Cops arrest 80 year old veteran protestor. Handcuffed, his walker taken away. How low can they go?

[Swede]

[BoRaGard]

1. G.O.P. pissing on our veterans again

big showy parade, shit for actual support

[Irish_Dem]

8. The parade is about supporting Trump's giant ego, not supporting the military.

[LiberalArkie]

13. Duplicating this from June 14, 1940?

[Irish_Dem]

17. Exactly, the US has fallen without firing a shot. Total silence as the occupation is complete.

[mahina]

48. Nope

We have not.

[MadameButterfly]

72. Don't give up in advance

i admire your persistence and passion, Irish Dem, and yes it looks dire but we have not yet lost.
We still have courts (most judgements going against Trump), demonstrations, Rachel Maddow, Democratic Underground, Social Security, Medicare, Unions, Jamie Raskin, 12 million legal immigrants hanging in there, states that guarantee abortion, elections (as far as we know), Blue states (who feed our economy), the best universities in the world who have the intelligence and resources to out-litigate Trump, children getting educations not mostly run by Fascists or Communists, an American pope who cannot be silenced, Rock'n'Roll (yes, the Beatles helped liberate the Soviet Union), artists (even if the NEA isn't funded).

i understand that all of these are at risk.
But they are not gone. Yet. If we don't recognize what we have, we have given up.
This is not the time to send out the energy of defeat. While we still have a chance to win.
You don't seem like a give up kind of guy. From our past conversations.
i understand the reasons for your pessimism. But we need you. Guys like you.
Hang in there while the fight is still on.

[Irish_Dem]

74. The most important part of winning a war is to face realty.

I come from a military family and this is a fact.
If you tell yourself fairy stories about the battle, you will most certainly lose.

Every fiber of my being is about being in it to win it.

I was also a long time therapist.
My job was to help people face the truth and reality.
Blowing smoke up people's butt is a total waste of time.
And not what they paid me to do.

So if we want to win the war against the evil Nazis we must be honest with ourselves.

The situation is quite dire. But yes not hopeless.
My goal is get people to face realty first.
Then we fight back and fight hard.

[MadameButterfly]

82. I agree that we must face reality

to begin.

But maintain hope to continue.

I'm glad to hear that you still have hope

[RVN VET71]

77. Nicely, very nicely put.

Thank you for the reminder.

It may be a good time to remember the suffering heroes at Valley Forge who, despite their seemingly hopeless circumstances, lived to fight another day Thanks to their bravery and conviction, Mad King George was humiliated and defeated.

There are still battles to be won.

I recall some lines from e.e.cummings' "I sing of Olaf":

Olaf(upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"

Olaf, of course, was, after much torture, thrown into a dungeon by TRUMP "our president' and died there, sadly.. But we have not been beaten down yet, not by a long shot, because we are angry and have strength we haven't yet drawn upon. There is, indeed, some much shit we will not eat, no matter how much cyclamate Karoline Claire Leavitt sprinkles on it.

In closing, FUCK TRUMP!

[BlueKota]

84. Not all that confident in the Courts because of SC6

I'd be more comforted by the courts, if the SC6 didn't keep staying or throwing out lower courts rulings against tsf, in a number of cases. Yes they rule against him a few times but most times they kneel and kiss the ring.

I still have some hope because of what one of my professors once said. A population used to having rights and freedoms, rarely tolerate them being taken away, and will make that quite clear to the ones trying to take them. That's what the protests are doing and I am hoping they continue and grow even more in attendees.

[Emile]

2. But, what happened to our FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS?

[mjvpi]

3. Everyday gets more absurd. I used to think that I had a fairly good imagination, but........

[Irish_Dem]

4. Most good people have a hard time imaging true evil and depravity.

[sakabatou]

5. How low? Much lower.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Evil never seems to have a bottom.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Cops should be ashamed of themselves.

[Emile]

10. They must have thought he would run away with that walker.

[William769]

11. Lower than you think.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. You are going to find out unless we stop them. (n/t)

[bdamomma]

21. Hopefully

those who are protesting show this regime we are NOT NOT doing this

[Mr.Bee]

14. Get The Easy Targets First

That Won't Fight Back

[Walleye]

26. Yep, that's what the police do, that's why they liked arresting potheads so much

[JMCKUSICK]

15. Whatever you imagine a worst case scenario would be,

It will be much much worse. He's only been president for five months. They're priming the pump as it were.

[70sEraVet]

67. Yeah, just wait till they run out of immigrants to detain!

All of those detention centers and foreign prisons aren't going to fill themselves!

[sl8]

16. NBC 4 video report:

Last edited Sat Jun 14, 2025, 04:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Capitol Police arrest 60 parade protesters, including vet using a walker | NBC4 Washington

NBC4 Washington

Jun 14 2025

U.S. Capitol Police arrested 60 people for unlawful demonstration Friday evening, the agency said. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports a Vietnam veteran using a walker was among those arrested.
[...]

