you dont think the US admin will start to set up anti-war townships aswell, do you you?
is this the sort of freedom the aparthied south africa US offers?
Rubber Bullets Used On Oakland War Protesters
by Pleasuredome 47 Replies latest social current
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Pleasuredome
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Robdar
If we don't have personal liberties in the USA, how are we going to liberate Iraq?
This smells almost the same as it did over 30 years ago.
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freedom96
Many times, after all the facts come out, we find that the protesters were actually committing a crime. Some don't listen to the police when told to break up, to find a better place to do the protesting.
Though it is a right to protest, it is not a right to block a place of business, nor to cause traffic problems, nor to cause safety issues.
As we all know, many times these "peace" protesters and others commit acts of violence, and sometimes cause riots in the streets. Sometimes, they are the most violent of all.
Police need to keep safe those around the area that has protesters in it.
If I were caught in the middle of a protest, and there was possible danger to myself or my family, trust me, I too would take action.
If a protester is told by the police to move, and he doesn't, I feel no sorrow for him when his sorry ass gets shot by a rubber bullet.
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freeman
FYI the so-called protestors were in fact trespassers and obstructing (among other business) the loading of supplies to support American troops overseas. The so-called protestors refused a lawful order by the police to disperse and even hurled objects at the police.
Fortunately the police sometimes have the ability to break up rioting crowds without resorting to deadly force, and this appears to be one of those times.
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Robdar
- FYI the so-called protestors were in fact trespassers and obstructing (among other business) the loading of supplies to support American troops overseas. The so-called protestors refused a lawful order by the police to disperse and even hurled objects at the police.
Freeman please supply a link that states the above. The following is a direct quote from the link that Pleasuredome provided:
- "We weren't there to confront the police. We set up a peaceful picket line," she said. "The worst injury was to the long, tried-and-true tradition in this country of picketing."
- Jerry Drelling, a spokesman for American President Lines, the company that was the object of the protest, said it has some government contracts but declined to provide details. He said no one at the firm had been injured.
It doesn't appear that they were trespassing to me. Besides, it didn't hurt anybody even if they were obstructing business as usual. If this is all it takes in your mind for the police to use excessive force, I am glad that you are not in law enforcement.
Robyn.
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avishai
FYI the so-called protestors were in fact trespassers and obstructing (among other business) the loading of supplies to support American troops overseas.
This, blockading military (or any commerce traffic) in time of war is called sabotage. It is a Federal offense & should be enforced as such. They got off light.
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LyinEyes
If a protester is told by the police to move, and he doesn't, I feel no sorrow for him when his sorry ass gets shot by a rubber bullet.
That just sounded funny to me, I want a rubber bullet gun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is it wrong to use it on your teenage son and his friends??????LOL,,,,,,,,,just kiddin' just kiddin',,,,,,,( I think)
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Trauma_Hound
Just be glad this wasn't Isrial, they would have been rubber incased steel bullets.
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Trauma_Hound
Rubber Bullets Used On
Oakland War Protesters By Elinor Mills Abreu
4-7-3- OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Oakland police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 750 anti-war demonstrators on Monday in what was believed to be the first use of the projectiles against U.S. protesters since the American-led war on Iraq began.
- Several people suffered minor injuries and demonstrators complained that police overreacted because protesters had simply blocked access to a firm they claimed was profiting from the war in Iraq when police shot rubber bullets and wooden pellets into the crowd.
- One man lifted up his shirt to show a welt about the size of a baseball, and several were hit as they were moving from the scene, as evidenced by large bruises on their backs.
- "I have been to many protests over the years, and I have never seen police resort to shooting people because they didn't like where they were standing," said Scott Fleming, 29, a lawyer hit several times in the back.
- "They had loaded guns and started charging."
- An Oakland police spokeswoman said officers warned before firing. At least a dozen protesters were arrested.
- "We gave our dispersal order, we gave them an order, we gave them ample time to disperse," said police spokeswoman Danielle Ashford. "When we give our dispersal order, that's pretty much it. (If) there are safety issues involved, that's when we step in."
- The action is believed to be the first police use of anti-crowd munitions against U.S. demonstrators since President Bush launched an invasion aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
- 'NOT PROFESSIONAL'
- The police action angered many in the crowd, which later dispersed, with some moving to a different part of Oakland.
- "This was not professional, to say the least," said Joel Tena, a constituent liaison for Oakland's vice mayor. "I was afraid for the safety of the protesters and concerned that a nonviolent protest had turned violent at the hands of police."
- Susan Quinlan was hit with pellets twice in the back. "I never heard any warning to disperse. They pursued us and shot us as we walked away," she said.
- Leone Reinbold, a spokeswoman for Direct Action to Stop the War which organized the protest, said she saw a policeman run his motorcycle into one woman and another man get hit with a rubber bullet to the nose.
- "We weren't there to confront the police. We set up a peaceful picket line," she said. "The worst injury was to the long, tried-and-true tradition in this country of picketing."
- Jerry Drelling, a spokesman for American President Lines, the company that was the object of the protest, said it has some government contracts but declined to provide details. He said no one at the firm had been injured.
- "The Oakland police department managed to keep the ingress and egress open so that worked out pretty well," he said. "We're trying to run a business and you want to keep the gates open."
- At a separate demonstration, San Francisco police detained about 20 protesters blocking the Federal Building. Several people also briefly blocked one of the city's main highways.
- Anti-war activists in the San Francisco area said they were resuming protest actions on Monday after a period of relative quiet in a city famous for its history of dissent. Police arrested more than 2,000 people in San Francisco in the first two days of the war.
- Also on Monday, New York police arrested two or three dozen people who blocked the entrance to the Manhattan building of the Carlyle Group, a firm with a stake in the defense industry.
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Abaddon
So, if police used rubber bullets on a peaceful crowd of anti-abortion protesters who were trying to block access to a clinic, that would be okay?
So, if police used rubber bullets on a peaceful NRA rally, who were picketing a government building to protest about new gun laws, that would be okay?
People who think the right to protest only applies to those who agree with them make me sick.