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attacking freedom of the press. and how can the community heal? a night of special coverage - "flashpoint ferguson" forward. welcome back. i'm joeie chen from "america tonight", our al jazeera programme. also our colleague, my colleague, tony harris. this has been an interesting night. not only has there been a lot of news event... >> that's right. >>..relating to ferguson and the way forward, and we are looking for the way forward, but a lot of news event coming from outside the community. >> and we are, of course, keeping an eye on the streets of ferguson, missouri, florissant street , the shooting death of michael brown. looking at west florissant, there are demonstrations and protesters.

what is happening in ferguson is reverberating around the county, in new york there's a demonstration going on in support of michael brown and his family. we don't have pictures, but it's been tense for the last 20-30 minute. there was a demonstration in oklahoma, california, and we'll follow those pictures through the hour. >> we have seen that happening all over the country, it's reflected here in the ferguson area. we are at the command center, where we are keeping close watch and law enforcement seems to be low key. that is what happening, where things are quiet and ramping up through the course of the evening as the demonstrators have been out. they have been affected by the rain in the course of this evening, which has been considerable - stormy, lightening, hard night with the weather. for the demonstrators on the road, on west florissant, the center of the demonstrations throughout 11 nights now since the death of michael brown.

joining us out on the street on west florissant avenue is al jazeera correspondent robert ray, who has been keeping watch on things in the course of this evening. how are things stacking up now with the demonstrators, robert? >> hey, i think you nailed it on the head. the weather definitely took some of the demonstrators off the streets here. there's about 100 or so that go up or down as we report throughout the night. everything, so far, is peaceful. again, moment to moment. new information that we learnt - pretty interesting, actually. the police officer, 28-year-old darren wilson, who shot michael brown 11 days ago, you know, there was a protestor out in honour of him here tonight. she was holding a sign that said, you know, she wanted to represent what is happening to him. two police officers flagged on each side. we talked to some protesters.

producer david douglas did and they said "we were not happy with her out here. she wasn't out for long." the police took her in a squad car eventually, and took her away. they were protecting her for fear of retaliation on this protesters. that's a new one, haven't seen that are on the street. all is calm right now. really nothing to report here, but the fact that it's moment to moment. >> out on west florissant avenue, correspondent robert ray keeping watch on the demonstration down there. joining us at the command center is the leader of the n.a.a.c.p. officer pruitt, and is active in the n.a.a.c.p. across missouri. you have been with us for several nights, but today you had the opportunity to hear from attorney general eric holder when he came to town. i know he met with a number of

community leaders and michael brown's family, how did that go? >> he met with the family and after that he met with the kids, interacted with the kids and had ideas on how they feel, how it impacted with him. kids? >> teenagers, across the board, getting the feel for how it's impacting the community and getting their perspective. he indicated that he was surprised at how well aware they were of what was going on in the environment. he met with us. our discussions centered around where do we go from here. when all the cameras go, we have the process of rebuilding. he is prepared, he had people in his department in charge of that. he had them there. we were able to start a conversation about what needs to happen next. that was a good thing. >> did he talk about this was the beginning of the civil rights investigation, and the

developments that came out of the death of michael brown, and the protests after, did he talk about where that would go, and how complex that would be? >> he didn't talk about it in that detail, but he indicated that the access he had on the ground. they are the people with the most experience in dealing with matters of this nature. they had the most experience in litigating matters of this nature. he wanted to make sure that everyone understood the people with the most experience in ad's office is on the ground and is involved, and that we should have faith that they are serious line. >> could he make any promises in terms of what sort of response, in terms of law enforcement or what the federal government may be able to bring to that? >> the one promise he was able to make is when all was said and done. they'd bring resources into the community, they look at the patterns of policing in the

community, and that he's looking for models to come out of what happens here, that they can replicate across the country. >> did he give you a sense, by being here, that he is the president's representative on the issue, and is it important to see a high-profile figure on the ground? >> it was real important. he talked about the fact that the younger age on the new jersey highway, he was profiled. he talked about that experience and what it meant to him and how it impacted. for him to talk like that, he had reassured everybody that he knew exactly what it is that people are feeling, and with that being the case, he was prepared to deal with it on an ongoing basis. >> did he talk about his open family. he has older children as well. >> they would be as susceptible as raising the profile as anyone else. he talked about

the political process. he talked about participating in the political process and talked about a black aj and why president. >> we have an opportunity to go forward, that's what we are talking about "flashpoint ferguson," the way forward. officer pruitt, thank you for being with us again. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> one of the big questions in the nights since michael brown's death is contact between the local community and law enforcement, and the power of that force. law enforcement may be different and it was the images of a militarized law enforcement community shocking many in the first days of the crisis. "america tonight" correspondent michael oku looked deeper into the question of militarization of law enforcement here and happened. >> a sight that sparked alarm

and outrage from ferguson to oregon. scenes that in the words of some leader belong in a war zone, not suburban american seats. the st. louis county police came out in force to confront protesters, in military vehicles and combat gear, firing tear gas and rubber bullets. as the confrontations wore on, so, to, did criticism of the heavy-handed police response. president obama cautioning against excessive force. >> there's no excuse for police to use excessive force against protests, or to through protesters in gaol for rights. >> with accusations that police are making matters workings. governor jay nixon announced the state highway patrol would take over security. demonstrators improved.

