Police Brutality at Occupy Rallies

News sources online are all atwitter about the incidences of police brutality in the various Occupy rallies. Yet when I watch TV news, I hear nothing of this.

Why is the mainstream media not reporting on this? Why are the police instituting media blackouts? Do you think the police are justified in using this much force against the protesters? Is this a problem, and if so, how do we fix this shit?

The powers that be simply do not want the proles to be aware. An ignorant populace is a compliant populace.



The police are justified to use whatever force is deemed necessary to enforce the law and maintain order. We are a Republic, we abide by the rule of law. These protestors have repeatedly violated the laws of our country and they are being arrested then claim police brutality. The students at U.C Davis were on government property during their protest. They did not have a right to protest on that property. Before you argue that we have a right to protest, that right ends when the owner of the property in which you are standing says you can not protest. The property owners wanted the protestors to leave and they refused. The police were called in and ordered the protestors to disband. The protestors refused those orders, they get pepper sprayed and arrested for disobeying an officer.

Edit: The use of pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets is a long standing policy of police departments to deal with crowds.



The only problem we as a country have, is the blatant disregard for the rule of law by these protestors. I hate the federal government more than any other member on Fakku but, I still obey the laws. We fix the problem by ignoring and marginalizing those unlawful elements while the law abiding people fix the system legally.

by the unlawful elements I mean the



If the country is as bad as OWS claim, peaceful protests won't do anything anyway. If that is the case, it only leaves the option of open and violent rebellion against the Federal Government in the same way the Libyan people rebelled.

It isn't as black or white as people want the situation to be. It isn't as obvious as FPOD wants it to be. To say that because we are a Republic and we must follow the rules, and those who enforce them should enforce them by any means necessary is a dangerous line for any government to walk, and people who truly believe that scare the Hell out of me.

Sometimes civil disobedience is necessary, and sometimes more drastic measures as well. No, I'm not condemning rape or vandalism. However, violence sometimes is justifiable. I can't really say if it is in this case because I'm not really there. That is part of the problem. People are so opinionated on this matter one way or another, when you really have no idea what the situation is, and even more importantly you have no way of really knowing your reaction unless you too were in the heart of it.

However, it is also not so black or white on the other regard. Obviously we can't just disregard laws, a pivotal point in which our government and culture is created and maintained, without understanding the consequences, and without really understanding why you choose to do it. I feel like a lot of protesters are greatly misinformed about the situation as are many other individuals, but are a danger not only to the fabric of which our society is created, but a literal danger to themselves and others around them.

Bottom line, this situation is not black or white. And I feel like none of us are really qualified to give our opinions with such conviction as though we know that we are right, and should not so readily disregard others. Unfortunately, that is all I've seen on the internet thus far about this ongoing situation.

They're reporting it, but just not quite as it happens; and even when they do, a lot of these 'bad' cops are getting away with it because they take off their badge prior to acting out. :\

It's frustrating but the police protect their own, even when unjust brutality occurs within the system.

This is a description of what went on at the UC Davis protests, from a professor who helped organize the protests:

http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/open-letter-to-chancellor-linda-p-b-katehi/
(emphasis added)

This isn't policing. This is torture. The thing is, police brutality has become the norm in these types of protests, not the exception. It's not just a few bad apples any more--it's codified into some police department policies that pepper spray should be used for non-compliance, even if it is non-violent. And even when not codified, we see how easily the cops turn to the use of these devices, whether warranted or not.

I agree: it's unwarranted police brutality and flat out torturous.

But sadly, because they are who they are, they go unpunished (or only get the equivalent of a wrist-slap in terms of police action). :(

I agree with FPoD for the most part. if it were just peaceful protests, then the cops would be out of line. however, there are quite a few 'bad apples' that are doing serious damage and hiding in the crowd. it's impossible for them to tell the difference between the asshole who only scream obseneties, and the psyco who throws molotov cocktails at them.

on the other hand, it takes a certain mentality to be a cop. in my personal experience, most cops care more about the power and authority than right or wrong. for them it's about what they can stick you for, regardless of your guilt or innocence. these ones also probably eagerly volunteer for riot duty just for the chance to 'legaly' kick the shit out of people. i'm not saying all cops are assholes, but(imo) they do out number the good guys.


then again... if the idiot masses had cared more about what the banks and govt were doing than jersey shore and american idol, it never would have gone this far in the first place.

But those WERE peaceful protests. If you watch the videos for the UC Davis protest, all the students were doing were sitting on the ground, blocking the path of the cops so that they did not arrest the other students. The cops could have gone around the protesters. They could have been separated in a non-violent manner, but no, that would probably involve lifting, which I guess the police were to lazy to do. Instead, the students were sprayed at point blank with military-grade pepper spray. In the other Occupy movements, it's the same thing. Watch the videos. Read the tweets, posts, and interviews with the people who were there. In every single one, police respond to "threat" with force that is above and beyond what is necessary. The bad apples here were the cops, hands down.

The protesters knew that they would be arrested if they stayed. It's part of civil disobedience, after all, and protesters know to be prepared for this. If they were arrested in a less-forcible manner, the outcry against this may not have been as loud. This was not keeping the peace--it was unnecessary brutalization of citizens.

