Seven protesters arrested at Blackwater's headquarters

[Robbien]

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

Seven people were arrested Saturday at Blackwater Worldwide’s front entrance after protesters re-enacted the Sept. 16 shooting incident in Baghdad involving Blackwater contractors in which 17 Iraqis died.

It was the first protest at the 10-year-old private military company’s headquarters, a reflection of its heightened profile since the Baghdad shootings stirred Iraqi anger and created a diplomatic crisis for Blackwater’s client, the U.S. State Department.

The protesters drove a small gray station wagon, covered with simulated bullet holes and smeared with red paint, onto Blackwater’s property. One lay back in the driver’s seat and five others got out and lay on the ground, as if they had been shot. The scene was intended to mimic that in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, where an Iraqi doctor and her son died in a fusillade of gunfire as their car approached a Blackwater diplomatic convoy.

. . .

Currituck County sheriff’s deputies, called to the scene by Blackwater guards, told the protesters they were on private property and asked them to leave. When they didn’t respond, they were handcuffed and placed in a sheriff’s van. Some went limp and had to be dragged.



Read more: http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=135122&ran=149404

---

There are some good pictures at the linked site. The second picture is startling in its depiction of the Baghdad shooting.

[monktonman]

1. What brave souls

with all that we know about Blackmurder
I'd stay far,far away from that place.
Good for them.

[5X]

2. Good on them. k and r. n/t

[Nostradammit]

3. Now here are some brave souls, indeed

God bless them, one and all.


Will we now have to listen to people clucking about vandalism and their inappropriate and vulgar display at a private business?

Should these people have been tased?



From the comment section at the link:

" Blackwater (hide comment)
Seems to me that if the French have the foreign legion and Germany had the SS ,We can have Blackwater
- Kimberly Sanchez - ROANOKE Blackwater (view comment)"


Unfortunately, I don't think she's trying to employ irony here.

Yeah, Kimberly - having our own SS would be swell!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. and this one:

Praise Blackwater (hide comment)
I would imagine all you bleeding hearts who are against Blackwater do not have anyone fighting in Iraq. My husband has been once as a reservist and is leaving again. I say let Blackwater do whatever they must, because your president has put American lifes in danger for no good reason. Not only that, but....
- Patti A. - Chesapeake

Uh, yeah, isn't that the point?

Edited: the car, or one of the cars, used in the Nisour Square massacre, has a Virginia safety inspection sticker that expired in April 2006. Possibly that car has been registered in some other state, and that sticker no longer applies. I don't think it's a good idea to operate an uninspected vehicle, subjecting other people to risk.

How long do you think it is before someone at FR picks up on this thought and forwards it to Faux Nooz?

[rucognizant]

29. Yeh Kimberly...........

Germany has the SS! They had the Hitler too??????? What is she thinking?????

[NI4NI]

4. I wonder how long before

Blackwater will be hired for a special job; like maybe in Venezuela? (Cofer Black is CIA isn't he?)
Or an assasination if another JFK comes along to rattle the cages of the giant coporate cannibals, like he did to the mighty military industrial complex?
Any gaurantee that what happened in Nisour Square won't happen some day in Times Square during a war protest, or on a union picket line somewhere?
And is there a difference between Blackwater and Hamas, or Hezzbollah? For the Muslim militants, it's seems mainly about loss of land and homes; But with Blackwater, it seems about money, and profit in guns for hire;But after considering the fact that an evangelical like Eric Prince is involved, is it about Christianity too?

Just wondering.

[LiberalFighter]

17. If these Blackwaters are former military they should lose their military pension IMO

[Wapsie B]

20. My thoughts exactly.

No accountability to the government, a law unto themselves. Any movement around the globe that would appear to rid corporate Amerika of a cheap source of labor could be dealt with swiftly. Any real Liberal who would threaten the advances of the rwingers could be neutralized permanently.

Is is about Christianity too? Eric Prince and Blackwater are just another part of the Fundie Mafia. These people need to be dealt with. To ignore their threat to this country would be fatal.

[spag68]

34. Blackwater=Pinkertons

It's the old days all over again.

[Vidar]

5. Unfortunately it's going to take an army to take down Blackwater, and

the sooner, the better.

[physioex]

6. That.....

Or cut of their funding.

[monktonman]

28. A cut in funding wont be enough.

Its bad enough we're funding Blackmurder with public money but a cut in funding
wont do it.
They'll just get the money from private industry.
After that expect to see gas prices go up, your electric bill will increase, etc.
We'll end up paying one way or another.

The only way to stop Blackmurder is to outlaw mercenaries, period.
Make a law that says WE DO NOT TORTURE! and WE DO NOT HIRE MERCENARIES!
and WE DO NOT SPY!

But "sigh" with the present members of congress,
fat chance of that happening!

[Vidar]

35. I hope you're right, but I fear you're wrong.

[Seabiscuit]

30. Here's a bit of wild fantasy...

Find an atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far away from any other land, drop every last Blackwater bastard onto it, and nuke it into oblivion. Then use a demolition team to take down their headquarters.

Every last one of them deserves to die more than that Iraqi doctor and her child.

[me b zola]

7. The protesters were brave indeed

But the most the knuckle-draggers have to say in the comment section is the usual "dirty hippie" remarks. It could use some DU love.

[stlsaxman]

8. and that the french foreign legion and waffe SS are in the same league-

"Blackwater (hide comment)
Seems to me that if the French have the foreign legion and Germany had the SS ,We can have Blackwater "

some idiot in ROANOKE

:wtf:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. OMG.

even they know that they are fascists.

[Amonester]

13. and they R quite proud of it too

maybe our fellow DUers who never can wait to ridicule those of us who can see them (the 'proud' fascists) will wake up now.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. imagine my mouth open and head shaking.

