Ten years ago today, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri murdered an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown. In response, for a week and a half, an ungovernable revolt raged as angry residents and their supporters used a variety of tactics including arson, property destruction, looting, and gunfire to keep police at a distance and impose consequences for the murder.

Most people outside Black and brown communities had no idea how frequently police murder people in the United States until these events forced the topic into public discussion. This set a precedent for subsequent rebellions around the country, culminating with a countrywide upheaval in response to the murder of George Floyd.

A timeline of the Ferguson revolt:

https://crimethinc.com/FergusonTimeline

A full account from one of the anarchists who participated:

https://crimethinc.com/LootingBack

On this day in 1961, the US started spraying Agent Orange in a campaign called “Operation Ranch Hand,” which would last 10 years. The program entailed the spraying of 19 million gallons of defoliants and herbicides over rural South Vietnam. Its alleged aim was to deny the Vietcong access to food and concealment provided by vegetation. In reality, it was to punish and deprive the Vietnamese people for their resistance.

Roughly 20% of South Vietnam's jungles were sprayed at one point, and areas in Cambodia and Laos were also affected. The US Air Force conducted over 20,000 sorties from 1961 to the program's conclusion in 1971.

The Vietnamese government estimates that approximately 4.8 million people were exposed to Agent Orange, leading to 400,000 deaths from cancers and other conditions. Three million Vietnamese experienced health complications due to the program and 150,000 children were born with serious birth defects.

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