handful of times i did deserve to be pulled over but most of those times the officer would say oh well what are you doing or where are you going? or they would tell me hey your

license plate light is out and when i got home and checked it it was on and shining brightly. and so any time you have that type of situation, where you feel that you're being picked on and you're being preyed upon by the people who are supposed to be protecting your liberties, then you're going ohave this built-up tension. and that's what caused a lot of the reaction sunday night, the looting and things like that because people were fed up. >> a little later in the show we're going to talk more about that and what has to happen to create change. obviously no shortage of criticism at ferguson police how they have handled peaceful protest and how they did with looting. up next, st. louis police officer saying they were overly aggressive and what they can do to change that? we will weigh on it. use the hashtag, ajamstream.

>> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism

♪ >> welcome back. ferguson, missouri has become a flash point bringing to the surface some of america's most hot button issues. one of which is the military like appearance that's been adopted by an increasing number of law enforcement agencies. chuck drago served as a police chief, wild 30 considered an

expert. chuck, the type of vehicles used, the weapons they displayed, we can get into that a minute. but opinions on whether that type of four power does, can it alone escalate tensions? >> oh there's no question about it, it does escalate tensions. that type of equipment shouldn't be brought out until it is absolutely necessary that you need that type of force. not just to show force. that equipment does nothing but fuel the fire and insight people. you create a warfare type of environment when you do that. >> chuck is there a case to be made for local police to have that sort of equipment on hand, and just have better discernment as to whether -- as to when to bring it out? >> some of the equipment has value. ballistic material, helmets,

ballistic vests, there's rescue equipment you can get from the military, dive teams and so forth to help rescue people. there is value in some of the equipment. but it's -- i think it becomes -- has become overkim. and you have -- overkill. and you have departments that are bringing in armored personnel vehicles and high powered rifles and things like that that they'll probably never, ever use and even if it was something that was helpful for police you could do it on a regional basis and get one for a county or multicounties that type of thing. all these departments that have been getting them now it's become an overabundance of it and not necessary in most cases. >> i want to bring in georgia state representative hank johnson. joining us live on the phone. really appreciate you being with us. he is drafting legislation he proposes to restrict the defense

department program that provides military equipment, providing machine guns to m wraps to law enforcement for free. representative johnson why are you proposing this legislation to restrict this dod clause? >> well, it is -- and thank you for having me. but this kind of militarization of police across america it's definitely different from the type of life that americans are used to leading. it's a step away from a form of government towards a martial law type of government. we don't need to have that kind of -- we don't need our citizens to feel that they are under the coercive influence of a mil militarily equipped police department, when there's

actually no domestic need of a show of force like that. so i'm concerned about it from that angle and i'm also concerned about what happens when a small municipality finally gets a bill for an overhaul of an engine on an m wrap or a need for some new tires on one of those tactical -- tactical armored vehicles. something breaks down. and then they decide to just declare the property surplus and sell it out on -- sell it as surplus city equipment. then anybody that wants to buy it can come in and, you know, spend 25 or $50 just to take it off of the hands of the agency. >> representative johnson, our social media community was asking how can we reform law enforcement police departments? should be reformed to deal with

people, how can the law enforcement be, quit being like the army. joe says it wouldn't solve everything but not having a 95% white police force in an overwhelming black community couldn't hurt. chuck, you are a law enforcement expert. how can we regain trust with the community? >> this is a long long road. this isn't going to happen overnight. so much damage has occurred there between the community and the police. the police have got a long way to fight back, so to speak. to gain the trust of that community. they've lost it. they lost it a long time ago. there's no trust between the two groups for sure. there's going to need to be a change. my honest opinion is there's going to need to be a change at the top of that police department and of that city. because the city leaders have allowed that to happen. >> chuck, hang on i want you to continue that thought but i want

you to hear, you may have already heard it, it was from captain ron johnson of the missouri highway patrol. he was talking about trust, when he got thrown a question from the audience 20, 30 minutes ago. take a listen. >> we know this isn't a perfect world, you say you have a barber shop, not ever barber is good, that's the way of the world. when i got home last night my daughter said daddy were you scared, i said just a little bit. she said daddy, i want you to remember when jesus asked peter, to walk on water. have faith. we need to be like peter, i know we're scared, around we're going to fall but he's going to pick us up and pick this community

