http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/26/7978720-rewrite-police-vs-protesters

This is... there are no words. I'd like to think this is a systemic problem with the power granted to police, but why does this kind of thing keep happening to democratic protestors?

It happens to protesters everywhere, regardless of affiliation, if they challenge the status quo. The corporations don't want you to have freedom.

a those people, they had it coming. how dare they express their freedom in a way that no one is harmed D:<


note: if anyone can't put it together, I am joking

I'd love to think that's true when treating the problem on a Global scale. But when I look at where and when it happens in this nation, it always appears to leftist groups that really get the sh!t end of the stick. I've never seen Tea Party protesters ever get harassed by police. Of course that could be because they're often armed and therefore not worth the risk.

also, ultra-conservative Baptist Pastor:

That does calm my fears a bit, but you are comparing someone with very, very radical views to a group of people with considerably more moderate and peaceful intentions.

I'm a Ron Paul supporter (i.e. Libertarian Constitutionalist), and very much aware of police tendencies to assume authority they don't have on the assumption that people will be uneducated and comply. Despite my peaceful intentions, I've already gotten strikes on what very much appears to be a one-strike sort of list ("If you encounter any of these, call the JTTF").

And while I'm certainly not an extremist, like Pastor Anderson I'm also a Baptist, which very much has the connotation of Christian extremism in mainstream media (despite the identifying feature of Baptists being our theological diversity and emphasis on local governance of local churches). And that can of worms could easily guilt-by-association me another half dozen of those bullet points in the eyes of a testy law enforcement agency (just as it does for Muslims).

You may not have noticed, but pretty much everything I believe is counter-cultural, and that, rather than the specific end of the counter-culture spectrum you're on, is what will land you a sled ride on the party-pavement.

Looks like things could be escalating.

Boing Boing: Drinking champagn while grinning at protestors.
Take with a grain of salt, since it's unclear exactly what was going on. "Provocative" is right, though.

Massive blocks of text aside, I've yet to see any crack-downs on tea-party protests(ironic, given their extensive armaments and supposedly anti-authoritarian views). The police may question a few people about those views, but they aren't charging picket lines with pepper spray. Maybe it's just because those groups can fight back.

Actually, it's because they have a pronounced tendency not to; despite what liberal pundits have to say about people who choose to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms as a form of protest.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0419/Are-tea-party-rallies-given-preferential-treatment-by-police

Wow, after watching those videos, I'm quite speechless.

And the fact that that FBI pamphlet existed at all is scary enough.

Question on this is, what do you do to fix this particular problem? Simply firing the officers wouldn't be enough. And prison time just puts them at the care of the american people, which isn't fair either.

You missed my point entirely, probably because you're reading too fast. Slow down and read it again.



did you miss it?



I never said they did use violence or fight with police, so far they have not nor have they had a reason to. I said they could fight back IF they were mistreated by law enforcement. Since, generally speaking, liberals don't show up to rallies armed, they make far easier targets for reckless officers. It's not even a partisan thing, it's a picking-on-the-weak thing.

I'm just curious, but do you know why the T.E.A. Party was created?

Depends on which Tea party you're talking about. The original tea party were Ron Paul's followers, who were for the most part reasonable people with some legitimate grievances. The organized ones we see today holding up Obama Hitler signs and mass lying about healthcare are bunch of loons bussed in and paid for by oil companies like the Koch Brothers. Don't believe me? Check the website for any of the biggest tea party organizations. They almost all have Koch Industries as a sponsor(if they even disclose their sponsors). It was a good idea when it started but it's since been waaaaaay corrupted by corporate money.

Remember kids, AstroTurf is a product of the petroleum industry.

It's not always terrible everywhere:
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/boston-not-new-york

Looks like the NYPD is doing its job properly

Almost all the arrests I've seen and the actions taken to limit demonstration are aimed at keeping these people from blocking the streets which they are inclined to do in numbers.

Pepper spray isn't harmful but sometimes it's the only way to make them comply with these orders. It's the officer's job to keep the roads free and the protesters safe.

All of the videos I've seen involve somebody getting arrested in the street with a hundred other people yelling and pushing officers. This does not strike me as a peaceful demonstration. I have to commend officers for exercising the restraint they have so far.



Agreed, the Boston police force are even more commendable, and have handled the situation expertly.

On the other hand, though, closing a street in Boston and assigning a section for protesters is completely different from closing a street in New York. While I'm glad the protests are going well in Boston, I have to think that it couldn't even be nearly as severe as those in New York. New York just doesn't have ROOM for massive protests.

Occupy Sesame Street. It is unfair that 1% of the monsters eat 99% of the cookies.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/occupy-sesame-street-takes-off-on-twitter.html

My teacher was talking about how the Occupy Wall Street protesters have made it to Knoxville, Tennessee. I'm surprised that it is reaching that far, because I mostly saw it as something that would start and die in New York.

The problem I see with the protests, while I'm interested in seeing where they go, is that I don't think their model is sustainable. The TEA Party, as much as I dislike what they've become and the agenda they serve, do have a sustainable and effective model. They go to a place, do their thing with the Hitler signs, and then go home. These Wall Street protestors aren't going home. They're plopping down with their Hitler signs and living and sleeping where they're protesting, and while I appreciate the sentiment(without money, the only power they have is the space they can take up) I'm unsure how long they can keep that up before people /have/ to walk away.

And don't get started on the pepper spray thing. Pepper spray is an effective tool with a place and a purpose, but in the videos in the OP the protestors were doing nothing wrong, nothing illegal, and they still got sprayed(and beaten, a lot)That is certainly NOT commendable police behavior. That said it isn't all the police, or even a majority of police, but a handful of officers abusing their power. There is plenty of footage of other officers who are doing their jobs professionally and peaceably.