Oftentimes, documentaries are one of the most legitimate and honest forms of news coverage in modern America. Since the major mainstream media outlets are owned by big businesses, independent filmmakers have become a believable and reputable source of news in the United States. While there are still corrupt documentarians out there, there are much fewer than corrupt journalists.
Craig Atkinson’s new documentary Do Not Resist looks to expose the truth behind just how militarized the United States police forces have become in recent years. Considering the growing civil unrest in regards to police brutality and corruption, it is no surprise that the film exists — but what it does expose is perhaps more unsettling than anyone was prepared for. Featuring actual, real-life footage of just how far police departments are willing to go — often vastly overstepping the boundaries of the law they claim to be upholding — the documentary is extremely important.
Stuart Miller of The Guardian reports, “Atkinson started making the film because he felt the hunt for the Boston marathon bombers was chaotic and heavy-handed in its use of military equipment but his interest started closer to home. His father was an officer in a city near Detroit and a longtime Swat team member and Atkinson was shocked to learn how the Swat mission had gradually changed.”
It’s important that documentaries like Do Not Resist exist, because the mainstream media has gotten so unreliable and corrupt over the past decade or so that we have to find alternative sources to provide us with the truth. The alternative media has done a good job of combatting the mainstream media’s lies and corruption, but there’s something about documentaries that reaches far beyond that of publications on the internet.
This media collusion is especially true when it comes to the federal government, which constantly looks to expand its power despite their insistence otherwise. This is most obvious when it comes to the police militarization. Even though people like Hillary Clinton claim that they oppose police brutality, the truth says otherwise, which is why it’s so good that Atkinson and his contemporaries are creating documentaries to expose the truth.
When American society begins to crumble — if it hasn’t already — then police militarization will be one of the biggest threats towards our freedom. If we are not in trouble already, we will be once the federal government extends their power even further.
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