Date Posted:Fri, 12/27/02 2:30pm Author: tash"ana Subject: Re: In the Spirit of Christmas - My A$$ In reply to:
tso
's message, "Re: In the Spirit of Christmas - My A$$" on Fri, 12/27/02 3:25am
>> i would start by taking them out of their copycat
>military style uniforms and doing away with their
>military style medals, ribbons and rank insignia.
>they are in a makebelieve mode. it would seem that
>they think being more military gives them more honor.
>i also suspect that they get medals when they kill
>someone.
>also "rules of engagement" is a bunch of military B/S
>
>it looks like the constitution has been quietely
>circumvented by making the police a neo military force
This is kind of off-topic, and kind of not.
As I've mentioned a few times, I live in Seattle. A few years back the WTO met here, and there was wide-spread protesting. I think we may have been the first place to stage a large protest of the WTO. The demonstrators were for the most part peaceful. There was a handful of trouble-makers who came up from Oregon and smashed some windows in the business district and set a few dumpsters on fire, but it was only a handful of people and they were easily stopped. Meanwhile all the other protesters - in the thousands - were very peaceful, made no threatening moves, and just sat and occupied the streets. The police here totally freaked out. They went up to protesters who were sitting on the sidewalk, and leaned over and sprayed pepper spray right into their eyes. We had good people protesting who had been well-trained, they carried the victim away and another would quietly take their place. It went on and on for hours. The police shot rubber bullets at people who were just sitting. They dragged and kicked people. In my neighborhood, they lost their minds and shot rubber bullets at people who were coming out of the grocery store with their groceries. We are about a mile away from where the main protest was happening. We also have a reputation for being a more political neighborhood, since there are a lot of students up here. The police went up to cars that were pulling into the gas station, and knocked on the car windows, and when the windows were lowered, they sprayed pepper spray into the drivers faces. A block down from my home, a group of about 20 people started protesting the brutality that was being visited on the neighborhood. The police bombed the whole neighborhood with tear gas. I had all the windows shut and there was so much of it that the fumes still made their way into the building and caused breathing distress. I counted one tear gas volley - in one minute they shot off more than 30 canisters. Earlier, when they were shooting their rubber bullets - which hurt a great deal - into the grocery shoppers, and some even were shot point-blank in chest - I got panicked and freaked out and went to a phone and.... started to call the police for help. And then I realized, these ARE the police. There is nowhere to turn. I don't think I will ever feel the same after that day.