the events triggered a conversation about the militarization of police, and how suburban police departments like that get their hands on military-grade gear and why and how it was used if missouri. >> i don't know the training that the officers used in ferguson, but given the inappropriate ways in which they were acting or conducting themselves, i would say that they received poor training or they ignored the good training that they received some time ago, or they were given no training at all. >> linch studied the trend of militarization westbound law enforcement agencies saying it's not just of the equipment, but the nature of training that is worrying. one aspect that alarms us about the militarization of policing is that we know that some civilian police units, swat units or special response teams - we know that they - some

of them have been training with units of our special forces. and this is very disturbing because our special forces operate overseas in a theatre of battle. and they are not trained to deal with people who have constitutional rights, people who are protected by the constitution of the united states. their missions overseas are to feigned the enemy force and destroy them. i don't want them explaining to our civilian units how they conduct themselves overseas, because that is totally policing. >> a recent study by the american still liberties union entitled war comes home, the excessive militarization of policing found that of almost 800 raids, 7% were for an original purpose, like a hostage situation.

warrants. >> it's believed that the first prominent police unit for special records and tactics for swat were established here in loss. initially consisting of 15 teams of four men each, the unit was comprised of volunteers within the l.a.p.d. an inspector initially named the platoon special weapons assault team. after popular protests it was rejected for sounding too much like a military unit. >> lynch argues military culture seeped into police departments nonetheless. a culture celebrated in videos like this, produced by athat teams. >> when you look at the culture of the police departments. when you see some of the recruiting videos that they put on the websites, their officers are conducting themselves in an

aggressive fashion, acting and dressing like soldiers. so this is becoming a part of policing. >> a scrutiny. let's talk a bit more about all of this with cory, a former n.y.p.d. executive inspector. it's good to talk to us, joining us from new york city. i have to tell you it's pretty straightforward for me if you are militarizing police departments around the country, the gulf that in most cases exists between the public and police will get wider since we have been on the ground in ferguson. we have been told several times of people talking at one another, and talking to one another, instead of talking to one another, what are your concerns about the friend militarizing police communicates across the

country? >> i think that for the most part, if they militarize the police department. it should be structured - let's say in new york city, if they need a team, they should deploy the team. if you look at the big cities, and you see the outbreaks, you don't see them bringing out tanks, mp 5s, you only see them in the little municipalities, what should happen is the justice department should scrutinise departments that they are getting federal funding from, and making sure that they use this equipment in an appropriate manner. down there in ferguson, the way they rolled their tanks out, you would have thought i was looking at it like the mid west has become the old south. i was waiting for the dogs and the waterholes to be deployed. it was inappropriate. you have to let people exercise their

first amendments rights. we saw the agitation. look, how much do you think that fuel will be unrest. certainly we have been following the story of small groups of demonstrators who decided they wanted to step this thing up a bit. to what extent do you believe the images, and seeing the - you know, the officers rolling down the streets as mentioned in up-armoured vehicles added to the tension and the agitation that we witnessed over the last few nights certainly. >> i think it played a part. there was a second piece to it. the non-transparency coming out of the police department and the militarization on the streets, together with anyone taking control of the situation, it was a recipe for disaster, which is what we have now. here we are, 11 days into this tragic incident. >> that's right. >> and we don't have a common effect.

this is one of the worse things that has happened in america, in decades. >> the other thing we hear from young people here, and people in this town, leaders working with young people is that they are just afraid. they are cautious. they are wary of a police officer is coming around the corner. they tense up. we talked to people who have told us clearly that there are certain neighbourhoods in ferguson, where if you're driving your car, you take your hat off, you turn your music down, otherwise you have a great expectation that you're going to be stopped by the police. that culture has to change, doesn't it. >> it has to change. let me tell you, you name any other community or ethnicity in america where you can find the n.a.a.c.p., police organizations, my law

enforcement lines, and what to do if you are stopped by police. you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the neighbourhood. from the top, the president, the ag, we have to acknowledge there's a serious issue between the minorities and the police all around america. let's put it on the table and deal with it. we don't want another young man to die or a cop going to gaol, because their job is to preserve, protect life and property. these are split second decisions. i don't know how many shots, but he hit him six times, you know six shots, less than two seconds. these are split-second decisions. we have to learn to deal with the community we serve. when you have a department of 53 people and three back officers in a community that is 70% black, someone should have acknowledged that the racial make-up of the

police department is a problem. >> yes, and the citizens of this community have to be more active in the community and take responsibility for the community, get to the polls and effect change that way. cory, appreciate your time, a former nydd deputy request inspectors. as we go to break from ferguson, i want to show a you demonstration that has popped up in oakland, california, across the bridge from san francisco. as we look at the pictures from okay land, another protest is under way in the east village of new york. we are keeping an eye on activities on west florissant avenue. we'll take a break and come back with our special coverage on "flashpoint ferguson." >> al jazeera america presents

