The city council meeting in Ferguson came as the Senate held a hearing on the militarization of police forces nationwide. Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said the hearing was prompted by concerns over the heavily armed crackdown on the Ferguson protests following Michael Brown’s death.

Sen. Claire McCaskill: “I saw armored vehicles with a sniper pointing a rifle at an unarmed protester on a warm summer afternoon. I think most Americans were uncomfortable watching a suburban street in St. Louis being transformed, with vivid images, powerful images across this country, into a war zone, complete with camouflage, tear gas, rubber bullets, armored vehicles and laser sights.”

The Pentagon’s 1033 program has transferred more than $5.1 billion in military equipment to local agencies since 1991, including some 600 Mine-Resistant Armor-Protected vehicles, or MRAPs. Speaking in defense of the program, Brian Kamoie of the Department of Homeland Security said military equipment helped locate the surviving suspect after the Boston Marathon bombing last year.

Brian Kamoie: “The response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing demonstrated how preparedness grant investments have improved capabilities. Grant-funded equipment such as the forward-looking infrared camera on a Massachusetts State Police helicopter enabled the apprehension of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, while enhancing the personal safety of law enforcement officers and protecting public safety.”

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union says it plans to deliver a petition calling on the government to “stop funding the militarized policing of communities of color.” Kara Dansky of the ACLU said the Pentagon transfers fuel police crackdowns in low-income, majority black communities like Ferguson.

Kara Dansky: “I think one net result is that having all this equipment at the disposal of local law enforcement is that it contributes to the culture of militarism that we’ve seen in law enforcement, again, for several decades, particularly in poor communities and communities of color. I think we need to be very concerned that it’s not quite as though all Americans experience the militarization of policing equally.”

President Obama ordered a review of military transfers to local police forces in the aftermath of Brown’s killing. The Justice Department is also carrying out a civil rights probe of the Ferguson police force.