Forum Post: Oakland cops, here come the goon squads.
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 8:42 a.m. EST by unarmed
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oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Weird how its stuck on 305 views
I think it's important for any of the "Occupy" protesters to remember that violence will only end in violence. There should not be any throwing and threatening action. Simple peaceful non-cooperation is all that is necessary, otherwise it will end poorly like this. :(
That is true, but a tactic used by law enforcement is to plant plains clothes officers in the crowd, have them toss a bottle, yell slurs. Then all hell breaks loose the plain clothes officer slips away, while the cops have justification to escalate the violence.
Oakland: http://the-whole-world-is-watching.net/occupy-oakland-protests-veteran-shot-face-rubber-bullet-omg/
Is that your thizz face or did you just get tear gassed?
Shit really is disgusting.
This whole scenario is developing right along the lines of the protest movements of the 1960s (and others before that such as the Suffrage Movements, etc that I was not around to see), and unfortunately, I'm afraid it's going to end the same: Those in power know nothing but force and fear to maintain it. They refuse to listen because they feel they have the right to rule and the people have only the right to do as they are told. If it develops as it did 50 years ago, there will be riots, mass confrontation, and deaths before they finally are forced to listen to us.
We need just one or two high profile Power People to step up and show they are willing to listen and maybe all that can be avoided.
A pipe dream? Maybe, but just maybe someone can be brave enough to do it.
No matter what, we need to occupy the ballot box next: anyone who does not support us gets tossed out of office, plain and simple. There are other candidates on the ballots -- socalists, libertarians, greens, and others. If we support them and if they truly come out for and with us, we can elect a different government and force change through our votes. But as long as we choose the lesser of two evils -- which is what the Republicans and Democrats want -- then they still control us.
from france, and india...: sorry, gandhi used non violence not systematically. here your chance is ultimate violence. you have banksters names and homes. if not, better going swimming and loving, it's free of charge. we love you anyway, good luck. i was in ny on the 11/9/11, and in benares, india, last week.
While violence may be inevitible, that is not the way to do it. That will only be used against us by the power structure -- to make us look like thugs and criminals. If violence takes over, it MUST be the powerful who are seen, without a doubt, to be the ones who start it. Just as in Birmingham, AL in the 60s and Kent State in 1970. In both those incidents, the nation saw peaceful demonstrators being set upon by dogs and firehoses, and shot dead, even though they were not even part of the protests. These images served to turn the tide in both the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti Vietnam War Movement, giving them legitimacy and bringing stronger and more prominent voices to the cause.
(Note: in Kent St, the government tried to say that the demonstrators were hurling bricks and bottles at the National Guardsmen which consitututed a threat to their safety. In actuality, the only thing that shows up on any video are students hurling tear gas canisteers back at the soldiers who fired them. Plus, use of deadly force by military against civilian nationals is very clearly dictacted and does not include having a brick or bottle thrown at you. Also, none of the four students killed were part of the protest movement. At least three of them were simply on their way to class when they were shot down.)
There is a wee bit of a problem in styling yourselves modern-day civil rights marchers. White middle-class Americans aren't exactly an oppressed group. You're near the very top of the global food chain, despite all these cries of extreme poverty. You're also being teargassed by other white middle-class Americans (the cops). The world looks at this as a sideshow. Globally, it's the second-to-top 5% complaining about the top 1%. And already you're provoking the worst cops in America?
It wasn't really my intent to compare OWS protesters with those of the civil rights or antiwar protests of the 60s. I was part of both those movements and I am very, very well of the differences, trust me. What I was comparing was the situations in which the power structure refused to listen and did not recognize the seriousness of those involved. As well, I was commenting on how the blantant use of force against an otherwise peaceful movement can -- and usually will -- galvanize the middle-of-the-road public and cause them to support something they are otherwise ambivalent toward.
It is not the duty of a government to quell the civil unrest of its people, but the duty of a people to not rest in the presence of a quelling government.
So, basically all this Oakland stuff is about defying the police. Good luck getting most Americans to sign on to THAT.
Why were people in Oakland even in the park? We're starting to lose sight of why.
Its not about defying the police. The police are an entity designed to serve and protect the citizens, not arrest them for being up past their bedtime.
If you know the cops are going to tear gas you and you still go out there anyway, and what's worse, allow ragged elements in your midst who taunt and throw stuff at the cops, then you're just out there to provoke confrontation for the sake of provoking confrontation. Well, you'll get your confrontation. And eventually you'll just be the G8 protesters that nobody really concerns themselves with.
When I watch these videos I do not see a group of people antagonizing a group of police officers. I see a group of police officers exceding their authority by firing tear gas at unarmed citizens after a warning to disperse a lawful assembly.
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http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=196582 Felony
Protesting was fun....until it got too real....run Oakland run.
The thing that is often overlooked is that, unlike the 60's the youth of today have been feed a steady diet of violence both fictional and realistic. They have intel by way of the internet and they are very well armed. The cops may find that violent confrontations with peaceful protesters won't be as "fun" as they were during the 60's. Dictators throughout the arab countries also underestimated the capacity of todays youths to react.
I cant wait till a bunch of out of work kids who have been playing gears of war on their x boxes get ahold of a box full of guns and decide WTF we got nothing else going on, that will start the ball rolling,
Yeah.....comparing American youths to youths in Arab countries is like comparing freedom starved tigers to whimpering puppies. Talk minus action equals zero.....run, run, run!
American youth violence is among the worst in the world. Have you been paying attention? Youths weren't packing during the 60's, there are metal detectors in elementary schools today.
Except that significantly skews to the puppy side when considering mostly white, middle-class college kids.
Ha ha ha ha ! You are so right. Any one of these titty shakin, flaversaver sportin Middlebury dropouts own a pistol? Nope.
You should come over to my house at about 3AM and break threw one of the windows. I promise i will show you exactly what kind of fire arms i have.
This is about civil disobedience not armed revolution that comes later if they decide to ignore everyone and try implementing a police state to protect the Corporate Neo-Feudalist State being run out of Wall Street.
NYC next baby!
NYC won't be next, far too many people to contain, the cops would be overrun with nowhere to go. The cops don't want a war scene in lower Manhattan, that's why they have not started mass beatings, tear gas, rubber bullets ect.
The reaction to the Oakland crackdown will be observed, if the protestors can be painted as violent and deserving of a violent crack down in the publics eye, then the same tactics will be used in other traditionally liberal areas that have a history of protestor/police clashes. The inevitable footage of protestors fighting back will be broadcast, public sentiment will be lost, justifying further crack downs in other areas.
By the time the crack downs make it to NY there will be zero public support and the few protestors remaining will be scooped up in a few NYPD vans.
If however, over the next few days, the reaction to the tear gassing is massive public support by way of non violent demonstrators, the message would be sent that the public doesn't condone the police violence, and the OWS would continue, other wise OWS will be gassed and head cracked. Resulting in massive counter violence throughout the country. Violence that would make the 60's seem very tame.
Yeah, something I think OWS enthusiasts don't understand is that police organizations are different everywhere. Oakland police have a history of brutality and if the protesters didn't know that they were naive - or trying to provoke them. NYPD is a lot smarter and has different tactics.
I find myself not having a great deal of sympathy for middle class white people who are only now getting the taste of tear gas. If you think that the world is going to fret with concern that Americans are getting rounded up in the streets, you're going to have a long wait. The world won't be coming to your rescue. The world has bigger problems, most of them caused by YOU.