Article:
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/president-trump-politics/capitol-police-arrest-parade-protesters-vet/3936147/

======

On edit:
See article and different video at link:

https://www.wcjb.com/2025/06/14/87-year-old-gainesville-veteran-arrested-us-capitol-during-protest/

87-year-old Gainesville veteran arrested at U.S. Capitol during protest

[niyad]

28. Did they point out that he Is EIGHTY???

[sl8]

38. Nope.

I haven't seen his age mentioned in any news articles yet, just on social media.

I'm not suggesting he isn't 80, he probably is, but I haven't seen a source for that information, other than on social media.

[niyad]

42. By the way, some of the comments on youtube are horrifying.

Insisting that the protestors assaulted the police, etc. Yet they never talk abbout J6.

[sl8]

62. "87-year-old Gainesville veteran arrested at U.S. Capitol during protest"

Video & article at link.

https://www.wcjb.com/2025/06/14/87-year-old-gainesville-veteran-arrested-us-capitol-during-protest/

[pazzyanne]

64. Looks like it took two of them to handle this Veteran!

[Seinan Sensei]

68. He's an octogenarian for crying out loud

Last edited Sun Jun 15, 2025, 12:12 AM - Edit history (1)

He’s using a Rollater walker with a seat
If you feel the need to take him somewhere, turn the damn Rollater around, let him sit down, then you can wheel him anywhere, like he’s in a wheelchair.

Oh but no.
Be a badass.
Take his Rollater.
Cuff his hands BEHIND his back.
Now he’s at-risk for a fall, for breaking a hip.

He can’t walk asshole
That’s why he uses a walker
………..

[pazzyanne]

79. I'm 82 and the comment I madw is...

[calimary]

18. I hope EVERYBODY sees this thread.

And reads every comment.

And thinks. About how we all recover from this. And HOW SOON.

[SunSeeker]

19. K & R for exposure

[Emile]

20. Trump's NAZI AMERICA

[Grim Chieftain]

22. There is no depth too low for them

I've tried to be hopeful and optimistic, but sometimes I feel this country is in a death spiral.

[SSJVegeta]

23. Didn't they actually storm the capitol building and cross a barricade?

That is trespassing, and the protesters expected to be arrested.

[niyad]

29. "storm the capital" (do you mean Capitol, as opposed to the whole city?).

rather odd rhetoric.

[SSJVegeta]

32. Yes. That is what I meant. Thank you.

From the videos I saw, they were intending to break past the barricade and be peacefully arrested. Which it appears they were.

[niyad]

40. Handcuffing behind his back an elderly person on a walker is NOT

"peacefully arrested". It is malicious, gratuitous cruelty.

[SSJVegeta]

47. Point taken

[quakerboy]

46. arrested for "unlawful demonstration"

[SSJVegeta]

51. Kinda oxymoronic if you think about it

Per our constitution, you'd think that all peaceful demonstration is necessarily lawful.

[SCantiGOP]

59. No question

Cannot infringe on right of the people “to
peaceably assemble…to petition for a redress of grievances.”

[stopdiggin]

70. that wording doesn't define said right as meaning "anytime, anywhere .."

Or so our courts have told us. Do you disagree with that premise?

[allegorical oracle]

78. The redline of where our rights end appears to be knocking over bike racks.

[stopdiggin]

80. or - if you are previously advised you may not enter XYZ

(either during a particular time, or in general)
and you then proceed to enter XYZ with full intent of being arrested?

do we disagree with that premise ?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[bluedigger]

24. It's always a good day to participate in civil disobedience.

No matter how old you are. I made sure to personally groom this this morning. I don't want to go full Nick Nolte at booking.

[IronLionZion]

25. How low can they go? I don't want to find out

they'll accept that as a challenge.

Kudos to veterans for protesting the use of military on Americans.

[ananda]

31. I know what you mean.

Me, every time I think they can't go lower, they do.

[DENVERPOPS]

37. What is truly needed

to put current Military members on Alert is Tens of thousands of peaceful Veteran Demonstrators, if not hundreds of Military demonstrators.

It is obvious they don't want a situation where all the Military in the parade have to walk by their Military Veterans who are protesting and the present military questioning their own morals and convictions.........

[TommieMommy]

27. OMG an 80 year old man with a walker 😡 what the???

[DENVERPOPS]

39. And by the DC Police??????????

WTF?????? (Unless they were covertly trying to keep them out of harms way, protecting them from harm by Trump's SS, ICE, Gestapo, Brown Shirts and MAGAots...........)

[Ilsa]

45. In that case the popo should give him his walker back.

Or at least handcuff him in front, not back.

[DENVERPOPS]

50. Why even handcuff him

ludicrous that he is a "threat" to them............what a F***ing joke, and Travesty.............

[Ilsa]

53. ITA. It's an epidemic of insanity,

a contagion of vanishing critical thinking.

[CentralMass]

30. Republican scum.

[Vinca]

33. I would say unfuckingbelievable, but it's totally believable.

[Initech]

34. This country is going to hell. That man needs to be thrown out on his disgusting ass now.

[moondust]

35. Thugland Insane Asylum

[peggysue2]

36. This image should be blasted everywhere

This is Agent Orange's America! An 80-year old, disabled vet handcuffed by police.

