An NYPD Unit Armed to Face Terrorists–and Protesters

[workinclasszero]

An NYPD Unit Armed to Face Terrorists–and Protesters

The militarization of police intensifies in New York City.

Conor Friedersdorf Jan 30 2015, 7:15 AM ET

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton intends to create a new unit of police officers specially trained to use heavy weaponry. They'll be equipped with "extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns," he said during a Thursday press conference.

The NYPD has a history of violently suppressing protests.

An investigation undertaken by law clinics at NYU, Fordham, Harvard, and Stanford concluded, after eight months of study, that the NYPD abused Occupy Wall Street protesters and violated their rights on numerous occasions during the 2011 protests that radiated out from Zuccotti Park. Their report is titled Suppressing Protest: Human Rights Violations in the U.S. Response to Occupy Wall Street.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/01/heavily-armed-nypd-cops-to-stop-terroristsand-protestors/385011/#disqus_thread

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Bloomberg should pay for this out of pocket:

>>>Last year, the New York Civil Liberties Union declared victory in its lengthy attempt to seek redress for some of the NYPD abuses perpetrated during protests in 2004: "New York City has agreed to pay nearly $18 million for the arrest, detention and fingerprinting of hundreds of protesters, journalists, legal observers and bystanders during the 2004 Republican National Convention – the largest protest settlement in history. The NYCLU filed the first cases following the Convention and has been central to the legal challenge to the NYPD’s actions.">>>>>>

And de Blasio should publicly insist on it. Bloomberg created the hostile climate of August 2004 and routinely encouraged police abuse and discouraged public demonstrations throughout his 12 year reign.