Washington’s Blog doing yeoman work on the Occupy Movement. As expected, the police state will start to flex their muscles. That is what they do best. As this movement continues to grow the authorities will become more nervous and twitchy. There are many thugs and psychopaths in law enforcement. Some are itching for conflict. Somebody will do something stupid and then all hell will break loose. Count on it.
Boston Police Tear Down American Flag, Harass Veterans … Like the Iwo Jima Moment In Reverse
Boston Police Tear Down American Flag, Harass Veterans
Occupy Boston protesters before being evicted by police
In response to police statements that Occupy Boston had to vacate the park because they didn’t have a permit, protesters responded:
We have a permit, it’s called the constitution.
Veterans formed a line to try to protect the protesters:
But police tore down an American flag and harassed the veterans. Police started by arresting the veterans — who included a female veteran of the Iraq War.
As Salon notes:
On Monday night, Boston police broke up the Occupy Boston protest, and in the process, they tore down an American flag and knocked down at least one American military veteran.
A group of Veterans for Peace stood in a line in front of the Occupy Boston protesters, and after the police warned the entire group to disperse, a line of cops marched out of the darkness and seemed to move on the veterans first.
John Nilles, a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran, told the Boston Globe he was knocked down during the arrests. “I have absolutely no use for police anymore,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” You can hear protesters on the video screaming over and over, “We are veterans of the United States of America.” It’s chilling.
The video is dark, so it’s hard to see exactly what’s happening, but when the American flag starts to totter, it’s like the Iwo Jima moment in reverse.
There are reports that peaceful protesters were beat up, although we have not been able to confirm these reports.
Here are photos from AnonOps:
In related news, here is video of a San Francisco police officer hitting a protester with his night stick:
And the federal government is buying these jack-booted thugs drones.
I’ll feel so much safer when my local Xanax popping gestapo, has the means to spy on me and shoot me dead from 500 feet above my head.
Yet another step in the road towards something.
Let us all pray that something isn’t more cops spitting on the American flag.
I see it as a welcome development. Veterans are nearly universally respected these days. Cops, not so much. I think there is (or was) a general feeling that soldiers, veterans & cops are peas in a pod, and seeing the difference between them may open some eyes. Mt Suribachi in reverse-that ought to tug a few heartsrings.
According to DHS military veterans are highly suspect as being potential terrorists–haven’t you read that? Or seen their video?
I can’t get all the pics to come in, but it seems pretty dumb to take aggressive action (night time arrests) like that over something as minor as a permit. If the powers-that-be were smarter they would avoid any sign of confrontation and would instead offer help such as porta-johns, shelters, sanitation service, etc. That way they would come off looking good, confrontation would be avoided and media and most of the public would quickly move on to other things. But if they were intelligent this country wouldn’t be in the shape it is.
Hell, even a new cable TV series, Homeland, is based on the premise that a military vet is a potential terrorist.
Geezus. The world turned upside down.
Remember back in the day the police were referred to as “peace officers” they just kept the peace.
Now they are know as “Law Enforcement Officers” they just enforce their law by any means necessary.
If we are not with them, then we are all enemies of the state.
Shit, none of this would of happened had the BoSox not imploded and were still playing for an American League pennant. Damn you, Tito! Damn you, Theo! Damn you, Lackey, and your bloated 7+ ERA you worthless turd!
A great subject that someone needs to write on is the Militarization of American Police Forces. I’ve been in law enforcement/corrections since 1980 and the shift to agressive tactics and heavy weapons is disturbing (I don’t mean SWAT teams, but the average road guy has more fire power and other defensive weapons on his belt then I ever dreamed of when I started with a .38 revolver and a set of cuffs).
Amos, you use the term ‘defensive weapons’. Not to be an asshole or anything, but when was the last time a cop used any of these new weapons against attacking citizens? Always seems to be the other way around — cops attacking citizens that don’t have any weapons other than knowledge and comprehension of their Constitutional rights against unlawful arrest, harassment, and state violence. The Boston protesters are exactly right – They do have a permit and it IS called the Constitution. Fuck the cops and the fuck the city and their bullshit ‘permits’.
I hate to make it a numbers game but quickly do the math, please. How many people in Boston that could be motivated by this incident to come out versus how many cops willing to either be injured or killed in a real riot, or at least be called out and destroyed on youtube in exchange for a paycheck that is as pathetic as the rest of us. The point is approaching wherein the police will be forced to choose sides. That point is when the cities run out of overtime pay. Will the cops stand against the citizens on principle? I think not. All we have to do is stay out there in the streets until we bankrupt the cities’ riot funds and then we can calmly walk in and banish the corruption unopposed, and without further violence.
@Amos – Hopefully many TBP readers will realize that not all law enforcement (so called) officers are on the wrong side.
