(no subject)

[solarbird]

Retired New York Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith:

"I was there to take down the names of people who were arrested... As I’m standing there, some African-American woman goes up to a police officer and says, 'I need to get in. My daughter's there. I want to know if she’s OK.’ And he said, 'Move on, lady.' And they kept pushing with their sticks, pushing back. And she was crying. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he throws her to the ground and starts hitting her in the head," says Smith. "I walk over, and I say, 'Look, cuff her if she's done something, but you don’t need to do that.’ And he said, 'Lady, do you want to get arrested?' And I said, 'Do you see my hat? I'm here as a legal observer.’ He said, 'You want to get arrested?' And he pushed me up against the wall."

(Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/17/paramilitary_policing_of_occupy_wall_street )

Comments

[mojave-wolf.livejournal.com]

A truly awful story, but thanks for posting this. The tactics the pro-status quo forces are using need to be documented as much as possible, both to wake people up and to counter the corporate media propaganda crap.

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

Wow. I suspected exactly this was going on. Police getting their adrenaline on and regarding the people they're supposed to "serve and protect" as ALL perps, ALL the time. Nonpeople. Aggravating creatures that can be taken down and beaten on whenever and wherever and however they see fit without any fear of reprisals. It's disgusting, but I can't say that I'm surprised. My Dad was a cop and I was around them a lot - there are some really good cops out there, but there's also a contingent who join the police force because they outgrew shoving geeky kids into a locker and they saw the police force as a great way to take their amateur bully act into the professional leagues.

[kodi]

Wow. Sometimes, I wish the "one bad apple spoils the bunch" lens they keep putting on the protesters would get turned on the police and administration.

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

A lot of people seem to ignore the "spoils the bunch" part of that aphorism.

[lostkun.livejournal.com]

Ugh, mob mentality. It goes both ways, and it's thoroughly infected the police force now.