Scenes From Militarized America

by Radley Balko
Washington Post
May. 07, 2014

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Great work! MT @MichStatePolice: Congrats to troopers who graduated from the Emergency Support Team 11th Basic School pic.twitter.com/2rAgPUCM5f
— Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) May 2, 2014

The group above just graduated from a special training school. Can you guess what that school was for? Perhaps some sort of Special Forces division within the U.S. military? Maybe a private seminar run by a far-right militia outfit?

No, none of those. These are cops with the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team -- basically the agency’s equivalent of a SWAT team. This photo got a retweet and plaudits from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.

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