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10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters

Intro by Gary Wamsley

Unfortunately you will not find “Main Stream Media” covering this side of the story. In this case, AlterNet has put together these 10 events and added some comments and context. The point is that police are not supposed to use more force than necessary. When they do it infuriates crowds and leads to confrontations. The unprovoked attacks in these videos is a chilling statement on the police state that the United States is becoming. The sight in some of these videos of police bringing up their assault rifles toward unarmed citizens of the United States makes one wonder if we are becoming more like Syria or pre-revolution Libya. What would you do if you were treated like this by the police? Would you want to strike back?

I wonder if Cory Gardener and Kevin Lundberg approve of the police action depicted in these videos. I am certain that they are anti-occupy and likely share Herman Cain’s opinion about the protesters.

 

 

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Photo Credit: Newsweek

 

Caught on Camera: 10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters [2]

Probably 97 percent of police act professionally toward protesters. But the other 3 percent are armed and dangerous, and know that they’re unlikely to be held accountable.

November 18, 2011 |Occupations across the country have born the brunt of some violent police tactics, and in a world where everyone has a camera-phone, a lot of their brutish behavior has been caught in photographs and on video.

Police work is difficult and dangerous, and the majority of officers on the street behave like pros. When it comes to controlling crowds of angry protesters, they’re often put into tense situations and ordered to do things they may not want to do by commanders who are far removed from the scene. I’ve witnessed a lot of restraint from cops, which of course doesn’t make the news.

But being human, cops are also prone to fear and rage like everyone else. A minority of cops, like a minority of protesters, lose their cool in tense situations. The difference is that they aren’t amateurs – they’re well trained and have guidelines that they’re required to follow. When a cop loses his or her cool, it can be terrifying. And when a protester exercising his or her right to assemble and speak is a victim of excessive force, it also violates the United States Constitution.

Unlike protesters, cops are also armed, and it’s difficult to hold them accountable for their actions when they don’t behave professionally. Most civilian review boards are toothless and ineffectual. But, as Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union told AlterNet last month, “public video recording has dramatically changed the landscape of police accountability, no question about it. It’s a lot harder for police to sweep allegations of abuse under the rug when it’s on video and on YouTube.”

Below are some of the most stunning incidents of police officers going wild on Occupy protesters around the country. To be fair, we don’t always know the context in which these violent actions occurred – what happened in the moments before the incident was captured on camera. At the same time, when you look at these images, keep in mind that the rule of thumb in use-of-force cases is that police are prohibited from applying more physical force than is necessary to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement task. When they exceed that measure, they’re committing a crime.

Read More [2]