Thread: Police brutalize DC protestors

Released D.C. protesters say police used intimidation tactics Jason Rhyne
Published: Friday September 7, 2007

Two of the protesters arrested on Thursday during an outdoor press conference at Washington D.C.'s Lafayette Square say that the show of force from police at the scene--which included a S.W.A.T. team and mounted officers, according to reports--was excessive and designed to send a message.
Tina Richards, of the group Grassroots America, and Ian Thompson, a lawyer and organizer for the anti-war group ANSWER Los Angeles, spoke to RAW STORY shortly after they were released from jail and formally charged with misdemeanors in D.C. Superior Court. A third individual, Adam Kokesh, a leader of Iraq Veterans Against the War, has also been released, Richards and Thompson said.
"They were completely there to intimidate," said Tina Richards in a telephone interview with RAW STORY. "We were there to say, 'no,' you won't."
After Richards confirmed the basics of earlier accounts of the arrests in the Washington Post and the AFP--"My attorney brought me the stories in jail," she said--the activist and mother of an Iraq war veteran reported that the police's actions were uncalled for.
"We were in complete compliance with D.C. law," said Richards of the group's activities yesterday, which included pasting an advertisement for an anti-war march taking place in Washington next week on an electrical box. She was charged today with defacing public property.
Richards also says she was injured in the scuffle that preceded the arrests.
"I'm on my way to the hospital right now," she said by telephone. "One of the S.W.A.T. team [members] harassed my daughter...and they slammed my head up against the side of a door."
Ian Thompson, who was charged with interfering with a police officer, says the tough treatment from police extended to the group's night in jail.
"We were shackled with leg irons from about six in the morning until two this afternoon," he said. "They completely overreacted--I was picking up a bucket of paste," referring to the adhesive the group was using to put up a sign.
"When [the police] are fishing for things, they really go for it," he said, adding that the three of them had initially been charged with disorderly conduct. "I mean, picking up a paste bucket?"
Thompson says the timing of the upcoming Sept. 15 rally--days after General David Petraeus is scheduled to give his progress report on Iraq to Congress--is key.
"The heat that's coming down on Congress about the Iraq war is really having an effect...actions like this are going to have a big impact."
"If they're scared of three activists," said Thompson, "just wait until there's tens of thousands.'"

To watch the video - here's the link
The Raw Story | Released D.C. protesters say police used intimidation tactics

Why the hell were they protesting at Lafeyette Sq? Are they that bad at directions? You are more than welcome to sit in front of 1600 Penn Ave for decades. I see it everyday. They should have tried that instead.

Plus, they were warned. They ignored the warnings. Follow the rules, you aren't above them, people. And get over it when you get busted for breaking them. Get a fricking permit if you are told to do so. For god sakes they'll drag your ass to jail for driving on speakerphone. Not too hard to grasp.

Originally Posted by freckles

Why the hell were they protesting at Lafeyette Sq? Are they that bad at directions? You are more than welcome to sit in front of 1600 Penn Ave for decades. I see it everyday. They should have tried that instead.

Plus, they were warned. They ignored the warnings. Follow the rules, you aren't above them, people. And get over it when you get busted for breaking them. Get a fricking permit if you are told to do so. For god sakes they'll drag your ass to jail for driving on speakerphone. Not too hard to grasp.

Follow what rules?! You don't need a permit to have a press conference!

They - the Iraq war veterans and family members - were having an announced press conference - and putting up posters for a march. The posters were being glued with a legal, biodegradable paste - in a place where posters are frequently pasted. The cops arrived with a SWAT team and police on horseback, arrested them, and kept them shackled in a cell, injuring the mother of a veteran of 2 tours in Iraq.

Is this the America we are fighting to defend?

Originally Posted by jojo

Follow what rules?! You don't need a permit to have a press conference!

They - the Iraq war veterans and family members - were having an announced press conference - and putting up posters for a march. The posters were being glued with a legal, biodegradable paste - in a place where posters are frequently pasted. The cops arrived with a SWAT team and police on horseback, arrested them, and kept them shackled in a cell, injuring the mother of a veteran of 2 tours in Iraq.

Is this the America we are fighting to defend?

Read the entire article. They were warned. Like I said, DC police don't fuck around. They will drag your ass to jail for talking on a speakerphone.

