OWS & Police Militarization

SUBHEAD: How OWS has exposed the militarization of US law enforcement with its attacks on a peaceful group.  

By Rania Khalek on 20 October 2011 for AlterNet.org -  
(http://www.alternet.org/world/152812/why_are_police_attacking_peaceful_protesters_how_ows_has_exposed_the_militarization_of_us_law_enforcement/)

 

Image above: Dallas-Fort Worth group calls for end of their SWAT team. From (http://eco2.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/we-

dont-need-an-ellis-county-police-state-swat-team/). As the number of Occupy Wall Street arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up. Felix Rivera-Pitre was punched in the face in New York during a march through the city’s financial district; Ryan Hadar was dragged out of the street by his thumbs at Occupy San Francisco; and at Occupy Boston.

 As the number of Occupy Wall Street arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up. Felix Rivera-Pitre was punched in the face in New York during a march through the city’s financial district; Ryan Hadar was dragged out of the street by his thumbs at Occupy San Francisco; and at Occupy Boston, As Occupation Spreads.

So Does the Police State A clear pattern has emerged in the response to occupations throughout the country, from San Francisco to Denver, involving midnight raids by heavily armed paramilitary units of riot police deployed to enforce park curfews. Protesters at Occupy San Francisco are familiar with the routine. They have endured multiple late-night police raids on their encampment in Justin Herman Plaza, the most brutal of which took place Sunday, October 16th.

Minutes before midnight and with the approval of Mayor Ed Lee (who is currently running for reelection and claims to be supportive of the movement's overall message), 70 police officers decked out in full riot gear marched into the encampment to enforce a 10pm curfew. They dismantled tents, tarps, the medical station and the kitchen, along with some personal belongings, all of which were loaded onto Department of Public Works trucks.

Some 200 protesters resisted peacefully, locking arms to prevent the police invasion, which was met with a frighteningly violent response. According to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, one protester received a lengthy beat-down for duct-taping his body to a pole inside the camp. The police allegedly "ripped him off the pole, threw him to the ground and struck him in the head and ribs. When he left by ambulance a few hours later, he appeared to be convulsing or seizing," reported the Bay Guardian. Protesters using their bodies to block the DPW trucks from leaving were dragged out of the street, some by their fingers and thumbs. Those who locked arms to form a human chain were pulled apart and thrown onto the sidewalk. Ryan Hadar, 19, described his experience to the Guardian:

“They bent back my thumbs, trying to pry me away from the people I was locking arms with. When I asked if they were trying to break my thumbs [one officer] replied, ‘Only if I have to.’ Then they dragged me to the sidewalk by my index finger. I asked if they were trying to break my finger, and this time they replied, ‘Yes.’"

After destroying the campsite, sending one activist to the hospital and arresting at least five protesters, the police departed from the scene around 1:40am.

 [Editor's note: If you don't think has been a hot topic of debate on Kauai, remember our column in the Garden Island News was terminated after we wrote the following two articles regarding the Kauai Police Department. Our dismissal came from pressure from Tom Iannucci, then chairman of the Kauai Police Commission and the newly appointed KPD Chief Daryl Perry.]

 See also:
Island Breath: The Kauai Police Mission 5/15/08
Island Breath: KPD Policy on Patrolling 6/7/08 See also:
Island Breath: Protect and Serve - Let's Roll! 4/5/08

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