Riots and the other side of the story.

[OverLordd]

After watching a bunch of videos of riots I think its important to explore the perception of a riot from the view of a police officer.

Let us consider this, your a police officer, you have been on duty for the past 12 hours because riots are expected in your major city. When the riots finally do break out, your sent into the streets with your fellow officers with no weapons, no bullets, all you have is a batton, a sheild, and maybe some peper spray. You of course have your protective gear and all that as well. Now you have a 20 something college drop out screaming in your face saying how your perpetuating the man, and all you want to do is go home and sleep and be with your wife and children. These people, the majority of whom dont live in your city, are ripping appart the place where you live, and work. Their actions completely invalidate the job you have been doing for years because you cant provide the protection the citizens diserve. Then some one sets something or another on fire, and you get hit in the face plate with a rock thrown by some one who is protesting the WTO when they have never had a job in their life. The tear gas is deployed and your face burns because the department has not been given enough money to buy desent gas masks. Shots have been heard and some one out in that crowd has a gun, you just hope you dont get shot so you can go home. The riot still is not dispersing so your ordered in, people screaming incorently infront of you, calling you names and saying you did things you never even thought about doing. You lash out with your batton at some one who dident follow the first second and third warnings, and screamed a curse word at you, but god, all you want to do is go home.

Riots are inexcusable behavior used to try and force government to follow a policy the mob wishes to dictate. They wish the policy to be followed weither or not they have all the information and weither or not its posible to complete, all they know is they want it, or they are burning something.

The police use rather humain methods to put down riots, I think people can start complaining then the army starts breaking up riots and people are fired on at a regular basis.

[Dr Phil]

Batons are so, 60's. Nah, now they use their new toy whenever they get a chance, tasers. Or they use their homeland defense money to buy something fancy like an LRAD truck.



Those poor, poor police officers.  

Some helpful reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_acoustic_device
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amen ... nstitution

more pleasant viewing
http://youtube.com/watch?v=o9hS0ZhpFPA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1LCQgREv5b8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DWa1RenMWII

[Antigen]

The police use rather humain methods to put down riots, I think people can start complaining then the army starts breaking up riots and people are fired on at a regular basis.

WTF? Why not hit the snooze alarm one more time and wait till they're dissapearing adult citizens in the middle of the night w/o due process? Yeah, then we should definitely start complaining. Till then, we'll just cheer for the Stillers, swill gallons of bad local beer and go 4-whillin cause ignorance is Blitzburgh.

[OverLordd]

Outlaw, I mean honestly, any one can find something wrong about some one on the internet, anyone can make a video and post it up edited to show whatever the hell they want.

And ginger, dont you think thats aliitle painoid, now im not saying that maybe some one is doing that, but what I am saying is that I doubt the average cop with a wife and a kid is doing that to anyone, and of course, you should complain if its really happening. Remember darling, not every one is in on the conspiracy, only people that wont look you in the eye. and yes, ignorance is fun, I wish I still was.

[Dr Phil]

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. Textually, it prohibits the federal legislature from making laws that:

    * Establish a state religion or prefer certain religion (the "Establishment Clause");
    * Prohibit free exercise of religion (the "Free Exercise Clause");
    * Infringe the freedom of speech;
    * Infringe the freedom of the press;
    * Limit the right to assemble peaceably;
    * Limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

if the police are attacking peaceful protestors they are breaking the law. if the legislature passes laws saying people can only assemble in free speech zones, they are breaking the law, not only that, the first ammendment itself. theres a reason they dont teach constitution in school anymore, if anything they should hand kids one book, the federalist papers.. sigh.

[Anonymous]

Outlaw, I mean honestly, any one can find something wrong about some one on the internet, anyone can make a video and post it up edited to show whatever the hell they want.

And ginger, dont you think thats aliitle painoid, now im not saying that maybe some one is doing that, but what I am saying is that I doubt the average cop with a wife and a kid is doing that to anyone, and of course, you should complain if its really happening. Remember darling, not every one is in on the conspiracy, only people that wont look you in the eye. and yes, ignorance is fun, I wish I still was.

