Thanks to the shitstorm in Ferguson, Missouri people are not noticing that the Department of War Defense has been giving and awful lot of military equipment to local law enforcers. I’m not sure why local law enforcers need armored personnel carriers and machine guns to write speeding tickets, parking citations, and other types of revenue generating fines but I’m at an even bigger loss to understand what local law enforcers are going to do with goddamned bayonets:
NPR recently published an in-depth report on the Department of Defense’s 1033 program, cataloging every military item sent to law enforcement agencies from 2006 through April 23, 2014. Vox pointed out the fact that the cache of weapons donated to local cops included 11,959 bayonets.
Maybe they need them to conserve ammo by stabbing family pets during no-knock raids. Perhaps local law enforcers have found that shooting family pets kills the poor creature too quickly so they want to option to affix bayonets so they can kill it in a way that prolongs the agony. Or local law enforcers may just want them because they think they make them appear more intimidating. Regardless I’m not sure what they’re going to do with fucking bayonets but I do know that it won’t be good for you or me.