Tear gas, rubber bullets, Molotov cocktails, tanks, heavily armed forces in camouflage -- and now attempts to limit media coverage.
This isn't a war zone in eastern Ukraine. This was last night on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.
Civilians in Ferguson have been clashing with police off and on since Sunday, shortly after the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer. They've chanted "hands up, don't shoot" as police, who are outfitted in riot gear and armed to the teeth, have trained their weapons on them.
But things took a dramatic turn on Wednesday evening as the unrest turned increasingly chaotic.
Around 10 p.m. local time, police fired smoke grenades and rubber bullets into a crowd of hundreds after a protester threw a Molotov cocktail.
St. Louis County police then ordered protesters and journalists -- who have been flooding the Internet with photos and first-person accounts of the excessive militarization of the police -- to turn off their cameras.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that about 10 people had been arrested, including St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who has been chronicling the protests on social media.
Local authorities also arrested two journalists: Washington Post's Wesley Lowery and Huffington Post's Ryan Reilly, both of whom have been steadfast in tweeting and have become two incredibly reliable sources for this story. Once released, Reilly detailed the arrest:
Here are photos of the Saint Louis County cop who assaulted me yesterday. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/z8Y7jrCrRd— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 14, 2014
After slamming my head on the door, he sarcastically apologized.— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 14, 2014
I was also never informed of my Miranda Rights.— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 14, 2014
For days, journalists have been on the ground in Ferguson, documenting the terror that has taken over this St. Louis neighborhood. But they've had trouble getting the story even before last night. Police have repeatedly told reporters to get out of the way, and the FAA on Wednesday granted a request to ban flights over the area, including news helicopters.
Residents of Ferguson have complained about the excessive force of police there. However, County Police Chief Jon Belmar said his officers have responded with "an incredible amount of restraint," as they've been the targets of rocks, bottles and gunshots, with two dozen patrol vehicles being destroyed.
At the center of the unrest is racial tension -- Ferguson is a predominately black neighborhood, and a police officer killed Brown. Although Ferguson's police chief has said improving race relations is "the top priority," reporters on the ground say peaceful, solution-oriented dialogue is nowhere to be found on the streets.
If Ferguson wasn't "mainstream" already, it hit that point last night, topping Twitter's national trends for the first time. Police attempted to censor the information coming out of Ferguson, but instead, they only inflamed the story and created one of the most shareable, debatable moments this year.
UPDATE: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon issued a statement on the events of last night in Ferguson:
“The worsening situation in Ferguson is deeply troubling, and does not represent who we are as Missourians or as Americans. While we all respect the solemn responsibility of our law enforcement officers to protect the public, we must also safeguard the rights of Missourians to peaceably assemble and the rights of the press to report on matters of public concern.
“I have been closely monitoring the situation and will continue to be in communication with local leaders, and I will be in north St. Louis County Thursday. As Governor, I am committed to ensuring the pain of last weekend’s tragedy does not continue to be compounded by this ongoing crisis. Once again, I ask that members of the community demonstrate patience and calm while the investigation continues, and I urge law enforcement agencies to keep the peace and respect the rights of residents and the press during this difficult time.”