Global Political Awakening
The novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. The first trip spawned from an exposé Thompson was writing for Rolling Stone magazine about the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar, whom officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in 1970. Thompson was using Acosta—a prominent Mexican-American political activist and attorney—as a central source for the story, and the two found it difficult for a brown-skinned Mexican to talk openly with a white reporter in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, California. The two needed a more comfortable place to discuss the story and decided to take advantage of a Sports Illustrated magazine offer to write photograph captions for the annual Mint 400 desert race being held in Las Vegas from 21–23 March. (Source)
Recent reports of plans by the City of Paragould (Arkansas) Police Chief and Mayor to deploy heavily armed SWAT TEAMS on the streets of Paragould, Arkansas in an effort to combat a recent increase in crime is similarly disturbing and has been met with both local and international outrage from the public.
Rita Sklar, executive director of ACLU-Arkansas, said that aspects of Paragould Police Chief Todd Stovall's plan to have officers dressed in SWAT gear and armed with AR-15 assault rifles demanding ID from citizens in high crime areas shows that he has "zero understanding of Constitutional rights, period." Meanwhile, the Paragould PD issued a statement cancelling further town hall meetings on the proposal, citing "public safety" concerns after a growing backlash about the proposal. (Source)
I recently interviewed several local residents who are deeply concerned about the potential for abuse (violation of rights) by local law enforcement and the refusal of the Mayor to listen to their repeated requests for answers. The local residents have requested anonymity due to the fear of retribution for speaking out.