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welcome back to al jazeera's coverage of "flashpoint ferguson," the way forward. so often when we see conflict, there's opportunities to learn, opportunities for one community to learn from another. we take a case in point going back to 1991. it's almost hard to believe that's how long ago it was after the arrest of the rodney king. that story from al jazeera correspondent jennifer london. >> reporter: ferguson, missouri, august 9th, michael brown, anunarmed black man is shot and killed by police. los angeles, california. mr ford, an unarmed black man is

shot and killed by the police. protesters took to the streets. in ferguson, the protests turned violence, those in los angeles why? >> the leadership gets out in front in l.a. as soon as something happens, there's press conferences, they are out there having marches, demonstrations. it's like people have an outlet here, whereas in ferguson, it's like the wild west. >> reporter: l.a. has been there before. april 29th, 1992, the acquittal of four police officers charged with savagely beating rodney king triggered explosive race riots. when it was over 53 were dead. 2,000 injured, more than 1,000 buildings destroyed by fire. irwin small is the owner of this auto body shop located near the flashpoint of the l.a. riots. he and six others stayed to protect the business.

he doesn't want to go on camera, saying he worked hard to forget those days, and moving on. he says he has seen a change in the attitude of the neighbourhood and the l.a.p.d. - a change for the better. mother and daughter harriet martin and her daughter lived through the riot. since those terrible days, the city has learnt a lessen, they say. city. learnt? differently. >> in the 22 years since the l.a. race riots, the l.a.p.d. is a different force. nonwhite officers make up 64% of the department, compared to 41% in 1992. there's community policing and a civilian police commission. two days after, the police met with residents. >> the first thing i asked for was

witnesses in that neighbourhood that may have seen anything. >> while the residents say there's a lack of trust and racial scrim in addition... >> -- discrimination. police. >> reporter: at least in los talking. jennifer london's report reminds us that the pain is shared in so many communities all across the nation where there is conflict, where law enforcement is challenged for its role in creating conflict with the community. joining us now, an actor and an activist, speaking, in a way, from outside the community, but shares its pain as well. we appreciate you joining us from new york. talk to us about whether your situation, whether you can experience something and underor relate it to what is happening in the ferguson community. >> yes, i can. i'm a blackmail in america, and

so it's relevant to me, but not just to black men. i think it's a sign of the ills of this country, what it suffers from, the structural change that we are reluctant to address. i relate to it, to the rage, the pain, and the need to want to do something something. >> we are seeing the response in protests, to even in this evening we are seeing protests not only ear in the ferguson area, but from the east village in new york, where you are, all the way up to california, and oakland. and i wonder about it resonating. it doesn't have to be in the cities, but you see the same thing happening down in ferguson, where you have a small community, a small police force as well. >> there's a solidarity that has been expressed around the country, and i would say around the world there are images of palestinians who have reached

out to say that they stand in solidarity of brothers and 15 of ferguson. there's an undercurrent that many address. the lid has been taken off. whether there'll be change, that's another conversation. i'm glad to see people in california standing up. it does affect us all. it's not just black men. i mean, these ills affect - if you are a little white girl in arkansas, if a black man is shot in ferguson, missouri, it should affect you, because we are in this country together. >> what is, though, the most effective form of activism. we see folks in the streets, in the other communities. there is sometimes criticism of protests that take place. what is, in the modern world when we look at digital protest, what is the most effective way

to have the protest. that is an important question, very difficult. it's difficult to criticise the way people protest. people should just get involved any way they can. everyone conserves a role. not everybody goes out in the streets and rages from twitter. i think it's important to get involved. i also thing that it's one thing to be on social media and talk about something, but for-profit media definitely disturbs the public, but it's important to take the messages on social media to the streets, to washington, and get active. as far as what is the most effective way, whatever ways mobilized or demobilized populous is the best way. we

served different rolls. >> we appreciate you joining us, an actor, activist, sharing the same sentiments and activism. that we are seeing taking place here in ferguson. the ferguson community and this cities coast to coast. appreciate you being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll take a short break in the continuing coverage in ferguson, missouri, and the surrounding area outside st louis. back with more after this. >> these young people deserve justice >> anatomy of a protest... >> ...the police look like they're getting ready to come down the street >> with militarized police departments >> forces their message... >> they're actually firing canisters of gas... >> a fractured community demands answers >> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> truth seeking... >> we have to get out of here... award winning investigative documentary series... special episode ferguson: city under siege only on al jazeera america

[ chants ] [ explosion ] >> announcer: violence grips an american suburb. a community in crisis, a deep racial divide. a wall of silence in missouri - still, so many unanswered questions. [ chants ] >> announcer: why did a police officer kill an unarmed black teenager? is a militarized police force heightening the tension? attacking freedom