I look like my great pyre after drinking water.

what is wrong with this country? AND how many of those nutcases praise jesus on their knees every week?

[CoffeeCat]

33. Of course they know they're fascists...

...but they are actually stupid enough to believe that those
Fascists are on their side.

Boy, the Republicans and the nut-job wing of their party are really in for
a rude awakening when they realize that these neocon freaks consider them
expendable.

The Fundies are used as vote sponges. The neocons--using the Republican
party as an apparatus to attain power--cull those churches. They quote
Corinthians and pontificate about moral values. Gee, how many moral values
does it take to start a war, kill thousands of innocents, torture people,
and bankroll murdering mercenaries?

We all ready realize how bad it is. Do you know when it's really going
to hit the fan? When the Republicans realize that their votes were
used to escort these Fascist, unAmerican pieces of trash into power, "What???
You mean they don't care about the LORD???"

[NastyDiaper]

9. War Protesters take aim directly at the profiteers.

Awsome images. Talented bunch :) there.

[jimlup]

11. Brave act of civil disobedience

They will be charged with trespass and the guy puting his hands on the sign will be charged with destruction of property.

Blackwater will continue to be funded. Clinton used them in the Balkans. The only way to get rid of this group and others like it is to raise civil awareness. Exactly what this protest did.

[mcg]

12. Links to Blackwater Watch and other web sites

Blackwater Watch
Blackwater USA is the world’s largest private mercenary army with over 20,000 soldiers and it’s own air force.

http://www.blackwaterwatch.com

SourceWatch: Blackwater USA
Blackwater USA is a private military contractor co-founded by former Navy Seal Erik Prince.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Blackwater_USA

StopBlackwater.net

http://www.stopblackwater.net

[peacetalksforall]

23. I think what is said about the Chilean mercenaries should be read by all.

from the sourcewatch link:

"Blackwater and other U.S.-based private military contractors do not only recruit Americans; according to Jonathan Franklin, former commandos from Chile are an increasing presence among private military troops in Iraq. Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater, told the British newspaper The Guardian that former Chilean commandos, "many of who had trained under the military government of Augusto Pinochet," will be sent to Iraq for a year and a half, to guard oil wells from saboteurs. "We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals - the Chilean commandos are very, very professional and they fit within the Blackwater system," said Jackson. And the private military melting pot doesn't stop there: "Squads of Bosnians, Filipinos and Americans with special forces experience have been hired for tasks ranging from airport security to protecting Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority."<41> "

Former Pinochet professional commandos fit right in - so it says here.

[donsu]

15. we should also protest the people/companies who "hire" them

I put "hire" in quotes as Blackwater is neo con and works for other neo cons...

[Stalwart]

16. Rush to Judgement Against the Law?

"Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said of the protest: “People who haven’t seen any findings from the FBI investigation that’s under way are rushing to judgment and doing so, apparently, in violation of some laws.”

This statement was taken out of the full context in which it was said, obviously, but good enough as a stand alone statement to be quite amazing. Rush to judgment is in violation of some laws? Maybe just poor judgment in some cases but in others if it walks and quacks there is no law against calling it a duck, there is a right to call it a duck.

Judge in court: "You have been found guilty of rushing to judgment in violation of signing statement #1,983,568 Section C Part II and are herby sentenced to waterboarding as directed by Section D Part IV until either you recant your judgment or experience major organ failure. There will be no rush to judgment in my court and no appeal because my court does not rush to judgment."

[Locrian]

18. Anne Tyrrell a Blackwater spokeswoman

weird coincidence.....


"The Tyrell Corporation is a fictional megacorporation from the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner. Based in Los Angeles in the year 2019, Tyrell is named after its founder Dr. Eldon Tyrell and is a high-tech biocorp primarily concerned with the production of life-like androids called replicants. Tyrell's slogan is "More human than human". The headquarters for the corporation is over 700-stories tall."

[jeff30997]

25. OMG!

She's a Replicant !

[codjh9]

19. Just another example of how the Right has given a new meaning to their tired saying

'Freedom Isn't Free'... 'cuz we ain't got no freedom no-mo.

[ooglymoogly]

21. And yet, there is this glimmer of hope and courage

that gives us all hope in these darkest of times.

[peacetalksforall]

24. This comment from a poster at the link above (hamptonroads) is funny ... read the last sentence for

sure:

"Much better ways... snip
There are much better ways to get your point across. My parents live in a subdivision on the same road as BW and I can tell you, you can't get much more in the country then this. The only way these people could get the attention they so desired was to film themselves or get arrested. Go protest prez. Bush, he hired these people, its supply and demand. If they weren't wanted or needed they wouldn't be around. As soon as one of those "protesters" stepped foot on private property (which all property in the country is) or defaced property (putting paint on the sign) they broke the law and should be arrested. This is a w.a.r., it's not supposed to be pretty. If you don't like it you shouldn't have voted for Bush.
(name removed)snip

[jeff30997]

26. Maybe...

They should move their headquarters to Dubai ?

[Dukkha]

27. I'm surprised they didn't go "Kent State" on them

You know they wanted to

[Lint Head]

31. This is fantastic. I wish I could be there to protest with them!

This is exactly what we need, the people standing up against this fascist bullshit. A simple act, such as the Boston Tea Party, was the thing that triggered the beginning of the freedoms in this country. Simple acts of civil disobedience today can help bring back
the freedoms the traitors in the White House have destroyed. Yes. I am a Mike Malloy fan. The criminals in the White House need a message from the people that 'individual' freedom is coming back and corporate fascist theocratic technocracy will not stand in our precious democratic republic! :dem:

[Theres-a]

32. K & R