Elizabeth HagedornThe images out of Ferguson, Missouri, this past week — replete with tear gas and police in riot gear — have not only prompted vigorous debates here in the U.S.
They're also provoking an almost giddy reaction from some of the world's most notorious human rights offenders.
"We're currently in Ferguson, where tensions have been flying high ever since Saturday when 18-year-old Michael Brown who was killed by multiple shots by police officers." (Video via RT)
That Hollywood-style report was from Kremlin-backed TV network RT. RT has been characterizing the St. Louis protests as a "nationwide" phenomenon.
RT isn't alone. The protests are getting prime-time coverage across other Russian television networks as well. (Video via Russia 24)
There are some obvious comparisons missing from these stories. Naturally, Moscow's deadly 2010 race riots and widespread allegations of police brutality in Russia aren't mentioned. (Video via ABC Australia, Vice)
But it's not just Russian media weighing in on Ferguson. China and Iran have also used the opportunity to promote their own anti-American propaganda.
As Vox's Max Fisher joked: "Senior staff at China's foreign ministry popping champagne for the anti-American mileage they will get out of Ferguson crackdown. For years."
Sure enough, China's state-run news agency published this biting commentary suggesting the U.S. "concentrate on solving its own problems rather than always pointing fingers at others."
This, from a country that frequently witnesses ethnic riots between police and Muslims who say they're oppressed by the government.
And in Iran — it wasn't the destructive earthquake that injured hundreds that made top billing on the state-run agency's site Monday. Instead, the Ferguson protests were front and center.
The Twitter account thought to be run by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also had a lot to say on the subject. One tweet called the U.S. the "biggest violator of #HumanRights" — an interesting stance to take on Twitter considering Iran doesn't even allow its citizens to use the social media site.
Still, while it may be easy to dismiss the judgment coming from Iran, China and Russia as hypocritical propaganda, how the U.S. is perceived abroad does have an impact.
Perhaps Julia Ioffe at The New Republic sums up the global criticism best: "Like it or not, this is what the world is seeing, the world to which we strive to be an example."
This video contains images from Getty Images.
