He said this was the first time he had seen this level of militarization of law enforcement.

That was quite a shocking sight to see in the U.S., supposedly one of the most wealthiest civilized countries in the world with one of the best supposed democracies that we have.

So firstly, the vision, the sight of these troops and military vehicles on the street was quite shocking, but also the way in which they were reacting.

You know, some of the places I've been, some of the civil unrest I've seen, you will see this kind of action from military forces, but that is when there is a potential civil war or an uprising or something similar to that, not what is considered to be initially a peaceful protest.

Well, I have to be honest with you, Michael, what I'm seeing here is probably worse than I've seen in many other countries around the world.

I've worked in Eastern Europe where you have obviously very authoritarian or you did have very authoritarian governments and secret police and so on.

And what we're seeing here on the streets is possibly worse than that in terms of the conduct of law enforcement, the strategy of law enforcement and the lack of accountability, I think as well.

Absolutely.

He said this was the first time he had seen this level of militarization of law enforcement.

That was quite a shocking sight to see in the U.S., supposedly one of the most wealthiest civilized countries in the world with one of the best supposed democracies that we have.

So firstly, the vision, the sight of these troops and military vehicles on the street was quite shocking, but also the way in which they were reacting.

You know, some of the places I've been, some of the civil unrest I've seen, you will see this kind of action from military forces, but that is when there is a potential civil war or an uprising or something similar to that, not what is considered to be initially a peaceful protest.

Well, I have to be honest with you, Michael, what I'm seeing here is probably worse than I've seen in many other countries around the world.

I've worked in Eastern Europe where you have obviously very authoritarian or you did have very authoritarian governments and secret police and so on.

And what we're seeing here on the streets is possibly worse than that in terms of the conduct of law enforcement, the strategy of law enforcement and the lack of accountability, I think as well.

Absolutely.

Yeah

... like that.

So their, their response is, is way more brutal and officious.

Is that the right word? I'm not sure.

But, you know, it's certainly way more aggressive than, than, than it needs to be.

For years we've been hearing that, yes, sure, journalists specifically have been brutalized 'cause they're not identifying themselves.

We also don't know that they're real journalists.

Mm-hmm.

In June.

... uh, yeah, ICE will go in.

They'll raid a premises, be it a factory, be it a Home Depot where you get what we refer to as day laborers here.

They'll go and raid that place.

They'll snatch people up, uh, with... you've probably seen without any identification with their face covered.

And these people are put into unmarked ve- vehicles and whisked off.

Then what happens as a reaction to this, you get local people...

Did- did- did- was there any form of mandate for- for- for treating people who are working and presumably paying taxes in this way?