Oh, smell the schadenfreude.

Breitbart News Reporter Arrested In Ferguson: Breitbart News reporter Kerry Picket was arrested late Monday af… http://t.co/J0wycGrYmc

— Big Government (@biggovt) August 19, 2014

Breitbart News reporter Kerry Picket was arrested late Monday afternoon by a Missouri State Trooper and released several hours later with an apology from the arresting officer and his lieutenant.
The State Trooper initially said that Breitbart News, a credentialed media outlet, could not walk directly to a media staging area on West Florissant Avenue and would have to take a detour.

However, a detour did not exist for pedestrians. As Picket began to walk toward the staging being blocked by the Trooper, she was handcuffed with plastic-ties, with my hands behind her back and told to get on her knees.

Picket was later searched and had to give up my belongings from her person. Picket was hauled off in a St. Louis County Police Truck and was on the verge of being booked.

Picket was released when it was discovered that the trooper misunderstood directions from his superiors and was told to not allow vehicle traffic through but to allow foot traffic through. Both the arresting officer and his lieutenant apologized to Picket, who was then released.

So, let’s break this down to component parts.

A credentialed journalist (from Breitbart) tries to cover the report and follows the official directions.

Officers don’t follow the very directions that were given to journalists, and arrest/detain the reporter.

Only after a couple of hours, the reporter was released with apologies.

Let that sink in.

You’ve got a police force (comprised of multiple units from multiple departments) engaging in policing a civil disturbance, and they’re not even consistent on what they’re doing. They’re arresting reporters who are complying with the law enforcement rules, which are already onerous, all while continuing to crack down violently on protesters some of whom are coming from outside Ferguson like moths to the flame to pour gasoline on an already volatile situation.

If the police can’t even get this part right, now imagine what the community thinks of a police investigation into one of their own killing an unarmed black guy. If you were wondering why the violence keeps getting ratcheted up every time the county police come calling with their armored vehicles, there you go.

This is a police force that is out of control, and can’t even follow the rules that they initiated.

So, when you wonder why there’s a curfew, pre-curfew, double-secret curfew, and no one knows what’s going on or why the police are running through the streets with their armored vehicles to disrupt the protests, there you go.

It’s a clusterfuck, courtesy of an out-of-control police force.