The Missouri National Guard running a drill in St. Louis
The tension in the city of St. Louis is palpable as the grand jury decision regarding Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown looms large. Gun sales in Missouri have skyrocketed with some stores reporting an increase as much as
300% and Governor Jay Nixon has preemptively issued a
state of emergency in advance of the verdict. To say residents are on edge is the understatement of the year. Which makes it all the more perplexing why the Missouri National Guard decided to mobilize and run a
full drill at a St. Louis gas station yesterday:
“It’s strange and it doesn’t make it feel like home,” said Theresa Lear, who lives just one block away.
Another woman posted photos on Twitter of National Guard trucks and tactical gear, saying it made her rush home, concerned an announcement about the Grand Jury was about to be made.
So who in the hell from the Missouri National Guard thought it would be a good idea to mobilize and stage a drill at a St. Louis area gas station yesterday? Of all days? Whoever it was is in trouble with Missouri National Guard leadership this morning:
“The people from the exercise were proceeding without thinking what was going on,” said O’Connell.
The exercise was a part of federal training requirements ordered by the US Army, but O’Connell said the decision on the location was made at a “lower level” and when those higher up at the National Guard heard about the drill they told the civil support team to immediately end the exercise and leave the neighborhood.
See images and interviews from St. Louis residents who captured the drill on their cell phones
here.