Department of Defense's 1033 Program, which allows for the transfer of surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies, was created as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1997. 'It is outrageous that the Pentagon is supplying armored vehicles to local police departments that have been used to intimidate peaceful protesters and abet violent police crackdowns,' said William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy, a left-leaning foreign policy think tank. With the Floyd protests, experts - and some members of Congress - are again raising objections to the 'militarization' of the police. The Obama administration placed limits on the federal military surplus program, which had already supplied free gear, including MRAPs, to thousands of departmentsīut the Trump administration lifted those barriers in 2017, and the distribution of military gear began to rise again. When police deployed military-style equipment during the protests after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, critics said the gear added to friction between law enforcement and demonstrators, and could be an incitement to violence. Salt Lake City cops shove down an elderly man with a cane for the crime of standing along the street: /PCLkHqQtJg- Timothy Burke May 31, 2020

Police cars in action