Chris Hedges | The Origins of Our Police State
Elizabeth, New Jersey – JaQuan LaPierre, 22, was riding a bicycle down a sidewalk Sept. 5 when he noticed a squad car pulling up beside him. It was 8:30 on a hot Thursday night at the intersection of Bond Street and Jackson Avenue here in Elizabeth, N.J. LaPierre had 10 glass vials of crack cocaine—probably what the cops were hoping to find—and he hastily swallowed them. He halted and faced the two officers who emerged from the cruiser. “We are tired of you niggers,” he remembers one of the officers saying. “We’re tired of all this shooting and robberies and…