and start hassling the protesters.
This has been their tactics since the started being trained by the Israeli military after 9/11.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/u-s-police-routinely-travel-israel-lear...
The DHS sends the heads of the police department to be trained and then they train others.

Peaceful protests of unjust government practices are fundamental to the progression of society. Police with militarized tactics and gear are the progenitors of violence.

This occupation style policing has made its way to cities and towns and has become standard operating procedure at any protest of government. Also, the very same equipment used by Israeli military for crowd control—tear gas grenades, triple chaser gas canisters, and stun grenades—were used at demonstrations in Ferguson, Oakland and Anaheim. The LRAD (long-range acoustic device) was also used by both Ferguson police and Israeli military forces.

The militarization of the police was started under the Bush administration by the DHS and under Obama's administration more equipment was given to the police departments.
After the Ferguson riots he said that he'd roll back the program, but as usual, he lied. All he rolled back was giving them bayonets and a few other things, but then continued to give them heavy equipment like what is used in war zones.
And why do the police need to have this type of equipment? In the event that people in this country will get off their butts and demand that our government start to represent us instead of the corporations and the war machine.
After the TPP is passed and any bills or regulations cities and states have voted for can be taken away by the corporations if they get in the way of their profits.
Some states have banned fracking and raised the minimum wage and if a corporation wants that overturned, they can sue under the ISDS and 3 foreign corporate insider judges will rule on the case and if they rule for the corporations then their decisions are final. This is why many people feel that the TPP is unconstitutional and treasonous because our government is voting to give away our national sovereignty over to the corporations.
The regulatory agencies will become toothless.
The republicans have been trying to roll back the regulations, but again it's going to be a democratic president that will do what they have been trying to get passed, just like NAFTA and the other bills that Clinton passed that has hurt so many people in this country.
And remember in the NDAA that Obama signed a few years ago, the president has the authority to have the military detain any US citizens, lock them up and not allow them to have access to a lawyer.
Habeous Corpus has not been reinstated under Obama's terms.
And this is my opinion why the police have been militarized.
Don't forget to read Ray Balko's book The Rise of the Warrior Cop and see how many rights congress has taken away from us under the guise of the war on drugs.
Many people think that Biden is a kindly fellow, but what he has done to us when he was in congress is despicable! Read the book to see what he has done to our rights.

I remember in the 60s that my wife and I attended a peaceful gathering in downtown Palo Alto, California, which was anti-war but also had local issues to emphasize. Shortly after we left to walk home, the police, who had been hidden in stores nearby, made a sweep to arrest everyone who was at the gathering. Just as the cops marched down the street the movie theatre let out and the cops swept up all of the moviegoers along with everyone else. I will never forget one letter to the editor from a Navy Commander who was jailed for seeing a movie: his refrain was "I have been radicalized." He wasn't alone.

With a little luck, Charleston and the other places where the oligarchy is asserting its muscle will radicalize even more of us.