Mike Brown shooting: Ferguson, MO police aim rifles at peaceful protesters, arrest journalists

By Dustin M Braden - 13 Aug '14 21:15PM

Numerous reports and images show that police in Ferguson, Missouri aimed their weapons at peaceful crowds of protesters and arrested journalists, a violation of the First Amendment.

Numerous images showed SWAT officers on top of armored vehicles with their fingers on the trigger and eyes looking down the sights.

One officer can be seen aiming at protesters in the top right of the photograph below.

Police pointing rifles toward demonstrators; among them church group holding prayer vigil #ferguson @FOX2now pic.twitter.com/3MQsPPVVdB

— Andy Banker (@andybankertv) August 13, 2014

Another officer in the top left of this photograph can be seen aiming in a similar manner.

#Ferguson: protesters march peacefully, militarized police aim guns at them https://t.co/nelrA6qZQn pic: @ryanjreilly pic.twitter.com/KgTFspqfrd — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) August 13, 2014

There were also zoomed in images of the officers aiming at the peaceful protesters.

5. ... This, for example, is not a policeman who is about to win the trust of his fellow citizen: pic.twitter.com/6u8MCAZ5PT — Andrew Exum (@abumuqawama) August 13, 2014

The militarized police forces also arrested journalists on the scene.

SWAT police just entered a McDonald's in #Ferguson and started asking journalists for ID pic.twitter.com/jksMWqGPR5 (via @ryanjreilly) — Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) August 13, 2014

Photo of reporter I believe to be @ryanjreilly being cuffed and put in a police van minutes ago in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/l6olRUPk13 — Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 14, 2014

In a phone call to "All In with Chris Hayes" the Huffinton Post journalist Ryan J. Reilly said the officers refused to identify themselves. He also says the slammed his head into glass as they arrested.

The Washington Post Journalist Wesley Lowery echoed these claims.