No sooner had I hit ‘publish’ on this morning’s rant concerning current events in Missouri and the militarization of American police departments than I opened the Providence Journal to see a lovely picture of a young boy lying against his prize-winning calf, Edelweiss, at the Washington County Fair — truly a balm for the soul. Then I read the accompanying article. Amongst the pickles and beehives at the fair?
In tan camouflage sat a mean-looking ASV. That’s an armored security vehicle, if you ask Specialist Cindy Li, Specialist Eric Carrier or Sgt. Ron Spears of the Rhode Island National Guard.
Children swarmed the heavy vehicle.
“Its primary purpose is convoy security,” Carrier said. “It provides security for trucks moving supplies.”
The ASV comes with a .50-caliber machinegun, a Mach 19 automatic grenade launcher and a machinegun of a smaller caliber.
This is grotesque.
(Big thanks to ProJo staff writer Thomas J. Morgan and his editors. The picture of Edelweiss may only be in the hard copy.)