Originally Posted by freckles

Read the entire article. They were warned. Like I said, DC police don't fuck around. They will drag your ass to jail for talking on a speakerphone.

I read the article - and I also watched the video. Looked like an over-reaction to me. The group was smal - a handful of people - in a public gathering place. They were putting up a sign, using a legal paste, on a surface frequently used for signs. The fact that DC cops don't fuck around does not make them right - there was no reason to call in a SWAT team and no reason to keep these people in shackles over a misdemeanor charge that will get thrown out of court.

It is intimidation - pure and simple. This woman's son is 80% disabled from his tours with the marines in Iraq - fighting for the constitution. What the cops did may have been predictable - even slamming her head against a wall - but it was not right.

Originally Posted by jojo

I read the article - and I also watched the video. Looked like an over-reaction to me. The group was smal - a handful of people - in a public gathering place. They were putting up a sign, using a legal paste, on a surface frequently used for signs. The fact that DC cops don't fuck around does not make them right - there was no reason to call in a SWAT team and no reason to keep these people in shackles over a misdemeanor charge that will get thrown out of court.

It is intimidation - pure and simple. This woman's son is 80% disabled from his tours with the marines in Iraq - fighting for the constitution. What the cops did may have been predictable - even slamming her head against a wall - but it was not right.

Did she wear a nametag saying that when the cops walked up? Why should they care? They are cops, they don't give a crap who you are related to.

Originally Posted by freckles

Did she wear a nametag saying that when the cops walked up? Why should they care? They are cops, they don't give a crap who you are related to.

Dots you are outrageous! If it were Clinton being protested against and the DC cops did that to them you would be singing a different tune. You have no objectivity therefore you are unrealistic. All your post should bare a disclaimer that reads: "This post is most probably a lie or at the very least misleading. I take my cue from FOX and subscribe that I am allowed to spin anything to fit the agenda of my party line. Namecalling, labeling, misleading lying and just making up what I want is what this and all my post are about. I don't care for my country, the constitution or the people of this country. I am a selfish party wonk here to make as many people angry as I possibly can." Disclaimer intended to meet the specifications as set by FOX news network and Media News Corp International and not affliated with anything remotely factual or true.

Originally Posted by mykcob4

Dots you are outrageous! If it were Clinton being protested against and the DC cops did that to them you would be singing a different tune. You have no objectivity therefore you are unrealistic. All your post should bare a disclaimer that reads: "This post is most probably a lie or at the very least misleading. I take my cue from FOX and subscribe that I am allowed to spin anything to fit the agenda of my party line. Namecalling, labeling, misleading lying and just making up what I want is what this and all my post are about. I don't care for my country, the constitution or the people of this country. I am a selfish party wonk here to make as many people angry as I possibly can." Disclaimer intended to meet the specifications as set by FOX news network and Media News Corp International and not affliated with anything remotely factual or true.

Who the hell are you?
You've been here what, two weeks? And you somehow know which party I belong to? Read some past posts and then stfu.
No, you can protest Clinton all you want, as long as you follow rules. Apparently a lot of people seem to be able to follow rules seeing that there are protestors in front of the WH daily. Hell there is one that literally lives there and he is still there.

I also don't watch FOX unless Dennis Miller is on or Bill Hemmer on mute. Nice try, myknob.

Show me where I posted a lie myknob.

Originally Posted by freckles

Who the hell are you?
You've been here what, two weeks? And you somehow know which party I belong to? Read some past posts and then stfu.
No, you can protest Clinton all you want, as long as you follow rules. Apparently a lot of people seem to be able to follow rules seeing that there are protestors in front of the WH daily. Hell there is one that literally lives there and he is still there.

I also don't watch FOX unless Dennis Miller is on or Bill Hemmer on mute. Nice try, myknob.

Show me where I posted a lie myknob.

What dots? Did I hear something? Little whinning in the wind? Must be something insignificant.

Originally Posted by freckles

Read the entire article. They were warned. Like I said, DC police don't fuck around. They will drag your ass to jail for talking on a speakerphone.

Because they were warned by the DC police (who in your words, "don't fuck around?) they had to move? I'll answer that question for you. Bullshit. Then to get treated the way they did. Maybe you didn't finish reading the article!