AWKWARD

Ferguson Troops: Protesters ‘Enemy’

National Guard under fire.

Documents obtained by CNN show that Missouri’s National Guard referred to Ferguson protesters as “adversaries” and “enemy forces” as it prepared to quell riots over the shooting of Michael Brown. The documents also show insight into the National Guard’s public-relations strategy, from the timing of calling up the troops around the time of the grand jury verdict to the decision to minimize the use of militarized language—as a response to public backlash. National Guard Capt. John Quinn told CNN that the language used to describe protesters was “a generic military planning format utilized in a wide range of military missions, so the term ‘enemy forces’ would be better understood as ‘potential threats.’ Often in Guard operations, threats would include inclement weather, heat, failing levees, etc.”