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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3 comments :

Anonymous said...

That is a picture of Minneapolis Police Officers at the 2008 RNC in St Paul MN. Not really sure what that has to do with the Occupy Movement or a Dalls Ft Worth Group that is calling for the end of thier swat team. Makes you wonder what else in this article is inaccurate.

Juan Wilson said...

Aloha Anonymous,

The source of the photo was a Dallas-Fort Worth group that is calling for end of their SWAT team.

The source had several photos of various kinds and used the photo in question to illustrate a SWAT team. They did not identify where they got the image or what police force was in the picture.

Our policy is to identify the sources of images and we do not go into great detail about the source's sources.

Thank you for identifying the Minneapolis PD SWAT, if in fact you are correct.

Juan Wilson
Island Breath Publisher

Juan Wilson said...

And by the way,

It's hard to say what police force your dealing with when they dress in black SWAT uniforms and hide behind masks and avoid displaying badges or ID's.

Gee I wonder why they do that?

Juan Wilson
IB Publisher

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