Whenever you bring an "absolute" into a conversation, that part of your conversation usually null and void. There are people on both sides who are wrong but I do believe this anti police feeling we have in America is due to the media exaggerating certain cases as well as people only remembering all the bad things some police officers do.

When some of the so called peaceful protestors throw rocks, start riots, or act like this ass hole(who grabs an officers hat and throws AAA batteries) http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/occupy-wall-street-finally-gets-face-bloody-153643148.html then the police are just doing their jobs.

Let's see, trespassing, protesting without a permit. Multiple counts of civil disobedience, disobeying a law enforcement officer, obstructing a law enforcement officer and that's only what you've mentioned so far. The officers gave those protestors a clear, and legally standing order to disburse. The protestors refused and they were pepper sprayed as per department policy and the directive of the Universities Chancellor. You should be arguing that those policies should be changed, not whining about police brutality.



As I said before tear gas, pepper spray are long standing methods to deal with groups. This was a group of non-compliant individuals. Department policy dictates the use of pepper spray to disable them prior to arrest. The chancellor of the university gave the authorization to spray the protestors. They were in clear violation of the universities (to prevent a semantic argument, I refer to the owners of the University not the university itself) property rights.



Occupy Oakland. Threats of Arson at OWS. All I have to say about that.



They should have been prepared to be pepper sprayed.

Are you questioning whether the actions of the officers were justified by law, or whether the law should exist?

All laws need enforcement, otherwise they mean nothing

Benjamin Franklin himself once said "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.", I believe he was referring to a situation similar to the one we have now. Many across the globe have argued for their rights and for the most part, they lost their battles. This is why they are out on the streets, this is why they are disregarding the law. They have tried arguing and it did not work.

Chalk up another reason why true democracy is just a fallacy.

I'd hate to imagine what America would be like if they had the population of China.

Edit:

The police doesn't have the time or patience to be soft every single time a bunch of hippie-students wants to play martyrs by disobeying the law. Maybe the police should just call the protesters parents and let them ask them to move, or what? Because no matter what the police does, someone will always cry "POLICE BRUTALITY!" whenever they try to do their job. Of course there are obvious cases where they are overly brutal (like spraying down the protesters throats), but those are individual cases that should be dealt with afterwards by compensating the victims and punishing the policemen. A few sad incidents shouldn't cripple all future operations in the name of being nice.

Don't want police brutality? Obey the law!

This is a common police tactic. it is meant to incite peaceful protesters to retaliate. thus giving the cops a reason to remove and discredit the protesters.


i've seen quite a few other videos showing similar examples, but i'm having trouble finding them. youtube is kind of clogged with all the current occupy videos.

First of all, you are misusing the quote. I was speaking about maintaining the rule of law in this country and that we should not allow people to simply disregard the law because it's inconvenient to them. I'm sure you don't advocate Anarchy because you dislike the system. If you do, why the hell are you on Fakku and not throwing a Molotov at the police?

Protesting against the policies and bringing the brutality to light (i.e. whining) is part of it. I dunno, is it so difficult to just, you know, LIFT the protesters instead of beating them up, or pepper spraying them at point-blank range?

I come from the Philippines, where we have had a history of deposing dictators and leaders through peaceful protest. Look up the EDSA revolutions--very little people were harmed by the police and military in those incidents. Why is that? Because the police force there, corrupt as it is, still works with the citizens instead of against them. In EDSA 3 there was violence against the protestors, but only AFTER the protesters themselves started getting violent.

The increasing militarization of our police forces does no one good, and in many of the cases, the actions of the police are what escalates peaceful protests into violent riots.



Again, it's not just a FEW sad incidents. It's happening at many rallies across the nation. I'm not saying the protestors shouldn't have been arrested for disobeying orders, but when police brutality is the norm rather than the exception, there's something wrong with the system.

If you watch more of the videos, you see the officers try to pick up the protestors, the protestors resist. At that point it's resisting arrest. Pepper spray is used to bring a suspect into compliance with the officers demands. The protestors continued to disobey, pepper spray was continually used until they come into compliant.




That's too general of a statement. Police are not always to blame, protestors are not always to blame. That is something that can only be decided and discussed on a case by case basis. I will however concede that I too am worried about law enforcement becoming paramilitary organizations. Cobb County Georgia recently bought a tank. Obviously, I am not happy about the police being more heavily armed than the general populace. It's part of the reason why I'm so gung-ho about the second amendment.

Occupy Oakland and Occupy Wall Street Protests in recent weeks have turned violent with protestors distributing pamphlets saying 'when to shoot a cop", calls to use Molotov cocktails on Macy's, damage occurring to banks with protestors smashing store fronts or ATM's. Violent protests should be suppressed by whatever measures are deemed necessary at the time to maintain law and order.

These are not "peaceful" protests. Don't generalize the protests as all being peaceful with the protestors being poor victims of overzealous police and I won't generalize the protests as the opposite. Somewhere in-between you and I can come to a mutual understanding.

I agree that violence should be dealt with, but many of the incidents were unjustified. Seattle, Berkely, Davis...the videos coming out of those protests showed people were resisting non-violently, so violence should not have been used against them. I don't believe simply locking hands and resisting arrest passively warrants the use of pain-inducing weapons.

Courts agree, and have ruled that using pepper spray against non-violent protesters is excessive force and against the 4th Amendment (source). There is precedent for suing the various police departments here, and if someone does, it's not gonna be pretty.