Caught on Camera: 10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters

[dana_b]

Probably 97 percent of police act professionally toward protesters. But the other 3 percent are armed and dangerous, and know that they're unlikely to be held accountable.

November 18, 2011

Occupations across the country have born the brunt of some violent police tactics, and in a world where everyone has a camera-phone, a lot of their brutish behavior has been caught in photographs and on video.

Police work is difficult and dangerous, and the majority of officers on the street behave like pros. When it comes to controlling crowds of angry protesters, they're often put into tense situations and ordered to do things they may not want to do by commanders who are far removed from the scene. I've witnessed a lot of restraint from cops, which of course doesn't make the news.

But being human, cops are also prone to fear and rage like everyone else. A minority of cops, like a minority of protesters, lose their cool in tense situations. The difference is that they aren't amateurs – they're well trained and have guidelines that they're required to follow. When a cop loses his or her cool, it can be terrifying. And when a protester exercising his or her right to assemble and speak is a victim of excessive force, it also violates the United States Constitution.

Unlike protesters, cops are also armed, and it's difficult to hold them accountable for their actions when they don't behave professionally. Most civilian review boards are toothless and ineffectual. But, as Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union told AlterNet last month, “public video recording has dramatically changed the landscape of police accountability, no question about it. It's a lot harder for police to sweep allegations of abuse under the rug when it's on video and on YouTube.”

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3Kd2vv/www.alternet.org/occupywallst/153134/caught_on_camera%3A_10_shockingly_violent_police_assaults_on_occupy_protesters

Lots of video there. I still agree that it is a minority of police who do this BUT when they do it is disastrous for protestors. Those few need to be "policed" by their co-workers and reprimanded/prosecuted/terminated.

[frazzled]

1. When it happens to "you," it suddenly matters

Think about all the people much worse has happened to, every day ... for many years. People who have been shot and killed by law enforcement, who were doing nothing. The most famous in recent years was Amadou Diallo, an innocent, unarmed man who was gunned down with 41 shots by 4 plainclothes police officers on the steps of his own building. But you read about it in your local papers (well, many probably don't get a local paper) every day. Being stopped for "driving while black" and being shot by an officer who claims to have felt threatened. Being a young teenager who moves the wrong way and gets beaten up or worse.

I've been to enough protests in my life to know that you go to these things with the expectation of getting ticketed, arrested, or even tear-gassed. You are committing an act of civil disobedience (breaking a law) on purpose, specifically in order to be apprehended. That's no excuse for the occasional excessive force being used by police, but I think the discussion here has gotten a little too overwrought and decidedly "NIMBY."

I don't see many threads ever bemoaning police brutality that goes on in our (predominantly black or Hispanic) inner cities every single day of the year. These people are part of the 99%, too. People who are living their lives, for the most part, and not blocking a bridge or shutting down a port, but just committing the crime of being "suspicious" looking. Until I hear some outrage about that, I can't feel too sorry.

[dana_b]

5. a lot of the people that I have spoke with at Occupy

have brought that exact point up, frazzled. I agree with you, to a point. We SHOULD be up in arms when it happens to everyday people who are going about their business. That actually has been a big part of the discussion at Oakland's GAs. Where I personally think that this is different is that those who are doing the beating now don't care if it is on camera. Civil disobedience is used as an excuse to do this crap. When this happens to private citizens, there usually aren't a ton of cameras around and the cops can do/say anything they want and usually get away with it. Now they can do it out in the open and STILL get away with it. It's wrong in both cases, imo.

[Pachamama]

2. This is an excellent summary....

I personally know and am friends with some police officers that i have the highest respect for. I cannot imagine them ever doing this and I know they would oppose these tactics & deployment of violence on the protestors. The problem is the 3 percent, the bad apples in the ranks of law enforcement & also those caught in situations being ordered to do these things. But take the Lt John Pike of UC Davis who pepper sprayed the protestors yesterday. He could have ordered the police to handcuff and arrest them. They werent threatening and could have been taken easily. He was truly savoring what he wqs doing. Watch the video. He sees the students on the ground, on knees or sitting beneath him with heads bowed & not doing anything threatening. He truly did savor walking back and forth with that pepper apray canister first presenting it like a "sommelier" presenting a fine wine before he poured, and in this case doused in a sweeping motion into the faces of these kids. He is a bully, a coward, a sick sadistic Fuck who has no business being in law enforcement.

My daughter cried when she saw that video on news last night and shouted "But this is America!"..... :cry:

[aletier_v]

4. Statistics

154 million full jobs in the U.S. at 40/hours per week.

That same amount of work COULD be 171 million jobs @ 36/hours per week.

It's not that hard for TPTB to figure this out, Roosevelt did.

It's not even hard, simply replace "40" with "36" in our current laws.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. This article, although excellent, overlooks the fact that police are errand boys for the 1%

and that they are coming out in overwhelming force to frighten us back into compliance. Shock and awe. And it's backfiring.

[Pachamama]

6. It is backfiring....i also know there are police out there trying to feed there families & they dont

Want to be the mercenaries for the 1 percent. I live in a very affluent area....one might actually say that it is home of many of the 1 percenters... (Ross, Ca). I know and respect our police officers and even many of them, most in fact who are "conservatives" even a fascist, would not agree with any of these tactics and they see the bullshit going on and know that the 99% are them too. My favourite this week was seeing the retired police captain from Philadelphia who was protesting in his dress blues in Zucotti park in NYC and spoke so well about the propwr use of force and his sign read "NYPD- watch "Inside Job" and then come join us....another said "NYPD- dont be Mercenaries for the 1 %"....

He also makes clear that force is only to be used to "protect someone's life" -- or to "protect them from bodily injury" -- that TALK -- NEGOTIATION -- is the way to go!! (which doesnt seem to be used in any of these cases with police trying to deal with

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocdnl4XlTOU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. He's a real gem, a hero, isn't he? :)

[WillyT]

7. K & R !!!

:kick:

[zbdent]

9. hmm ... 97 % good, 3 % bad ...

97 % of the protesters are NOT engaging in destructive/illegal behavior ...

but which 97% gets the favorable press?

And don't forget ... when talking about the 3 % of the TP'ers ... they're lone wolves, not indicative of the whole movement ... unlike the "liberally-biased media's" interpretation of the OWS 3%ers ...