Who armed Ferguson's warrior cops?

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Artifact - Ferguson, Missouri - Brief article

WHEN THE NATION'S attention turned to Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown and the unrest that followed, news footage showed a shockingly well-armed police force. How did cops in a midsized Midwestern city wind up with riot gear, camouflage fatigues, and armored vehicles that would look more at home in the mountain passes of Kandahar than the parking lot of a suburban McDonald's?

The Associated Press reports that St. Louis County--Ferguson is a majority-black suburb of St. Louis--received two Humvees and other gear as part of a program designed to funnel the Pentagon's surplus gear to deserving law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department likely footed the bill for the rubber bullets and tear gas.

But some of the...