Dam those pesky protestors

Hobbes

Next they will claiming they have the right to protest or something. :rolleyes:

http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/1997.shtml

I'm sure Jeb will get away with it. He can just claim someone accidently shot her... 7 times and the person trying to help her. Of course attacking the hospital where she was being treated was a bit much.

Zombrex

ah it gives them something to shoot at ... got to keep the skill level of the police up for when Al Queda invades :rolleyes:

Moriarty

Why is it that only quasi-anti-globilisation protestors seem to attract this sort of police attention?

Zombrex

Originally posted by Moriarty
Why is it that only quasi-anti-globilisation protestors seem to attract this sort of police attention?

Shooting at hippies is fun i suppose...

This is America after all ... they have been shooting at hippies since the 50s

Specky

This is America after all ...

Land of the brave (presumeably brave because they're card carrying members of the NRA), home of the free (free to wear pointy hoods at the weekend).

Moriarty

It was a serious question.

DadaKopf

I guess it's because they have something to say and the politicians and CEOs don't want the world at large to hear them. They've got a status-quo to protect.

Zombrex

Originally posted by Moriarty
Why is it that only quasi-anti-globilisation protestors seem to attract this sort of police attention?

Originally posted by Moriarty
It was a serious question.

I don't think they are the only demonstrators who get shot at by the police in the States anymore, but I guess we read about it because it is the "issue" at the moment ... everyone who demonstrates these days seems to be demonstrating against globilistion, in one form or another.

Plus they are all hippies.

Redleslie

They're hippies if they take their beatings, macings and shootings peacefully. If they resist, then they're violent hooligans.

gobby

Originally posted by Hobbes

I'm sure Jeb will get away with it. He can just claim someone accidently shot her

im afraid those are the breaks. the only one who knows for sure is the person who fired and there is no way they would own up to intentionally shooting a protester. there would be riots!

Sand

I know its evil but did anyone else start thinking "Platoon" when they saw the 4th photo down?

DadaKopf

Hahaha!

pro_gnostic_8

Originally posted by Moriarty
Why is it that only quasi-anti-globilisation protestors seem to attract this sort of police attention?

Maybe coz the anti-global crew are a bunch of unreconstructed anarchists!

Okay, accepted, someone was shot. (Shot seven times, so, probably shot with pellets). Same protestor undoubtedly had been engaged in prior aggravational confrontations with the police on the occasion. Quite often, these confrontations will involve the odd tossing of petrol bombs, assault with metal poles against police lines, etc. At the minimum, such protests by anarchic groupings involve deliberate/provocational baiting of the police. "PIG" is one of the nicer epithets thrown at those police officers policing a protest.

No way am I proposing a "shoot to kill" policy for policing anarchist protests. But, lets keep in mind that policemen are only human too. If you are intent on causing mayhem, don't expect the kid-glove treament.

dr_manhattan

I can agree and disagree with people here:

I basically have very little time for the so-called 'anti globalisation' movement, as after a lengthy period of involvement with protest organisation and activists generally, I have large reservations about their activities and motivations. Let's just say I often found that when so called 'socialists' called for the end of hegemony, they were really yelling for the death of their mummy and daddy. When anarchists called for the end of hierarchy they were really railing against their substantial education.

But mostly everyone was just trying to impress everyone else. Change, real social change, was low on the agenda.

Fact is, 'anti globalisation' is as vague as 'globalisation': surely wanting equality, peace and love for everyone is a form of globalisation too? Or no more hunger? Oh, sorry, it's not the *evil* form of globalisation that we all know and hate, right? Too vague by far. Get a cause, guys.

As far as I'm concerned, making generic protests is dumb. There are legitimate movements within the anti- movement, those fighting farm subsidies and the like, those looking for specific change. I think they were better off not throwing in with what I see as some very privileged people with some very unreasonable prejudices against authority: I have my own problems with authority, but I don't see it as my right to riot and then not get stepped on hard. I don't think I have a right to confront people who I call nazis and then complain when they beat me.

The right to confront, yes. the right to complain, yes. The right to confront and then complain? I dunno. I've been assaulted by police before, and never made a formal complaint because of the circumstances. If I were ever to be assaulted for no reason, I'd think about it.

Fact is, that all this disruption, often perpetrated in the name of provoking publicity, slowing down 'the system' or general hell raising, is doing very little. People often point to the protests during the vietnam war as proof of the power of protest, but lets be honest: despite even Kent State, the public outcry was NOT what ended vietnam. It went on for ten years. Millions of NVA regulars and chinese money won the Vietnam war.

And it's the inefficinecy of these protests that bothers me: I don't see a coherent point. The "end of global capitalism" doesn't count, by the way. That's not a reasonable goal: let's hear a real 5 point plan here, that shows us how to get to stage one of the above. Not slogans and crapola.

Meanwhile, we have the propagandised idea that this girl was 'shot 7 times' - I'd like to know with what, please: because any weapon I know of would have hurt a lot more shall we say. Perhaps baggies? Plastic bullets? I dunno.

because I really hate it when people who accuse the government of distortion and coverups seem to be spinning the facts themselves.

Fact is, these are damning photographs. The way the US police behave is incomprehensible, and the way they are allowed to casually use up to lethal force is terrifying.

But the other thing is, as the last poster said, that provocation and prior events are not shown here. And with the use of "black Blocs" and other "hardcore anarchist" elements to provoke maximum disturbance at riots, cops get ordered to use force. And when they do, it always puzzles me that people act all shocked.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't protest. I'm not saying the cops were right. But I am saying stop acting all shocked and like those cops are doing anything other than what US cops do. The country is a police state: they execute people. They hold without trial. They kidnap non-nationals. They launch airstrikes. They massacre schools.

In otherwords the violence is endemic, and being all shocked isn't going to stop it.

But that aside, the main thing I want to add is this: anti-globalisation protesters are not singled out in the US. Minorities are. If the name Amadou Diallo means nothing to you, perhaps Abner Louima will. If not, then perhaps Rodney King does.

Amadou Diallo was shot 19 times out of 41 9mm bullets fired at him. He was a black man who reached for his wallet, and that is all. The four officers who snapfired *all* their bullets at him were looking for 'a black man'. They were all acquitted of excessive force charges.

Abner Louima, of similar pigment, was anally raped with a broom whilst being routinely questioned in a new york precinct house. One officer found guilty of the four in the bathroom at the time.

The united states has always been beased on the marginalisation of people along ethnic lines, hence everyone's frantic quest for their heritage in europe. Social identity in the US comes from race. And if you're a black male, then you do NOT get to drive a car, walk along the streets, shop or apply for jobs like others do.

And you certainly won't get to demonstrate or cause trouble: so before we pity the anti globalisation protesters cowering under the claw of G-Dub, let's think about who *really* gets the **** in the US of A: it's the people who always have done.

My 2 cents anyways folks.