Zeig Heil!

[Anonymous]

OverLordd, Zeig Heil is right. This is how authoritarianism works, just exactly as you describe. And no, I'm not paranoid. Click the link to which the words "dissapearing adult citizens in the middle of the night w/o due process" are linked in my post above. I couldn't make this shit up, it can only come from the Congressional record.

Here's another great video to watch.
http://www.nospank.net/7163793.200k.wmv
This one is not so edited. It's the routine documentary video required for all restraints and, I guess, other incidents in Florida's juvenile justice system.

I want you to really watch this, now. Not for the blow by blow, horrid violence. Instead, take in the whole scene. Notice the demeanor of the men doing the beating and the nurse who's supposed to ensure the safety of the inmates. I'm sure these guys doing the beating have wives and kids, mothers and grandmothers just like anybody. All of these people were obviously aware, on some level, that they were being surveiled. And they seem to be not aware at all that they were killing this kid. They probably didn't even know that this kid was a good student or that his 'crime' had been going joy riding in his grandma's car or that he hadn't even been the driver or that the grandmother didn't even support pressing charges. All they knew was that this kid wouldn't do as instructed, therefore they were doing "the right thing" by forcing compliance.

Kid, let me tell you something. I know just how these guys must feel. I did the same thing, or very similar. I had just got done reaming this kid out for being defiant and non-compliant a minute or so before I realized that the poor fucker was catatonic.

That's how it works, OverLordd. All the Nazis and all of Stalin's terrifying agents in their Black Maria's were just enforcing the law, nothing personal. When American soldiers took the townspeople of Dachau inside the concentration camp to see the evidence, they were shocked. They had believed all along something very, very similar to your take on police brutality.

[OverLordd]

if the police are attacking peaceful protestors they are breaking the law. if the legislature passes laws saying people can only assemble in free speech zones, they are breaking the law, not only that, the first ammendment itself. theres a reason they dont teach constitution in school anymore, if anything they should hand kids one book, the federalist papers.. sigh.

The thing is, once people start destroying public and private property they are no longer peaceful, was seattle peaceful? was L.A. peaceful? the very nature of a riot is violence, why do these people seem to be getting attacked when millions of other americans can get together and protest, or argue, or rally without getting in a fight with the police or rioting? Now I agree with you about the free speech zones, thats just creepy, but that was for a party convention if I'm not mistaken, and its not the norm. I read the federalist papers thank you numbers 10 and 51 anyway, but something you need to realize is your rights end where the next persons begins, and by destorying property your denying some one else their rights.

You will notice when people riot they never destory their own property, but the property of others or the states public property. The very idea of a riot is a violation of other peoples rights.

You seem to think I am commenting on protests, thats not the fact of the matter, people can protest all they want, but when they start rioting, thats when they shouldent whine if they get hit with a taser or tear gased.

[teachback]

Overlordd, you're under arrest.

You ~might find out why in a year or so...

Until then, feel free to shut the fuck up; no one will hear you anyway...

[Dr Phil]

Yeah, I would agree you with IF the police didn't actively send in agent provocateurs to do the property damage and lead others, then punish the entire crowd of protestors by beatings and chemical/electrical attack. This is standard operating procedure now, why would protestors give the storm troopers an opportunity to employ their sick weaponry against them? They don't most of the time, at least not knowingly.

Maybe you have been following the protest in Portland? This was five days ago. No surprise the media isnt covering it. Here is one persons account. They weren't rioting, they didn't damage any property.

October 5th, the pig riot
author: Bash
I have been to many protests, witnessed countless acts of police brutality, but none compare to what I saw today. Bean bag guns, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and billy clubs; all of them used to attack peaceful protestors. Friends of mine were trampled by horses, beaten by billy clubs, and peppersprayed severely. All in an disgusting display of extreme police brutality. My hands are still shaking and my eye still hurts from pepper spray so I will try to write this as best as I can...
The rally began at 12:00, in Park and Main. Around 18 students in my school (located on 12th and Main) walked out of school to participate in the protest. Prior to the protest some students and I were deeply dissatisfied with World Can't Waits comments about discouraging direct action, and had absolutely no idea what the protest would be like. We arrived at the park blocks seeing a crowd of maybe 500 people listening to speeches. The majority of the population was middle aged liberals, but there were also a good number of students there as well. After a couple speeches, an incredibly inspiring woman gave a speech about the importance of direct action. She questioned world can't wait about their ridiculous statements discouraging direct action. Some world can't wait organizers booed her, which was incredibly disrespectful and rude.