There is no bottom to the injustice this Administration is willing to inflict.

Never forget, never forgive.

And btw, the whole world is watching.

[niyad]

52. An 80 year old, disabled veteran, on a walker, which was taken away, and his hands

were cuffed behind his back. You could see in the video how they yanked his arms back, the fucking thugs.

[Tarzanrock]

41. Thankfully, those shithead Thug/Goons didn't "shoot" him.

Good thing he was "white" otherwise those Thugs would have "kneed" on his neck and choked him to death. Satan "blesses" Fascism.

[Tootbsb]

43. To be fair he wasn't smashing windows and smearing feces all over the Capitol walls.

[ShazzieB]

44. This is the lowest of the low,and those cops are monsters.

And this is exactly why the No Kings organizers did not plan an event in DC today. They knew stuff like this would happen.

This brave veteran picked the wrong place to protest today...or maybe he did it on purpose knowing he would probably get arrested.

[RockRaven]

49. They're cops... so much, much lower.

[Pacifist Patriot]

54. My 83 year old veteran dad was disappointed Ivey didn't show up.

He wanted to ask him if it was considered violence to tell the county sheriff he is a fucking fascist tub of lard to his face. I think my dad was hoping to get arrested. I don't think they would be the kind of publicity that attention grabbing narcissist of a constitutional sheriff would end up appreciating. 😄

[Bayard]

55. Despicable Disrespect

This could be your father, or your grandfather, guys. What do you think you're doing?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

56. Uh oh... they're only heroes if they fight and kill for...

... the interests of the wealthy owner-class.

Otherwise, they're treated like traitors such as Major General Smedley Butler, author of "War is a Racket".(1935).

[soldierant]

58. Who also

saved us from a coup and likely saved FDR's life. Those wealthy people were capable of anything. (and wealthy people still are.)

[electricmonk]

57. They can always go lower.

At least they didn't break his skull like the cops in Buffalo did in 2020

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/30/885780550/protester-knocked-down-by-buffalo-police-leaves-the-hospital-nearly-one-month-la

[hamsterjill]

60. I hope this police officer's mother is SO PROUD of his sorry ass!

Good grief. I'm sure this veteran posed a great risk and needed to be handcuffed. This is why these idiots don't have any critical thinking skills - could they not have made an exception???!!!

[sl8]

61. Article, video: "87-year-old Gainesville veteran arrested at U.S. Capitol during protest:

https://www.wcjb.com/2025/06/14/87-year-old-gainesville-veteran-arrested-us-capitol-during-protest/

Video at link, from different angle, crowd loudly & clearly chanting at police:

87-year-old Gainesville veteran arrested at U.S. Capitol during protest

By Ryan Wyatt Turbeville
Published: Jun. 14, 2025 at 12:13 PM EDT|Updated: 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCJB) - An elderly man from Gainesville was one of dozens of veterans arrested outside the U.S. Capitol Building as they protested against President Donald Trump’s military parade scheduled for Saturday.

U.S. Capitol Police confirm John Spitzberg, 87, of Gainesville, was arrested for crossing a police line during a demonstration on Friday.

[...]

Video of the incident shows officers arresting an elderly veteran using a walker with wheels and a chair. The man appears to be Spitzberg.

Police say all 60 individuals will be charged with unlawful demonstration and crossing a police line. Some will also face additional charges of assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

[Clouds Passing]

63. GQPeepeepeeing on our veterans as usual.

[red dog 1]

65. Here's video showing the Capital Police Nazis arresting the elderly man & not allowing him to keep his walker

[Picaro]

66. Nothing says Protect and Serve

Like arresting 80 year old veterans and taking away their walkers.

[The Wizard]

69. Who thought these thugs could get this far this fast?

When crimes are committed, who benefits?

[C Moon]

71. It's so necessary to make sure his hands are cuffed behind him. EYE ROLL. Jackasses.

Their are so many other respectful ways they could have dealt with this. They chose the lowest.

[Scrivener7]

76. Well, you know, he might turn on them with a roundhouse punch.

Assholes abound.

I have to say, though, the cops at the protest I attended yesterday couldn't have treated us better, down to carefully tracking the one creepy black-clad and black-masked party crasher trying to scare the participants.

[Morbius]

73. This veteran had to know he would be arrested.

The image of an elderly man being force-marched away while another cop handles his walker is politically damning, and I am pretty sure the old man knew that. It's a sly move; a veteran being heroic again, frankly.

[stopdiggin]

81. you're darned right he (and all the rest) did. clearly!

and you're also right about the 'smart play' - and the predictable wailing.

[Iggo]

83. The process is the punishment. They're enjoying the shit out of this.

[TnDem]

85. So what was the charge?

I read in the Gainesville media report that he crossed police lines? My question is, was he asked to simply move back behind the line before arresting him? An arrest seems extreme to me.

The report says he is 87, which puts him born in 1938... That would have put him after Korea and before Vietnam as a male military aged service member. I am not sure why the 1990's desert combat BDU shirt came from.