![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Past Two Days...
It's been a very exhausting last couple of days in Portland, and I have some diverging opinions on what's been happening here and in San Francisco.
I attended the Day of Bombing rally and march in downtown Portland Thursday. From 7,000 to 10,000 people marched in the street without a permit, and the cops generally left them alone, shepherding the march through the streets and trying to minimize traffic disruption.
The trouble started later that evening. There was scattered civil disobedience, including people sitting down on the Steel Bridge and on the west side of the Burnside Bridge.
The police reacted in a terroristic manner, spraying pepper spray, shooting rubber bullets, and otherwise initiating less-than-lethal force against non-violent demonstrators. The actions reminded me of racist Southern police using fire hoses, clubs, and attack dogs against civil rights marchers in the 1960s.
Rest assured, I wasn't in the action. I even disagree with much of the civil disobedience, but on a tactical level; I think it pisses off people more than driving one's point across.
However, the police in Portland and in many other places are out of control. Instead of defusing situations by watching, shepherding and drawing as little attention to disruptions, they have to be a bunch of macho assholes and attack. They escalate the situation by attacking peaceful protesters with pepper spray, rubber bullets, and other weapons.
Guess what, cops? You are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Bull Connor, the Birmingham police chief who attacked Martin Luther King's marchers with fire hoses and attack dogs. I hope you're happy, and I hope your mortgage is paid up, because you're going to get sued. You are terrorists of the worst stripe; those who hide behind the law.
I attended the Day of Bombing rally and march in downtown Portland Thursday. From 7,000 to 10,000 people marched in the street without a permit, and the cops generally left them alone, shepherding the march through the streets and trying to minimize traffic disruption.
The trouble started later that evening. There was scattered civil disobedience, including people sitting down on the Steel Bridge and on the west side of the Burnside Bridge.
The police reacted in a terroristic manner, spraying pepper spray, shooting rubber bullets, and otherwise initiating less-than-lethal force against non-violent demonstrators. The actions reminded me of racist Southern police using fire hoses, clubs, and attack dogs against civil rights marchers in the 1960s.
Rest assured, I wasn't in the action. I even disagree with much of the civil disobedience, but on a tactical level; I think it pisses off people more than driving one's point across.
However, the police in Portland and in many other places are out of control. Instead of defusing situations by watching, shepherding and drawing as little attention to disruptions, they have to be a bunch of macho assholes and attack. They escalate the situation by attacking peaceful protesters with pepper spray, rubber bullets, and other weapons.
Guess what, cops? You are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Bull Connor, the Birmingham police chief who attacked Martin Luther King's marchers with fire hoses and attack dogs. I hope you're happy, and I hope your mortgage is paid up, because you're going to get sued. You are terrorists of the worst stripe; those who hide behind the law.
no subject
In the words of Homestar Runner (http://www.homestarrunner.com), BALETED!
RE: Portland protests
Re: Portland protests
The media are alternately symbiotic and adverse to both the protesters and the police; a good story can result from violence from either side. Hostility from the protesters can result in the kind of coverage KATU gave last weekend, and police terrorism results in KPTV's coverage, particularly if an individual officer intentionally targets the media, like Sgt. Mark Kruger directing his pepper spray at KPTV's camerawoman during the August 22 Bush protests.
I consider pepper-spraying anyone not attacking the police to be police brutality, or as I prefer to call it, police terrorism.
Meanwhile, there are reports coming in from people arrested that the police committed Eighth Amendment violations while the protesters were in custody. We'll have to check those out...
RE: Portland protests
Low expectations...
635.10 Crowd Control
Dispersal Procedures
(c) The amount of force deployed shall only be in proportion to violence or resistance encountered.
The use of chemical agents is a dramatic measure used to disperse a crowd. It should be definitely determined, before its use, that it is the necessary and only means remaining to disperse the crowd.
I don't expect the police to be my friend, either, even though I grew up in a solidly middle-class white suburban community. I do expect them to follow law and procedure, and they shouldn't abuse their authority, no matter who's on the receiving end.
I understand your low expectations of the police; I guess if you're used to seeing frequent arrests and stops for no reason (or for DWB/WWB) and rampant police brutality, seemingly isolated incidents may not shock you.
Thing is, I don't want to see the "real harm" by the police. Some cop is going to seriously injure or kill someone, thinking he can do anything he wants with impunity.