After what seemed like eternity, the march finally began. Almost half the crowd left during the speeches, but more and more people started joining the protest as we were marching. I would guess, but I'm not sure, that there were about 550 people there. As we walked about 6 blocks from the park, people started asking why we were following the police in what looked like a parade. Every single speaker talked about taking action to create change, but yet we were still following oppressive police barriers for our permitted marches. People began becoming confused on where to go, and we walked in a loop all the way down from the park and then back up it. As we took the next turn, it was visible that we were walking down a street that wasn't permitted. The police tried to cut in front of us, but eventually got orders to let us through, this happened two times. The crowd was ecstatic; we had successfully taken the streets, for a short time anyway. The police had lined up on bikes against a street and we stood there for awhile wondering if they would still let us through. I strongly believe they would have, if the liberal peace police didn't try to get all the protestors back on the permitted streets. One man with a megaphone talked about how the government had now given access to schools to strip search students. He also talked about how we should protect the students. Ironically, he said all of this while abandoning students who were at risk of being attacked by police. I screamed for people to protect us, the students, and that change begins now. Many liberals argued with me that civil disobedience is wrong and what the crowd was doing was stupid. I informed them about how MLK had been arrested upwards 20 times for acts of civil disobedience, they didn't really argue past that.

Eventually, the crowd had to give up because the rest of the protest had kept marching on. I was very angry about the lack of solidarity some of those protesters showed. We moved on to the Oregonian building and chanted "FREE THE PRESS". Drummers formed a drum circle on the sidewalk outside the Oregonian building, and the energy of the crowd was immense. One protestor asked the Oregonian staff to please actually write about this protest and other protests in a truthful matter; he didn't really get a response. Security guards were standing right outside the doorway, watching our every move.

Once again, the crowd moved on, and more and more riot police started lining the streets. A police helicopter flew overhead of us consistently throughout the rest of the protest. As we were walking back to Park and Main, protestors started sprinting up Jefferson. The majority of the protest followed, some went back to the park. I sprinted as fast as I could to the front of the protest to see what was going on. Police tried to stop many of us, and I think someone was arrested, when we were running up Jefferson. Bike police had already lined up on 12th and Jefferson, stopping the protest. Police on horses zoomed passed me, bumping into many people. All of a sudden, I started hearing screaming, and saw batons fly up in the air. People were being pepper sprayed at the head of the protest, and police started attacking protestors, doing "snatch and grabs". I saw a friend get tackled by the police twenty feet away from the police lineup. Three police started attacking him and stepping on him while he was on the ground. Shots fired, people were screaming all around me. A friend told me a woman was sitting on the sidewalk while all of this was happening and was intentionally kicked by the police. Police shot rubber bullets at the woman sitting on the ground, but I don't believe they hit her. People were getting trampled by the horses, and more shots fired. Protesters were hyperventilating around me, and I could see three guys in serious pain 30 feet away. I ran to them and found they had been severely pepper sprayed, they were yelling in extreme pain. I mixed one part water one part Maalox and poured it in their eyes and all around their body. Two of them had their entire upper body covered in pepper spray. Pepper spray, from the guy I was giving medical attention to, had gotten on my arm, and some around my eye. We ran out of water, and I sprinted to my school, not 10 feet away. I asked for water and a basic solution safe for the eyes. My principle came out informing me that the school had gone in lockdown. The desk attendant at my school wouldn't even give me water to help the people dosed in pepper spray. That made me incredibly angry. I found out that some of the students that go to my school had been very badly pepper sprayed. Three women, who were doing absolutely nothing, got trampled by the police. As five minutes went by, riot police had filled Jefferson. "This is the Portland police, this is an illegal assembly, if you do not move you will be subject to chemical weapons... blah blah", the Portland pigs announced. Everyone went on the sidewalks, as the police began laughing and pointing their rubber bullet and bean bag guns at us. Cops barricaded the sidewalks with their bikes, giving smirks to all the protestors. Elmore, a cop who has personally told me he was going to beat the shit out of me in a past protest, waved his gun around, laughing while doing so. The corporate media flogged the sidewalks, we yelled at them to tell the fucking truth, I doubt they will.