up. >> he's talking about having faith to rebuild this community. but when we talk about trust, we're talking about communities not having trust, but a fundamental lack of trust when it comes to police in the community? >> there's no doubt about it, it goes both ways and the police show that clearly when they refuse to release information, they don't talk to the community, they don't talk to the family. you got to remember that somebody's lost one of their family members, you've got to go and talk to those people and explain to them what's going on,ings open up your investigation, be more -- open up your community, be more transparent. they show that, when the protests came out with such a use of force with k-9 dogs and it is a we and them type of relationship there. they're not going to trust people and the people don't trust them. and you can't function that way.

the police are part of the community. they need to be able to function together. but you have to have that relationship before something like this happens, before a bad thing happens you have to have that relationship. so that the community can trust the police. >> so c.j. you've lived there a lot -- >> a lot of people need to look like. i'm sorry evere so i i think the police need to look like the communities they serve. ferguson has 55 officers and only five are african american or minority. that's a stark contrast. one of our demands is to hire at least 10 african american or minority police officers by january 2015. >> chuck makes a great point, these issues have existed for a very long time. and even if tashara's group's demands are met which are completely reasonable, even out

the completion of the police force, just because those things are forced to be made to happen doesn't necessarily mean it's going to fix anything. how do you fix this in a place where there's been no trust for a very, very long time? >> well you need the retraining of the police officers. they need to know when the use of force is required. and when there's an opportunity ofor you to not have to use fore and defuse the situation by taking a step back. and when you get police officers who have equipment that they're not trained to understand when to deploy, it causes problems like this. >> i think it goes even deeper than that quite honestly. because the preexisting trust wasn't there quite honestly. i mean, the -- it's like was

saying, they don't -- chuck was saying. we drive through and when we look suspicious that's when they step forward and get aggressive. >> community policing. >> the community policing is what is needed. it's been -- a lot of police departments voice that they have got community policing but they don't really practice it. it's a philosophy. not just a slogan on the side of the police car. a great point is that why doesn't that police department have a better representation of its community. why isn't anybody in the leadership of that city saying, why aren't we hiring people from our own community? and even if you don't set a quota, you want so many african americans so many whites, why aren't we hiring people from our own community? which if you were you would have a whole heck of a lot more african americans on there. are we trying to avoid that,

stepping away from our own community? that's one of the first questions that city leaders should be asking that police chief, what is going on here. >> talking about leadership, president obama made statements about ferguson, we asked the community, what did you think about his statements? >> indian warrior princess who cares about what that mouth piece says? and then in the end obama will stand with law enforcement, most politician he do. it's important that he called for leadership. ishmael, what type of leadership do you want from him from the executive to change this conversation? >> well, as far as president obama, he's so far removed from the situation. i think he did what he turned it over to the justice department for an investigation. i think that was a positive move. i do think that honestly, the local politician he, the local

authorities, have more influence in this situation here in ferguson and here in the other st. louis counties. i think they have more influence than the president does. but i do think you know, just to answer your question, i think that him calling upon, for peace, him calling for justice, for whatever mapped with the police officer, in that situation, i think that was correct. but i think the -- you know, governor nixon, it took him a while before he came out definitively and took a stand as the governor. we saw some of our local politicians, at one time ward in st. louis city alderman antonio french was arrested. senator maria chappell nadal was gassed by the police officers out there. when you have the politician he who represent us being arrested or gassed and the others like governor nixon being silent on

the situation, it causes the unrest in the community. >> what was disheartening in the community was there was no community leaders stepping up. antonio french, he's in the city and out here all the time. there are people who are in this community who are being quiet. >> 20 seconds c.j. >> i'm sorry, yeah but the local government is not saying anything. the state government isn't saying anything. it's kind of -- it's scary. >> on that note we are out of time but i want to thank all our guests today. tashara, ishmael, c.j, representative drago, chuck, until then, waj and i will see you online. you online.

"techknow", a show about innovation, we explore humanity, and we'll do if in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. tonight military technology in the e.r. >> night vision goggles show surgeons something they could never see before.