(Untitled)

[salomes_pimp]

vidicon posted this in his lj. i'm stealing it because i think it's important.

and behold those who try to expose the reality
who really, really try to realize democracy
are shot with rubber bullets and gassed off the streets....
~a.d.

Comments

[gapeezer]

holy shit. when and where did this happen?

Re:

[salomes_pimp]

oakland and nyc.

[girlvinyl]

The protesters blocked a gate and threw rocks and pieces of metal at police. In the fray were people who work at the port. Those people, who were just doing their jobs on *private property* got injured, and the police had no choice but to protect them.

The port is private property. It is illegal to trespass or demonstrate on private property without the consent of the property owner.

Re:

[salomes_pimp]

the police officials who are also supposed to serve and protect these people are supposed to bounce their rubber bullets off of the streets. i doubt any of those bounced. check out that top photo again.

yeah, a lot of protesters get out of hand. i'm actually ashamed to go to many protests and have pretty much quit going to any atlanta has had all together. however, the police are trained to deal with these situations. they are instructed on the proper ways of handling things pelted at them, demonstrations, and angry words. here, they chose to disregard their training. even if the demonstrators are wrong, the police should have taken a higher road. that is what we pay them to do.

[girlvinyl]

I don't think the police have a responsibility to protect and serve people who are willfully tresspassing... especially when the property owner has called police and requested something be done about it.

Would you want people invading your property treated gently? What about after they demonstrated physical violence toward police and your employees?

I'm really getting sick of the protesters being so ridiculously thoughless in the things they're doing. They claimed to be protesting at the port because one of the companies that uses the port send supplies to the military personnel in the Middle East. Sigh. So what's better? That they starve and die?

The Anti-American sentiment lately is starting to really anger me.

Re:

[salomes_pimp]

i just read a few more articles on the incident. the police chief stated that "one of the demonstrators threw a rock."

City Councilwoman Jane Brunner stood near an injured protester who had a bloody welt on his back that had swelled to the size of a softball. "It's pretty upsetting to see these big welts," said Brunner.

"We have to investigate this. According to the police chief, a protester threw a rock. My question is: Even if one or two people have been disruptive, do you go in like that with that kind of force in a demonstration?"

there is a difference bertween human rights and anti-americanism. i in no way intend to say that i hate america. i do hate the childish way we have gone about recent things. but both sides of the battle (the one within our country) have approached things in an illogical and defensive manner. i can't really say i'm "proud" of anything right now.

[kos23]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! GET THE FUCK OFF THE STREET.

Re:

[salomes_pimp]

the police gave them a two minute warning to move from in front of the gates before opening fire. they began shooting even as people had moved to the sidewalks and others were trying to reach there and still shot the people on the sidewalks. granted, the people did not assemble on public property. (what is "public property" nowadays, btw? even the parks are private property....) however, the force used by the police was not necessary for the protest. the company they were protesting in front of sent workers home. no sweat off their backs. one of the drivers who was stalled from entering with gates with his truckload of weapons even told the press he was on the side of the protesters and only moved his vehicle in when the cops made him

[kos23]

all i have to say (without getting into the whole pro/anti war argument again)is that if you want to protest, on private property no less, if you want to "get your message heard", if you want throw rocks/metal/whatever at the police (or align yourself with group of other people throwing rocks), don't cry about it when you get your ass stomped by the authorities. a protester's wet dream is to evoke some type of reaction from the police. it's good publicity. it "get's your message heard" especially when it makes the "big bad police" look like they are victimizing the "poor helpless protester, who only wants to make themselves heard." horse shit. if the police wouldn't have stepped in, i doubt we would even have heard about this.

these people put themselves in this position and in my opinion they got not only what they deserved, but what they asked for. feel free to rant all you want. i encourage it. just don't go painting any bull's eye's on your back, or chin for that matter. lol my friend.

[lorigami]

part of the problem, as you pointed out, is that almost everything these days is private property. add to that the fact that one has to have a government permit to protest the government on what public property there is, and you aren't leaving protesters with much choice. the frustration of the people trying to make their voices heard is all too apparent, and things are getting out of hand on both sides. I do firmly believe, however, that the police grossly overreacted in this case. there were plenty of alternatives to firing rubber bullets straight at the crowd.

and hi, I'm kellie's friend with the blue hair.

[lorigami]

strange coincidence, but another girl on my friends list is best friends with that girl's sister. She says no one was throwing anything at the cops, to the best of her knowledge. She was also arrested earlier in a public square (not blocking a street or anyhting) during a yoga protest, in which members of her yoga class stood and meditated, barefoot, on their yoga mats.
I just thought you might find that interesting. there is a picture of the yoga protest here:
http://www.bonkersfiber.com/photos/yogaprotest.jpg