Everyone seemed to disperse, as the protest came to a close. I was informed that ten people had been arrested. I could hardly walk back to the bus stop I was so shocked and exhausted. After many calls to the NWCRC (Northwest constitutional rights center) I went home, in pain and confused.

If you had a camera and filmed the police brutality that occurred today, PLEASE CONTACT NWCRC and Portland Indymedia, your footage is extremely important to bringing down these fucking pigs. Also, if you were attacked by the police, please call the NWCRC (also jail support) at 503 233 3194.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/347079.shtml

Here is some video from the event.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/VideoP ... &catId=131

[Antigen]

Last time I was arrested was probably around `86 or so. After about 6 hours and using my one phone call to get somebody to pick my 2yo daughter up from daycare, barely making the deadline, I was a little frazzled. Then the crazy woman entered the cage. I was fine w/ the hookers. They were actually comforting, as they were calm--all in a night's work kinda thing--and decent. But the hysterical yuppie made us all a little nervous. And it was coming down to lights out and I still didn't know what I had been arrested for, except that the officer who pulled me over for rolling through a stop sign said I had an outstanding warrant.

So I got a little upset. Major infraction, that. I didn't cuss or threaten or use any profanity. I cried. That's all. I had called for the guard, he came and asked me what I wanted. I said I want to know why I was there. I had asked politely, of course, several times; of the arresting officer, he didn't know; of the booking clerk, who assured me that I'd find out soon enough and again of the one who led me out to make that phone call. No one seemed to know what the warrant was for and I couldn't imagine. I hadn't been in any trouble, I was just driving an ice cream truck, trying to feed my kid. So, after all this time and not knowing, when the guard asked what the hell I wanted I just broke down crying and said "I just want to know why I'm here. Why did I get arrested? What was the warrant for and..." I was going to ask how long till I could see a judge or get out, but she cut me off. She had some kind of code word that the other guards responded to. They went on alert, one opened the cage door and this bitch came in, grabbed me, threw me to the back of a smaller holding cell and told me to shut the hell up.

[Anonymous]

Fuck your sympathy for cops.  They have taken up arms against the citizens of this country, they are the enemy.  Your sympathy for them is disgusting.  You seem awful concerned about some swine's wife and kids, what about the lives they ruin every day?  Most of the prisoners in this country are locked up for NON VIOLENT drug offenses.  Cops are an integral part of that process.  You sympathize with them?  Oh yeah, they're "just doing their job".  Fuck them, and fuck you for your whining about how rough cops have it.  Too bad more of them aren't dead.

[Anonymous]

Hey, don't be so harsh on him---he watched a bunch of videos on riots.  He's an expert on police brutality now.

[AtomicAnt]

Many times the riots are caused by the police. I've seen that happen. At one rally, they used horses to push the protestors up against the police barriers. The choice for the protestors was either get crushed by a horse, or go through the barrier. They chose the barrier. On the other side, the cops gleefully pummeled them to the ground and arrested them. The nightly news said something to the effect of 'hundreds riot' when in fact only about 60 people were there.

[Anonymous]

Good, I hope you hippies got crapped on by those police horses and smelled really bad at your next trust-fund get together.

Ask yourself what kind of people have time in the middle of the day to protest these EXTREMELY IMPORTANT rallies....hippies living off trust funds and marjiuana, and students who should be in school.

Get back to work and stop riding on the coat tails of hard working americans.

If you break the law you get punished according to the law, no matter how minor the offense, so stop whining about being put in jail.