As in the Arab Spring back in March, the Egyptian protesters today were holding up gas canisters with 'Made in USA' stamped on them. The cameras cut away to Egyptian riot police launching another brutal baton charge to disperse the crowd, dismantling their tents and tearing down their banners.If you had left the room and came back a minute later, you would still be seeing riot police brutally assaulting protesters and you would assume this was the same story, but it wasn't, these uniformed thugs were American police.
Among the victims of what was charitably described as 'heavy handed policing', a pregnant 19-year-old girl was pepper-sprayed as was Dorli Rainey, an 84-year-old woman. The reaction from the Police Department was a dismissive statement that Pepper Spray is 'no more dangerous to someone who is 10 or someone who is 80.'
The most disturbing scene was the policeman, Lt John Pike, calmly pepper spraying a line of unarmed students who were taking part in a peaceful campaign in California. Not only did he spray them at point blank range once, but then he walked back along the line to dish out another dose.
The police are there to protect and serve, but who exactly are they protecting and serving? Not the protesters obviously, but to use pepper spray, baton charges, tear gas, rubber bullets and sound canon against unarmed civilians posing no threat is just wrong in every way.
Over 1500 citizens so far have been arrested with journalists being threatened, beaten and arrested, 26 at the last count, for reporting on the police action. If this was anywhere else we would rightly be condoning it and branding the leadership a brutal regime, but there are people defending this action.
It cannot be simply written off as an over reaction of the police to something non-life threatening, non-deadly or a few bad apples which is a useful cover-all in the UK when police are caught out.
This is showing that in America, those that seek to protest against what they disagree with, will be put down with brutal force. If the protesters take up arms, as they did in Egypt, Iran, Libya and now in Syria, the Obama reaction would be exactly the same as Mubarak, Ahmadinejad, Gadaffi and Assad. Widespread slaughter because if they do this to unarmed civilians, and heaven knows how there has not been any fatalities yet, they will hit harder with lethal force if the protesters come armed next time.
In America of all places, it seems that if citizens peacefully seek to voice their grievances with the government, they will be threatened, ridiculed, bullied, attacked, assaulted and then arrested.
If this is how America deals with it's own version of citizens protesting, brutal oppression, then it has even less right to lecture any other country on how they should be behaving.
6 comments:
If this is how America deals with it's own version of citizens protesting, brutal oppression, then it has even less right to lecture any other country on how they should be behaving.
Perhaps President Obama will decide to invade us?
Lucy,
first, taking a three or four bad scenes involving a couple of hundred people from a nation with 300 million people, then expanding them onto America as a whole, is a skill sought after by the tabloids. some of the protestors are asses. so are some of the cops.
second, of the arrests very very very few have been law abiding protestors. the arrested have been trespassers, people without permits, and people that are obstructing others.
third, The right to "PROTEST" does not give you the right to block others, stop commerce, or damage property (public or private). the first amendment (right to speak) does not mean you have the right to be heard... or the right to be a vandal...
q
It's Cameron and Sarkozy you have to worry about Kvatch, they have a taste for it now.
q - firstly it was a couple of hundred people who are law enforcers, there to protect the civilians. They beat them instead and it wasn't just one force, it was quite a few of them. It doesn't worry you that it was up and down the country so a decision must have been made somewhere for all forces to 'steam in'?
secondly, trespassers and non-permit holders like the 21 journalists in NY who were arrested for not having the right permit and when enquired into how they got a permit, was told that they had to have reported on at least 6 incidents in NY therefore making it impossible to get a NY permit without breaking the law and face being arrested 6 times.
Thirdly - I have yet to see or hear of a decent sized protest that did not at some level block others or stop commerce. Should they all then be banned?
firstly it was a couple of hundred people who are law enforcers, there to protect the civilians. They beat them instead and it wasn't just one force, it was quite a few of them. It doesn't worry you that it was up and down the country so a decision must have been made somewhere for all forces to 'steam in'?
Firstly – I will never support the government using inappropriate force and in a VERY few cases that happened the past week. BAD.
Secondly – I’m not sure if they are there to protect civilians or to enforce laws – not always the same thing... example it is ok to kill a baby in the womb but not out of the womb.
Thirdly – it always worries me when the government uses force – as such I’m against the death penalty
Fourthly - these are independent police forces in different cities and even different states – there was no coordinated government action
fifthly – some of the protestors did things that justify the police using force – don’t touch, spit on, threaten or throw things at them...
Sixthly – pepper spray is nasty – but nobody died or was permanently injured
Seventhly – your logic is very poor on this: “so a decision must have been made”. Wrong. Smart, pretty dogs are named Anne. Dogs eat meat. Anne eats meat. Anne is a dog. Bad logic.
q
secondly, trespassers and non-permit holders like the 21 journalists in NY who were arrested for not having the right permit and when enquired into how they got a permit, was told that they had to have reported on at least 6 incidents in NY therefore making it impossible to get a NY permit without breaking the law and face being arrested 6 times.
So? Thousands of Americans are protesting and even more journalists are reporting it. The points you make are isolated at this time. We need to keep an eye on it...
Thirdly - I have yet to see or hear of a decent sized protest that did not at some level block others or stop commerce. Should they all then be banned?
YES THEY SHOULD BE BANNED. I have rights too. Your rights end where mine begin. You have the right to assemble and be heard. You do not have the right to block my movement, my words, etc. If you can’t assemble and protest without affecting me then YOU NEED TO CHANGE WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO PROTEST. Trust me when I say “The cameras will follow!!!!!!!!!!”
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