I would like to say more about this, but since we know this site is watched, I’m going to have to simply say this (from Wikipedia):
“Oath Keepers is an American nonprofit organization that advocates that its members (current and former U.S. military and law enforcement) uphold the Constitution of the United States should they be ordered to violate it.”
Probably one disadvantage of growing up in the 60’s/70’s is that I still remember the riots that hit L.A., Detroit and other cities back then. God help us if we have a repeat those days, I fear the death toll (of civilians and police) would be far greater.
If the legitimate demands of the citizenry continue to be ignored and smirked upon by the establishment, large scale and violent riots are highly likely. Police conduct such as this latest episode in Boston merely accelerate the latent rage out here in flyover country. The coasts are already lit up, wait til the typically quiet Midwestern cities blow up. At least NY and other large cities have cops that have seen this sort of thing before. I doubt Boise or OK City’s finest will have the restraint. I think the first major casualties will be in a city that hasn’t been talked about yet, personally. That said, I’ll see y’all at Occupy Jacksonville this weekend!
Revolution, Bitchez!!!
Now Houston.
This just posted in the online Houston Chronicle:
“Houston Police Make Arrests at Occupy Protest Downtown
By ANITA HASSAN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 02:12 p.m., Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Houston police have arrested protesters in the Occupy Houston movement who gathered this afternoon at the Mickey Leland federal building in downtown Houston….”
***
More, plus pix, at the chron.com site.
RIOT GEAR & MOUNTED ON HORSES
Eight protesters were arrested Wednesday at a demonstration involving several organizations, including the Occupy Houston movement, outside a federal building in downtown Houston, police said.
The demonstration started peacefully but grew tense Wednesday afternoon after some of the protestors tried to stage a sit-in inside the Mickey Leland Federal Building on the southwestern edge of Houston’s downtown.
Authorities ordered the protestors to leave the building and called in reinforcements, drawing at least 50 Houston Police Department officers – many in riot gear – and the mounted horse patrol.
Police officers tried to move the protesters – who totalled 200 – behind fences set up on the perimeter of the federal building at 1919 Smith St.
Oath Keepers is a good group.
All police and others having anything to do with “law enforcement” need to think seriously about their beliefs and what they are willing to do. I will tell you simply, don’t do anything that is illegal or immoral, no matter who orders you to do it. I am not asking you to do anything illegal yourself – if you get bad orders, find a way to ignore them, follow them in some way that frustrates their intent, call in sick, lodge a union grievance and sit on your hands, etc.
I know a decent number of cops with a wide range of moral standards. I know there are plenty of good ones. The good ones need to be sure they don’t get involved in doing bad things. It wouldn’t hurt to keep records of what you have and haven’t done in case you need to defend your actions in court some day.
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Now that’s a big button.
Timothy McVeigh——Gulf War I veteran.
Dick Cheney – murderer of 4,796 U.S. Iraq War veterans
Dick Cheney for POTUS 2012
SMOKEY FOR DICKUS 2011
Amos don’t fear the death toll from riots in Detroit exceeding the race riots from the 60s/70s.
Their isn’t enough population left, nor workers/jobs. I’m only partially joking.
That being said, I do not doubt that the cops on the Detroit police force would welcome the chance to bust open some suburbanites skulls to go along with their everyday violence against the citizens in Detroit.
The Detroit PD has been under Federal oversight/scrutiny for at least three years, probably closer to ten. They still managed to kill a small child sleeping on a couch with her grandma, in the middle of the night when they were “serving a warrant” (which apparently now is an euphemism for “killing”) for a man not in the apartment. All while being filmed by a crew from some cable show (whom are facing charges too), who were following Detroit SWAT.
If Detroit is the one, it could be grand-fucking-spectacular and the powers that be would use it to squash our right to demonstrate completely.
Teresa.. I fear if the powers that be squash, as you say, our 1st Amendment rights, the People will only have one Amendment left. The Second. And that will be it for this country as a going concern, as it were.
I look at those OWS protestors and I see Ignatius J. Reilly everywhere I look.
TBP should have extra balls to go around! Even our women-folk have nuts the size of grapefruits… unless you all are just talk and no walk! Two gauntlets.
One free knob job from Smokey to anyone that makes CNN getting arrested with a TBP sign!!!
Sorry, ecliptix543.
Knobjobs are not my department.
Please consult the worldwide leader in that department—-Ronald Ernest Paul.
But he told me that he learned everything he knows from you. I understand your old cock knockers are a bit arthritic and crackly but I’ve heard there are some products that can help with that. Where’s your patriotic spirit, ya old bastard?
Oath Keepers ought to be recruiting at every OWS event. As a previous poster pointed out, our police are militarized. They also are beholden to the Feds for grant funding that keeps many of their programs in operation. Veterans need to organize politically, stick together, and treat an injury to one as an injury to all. They also need to work in advance to reach out to the decent elements in law enforcement to influence them to do the right thing. Finally, all of us ought to seek to get onto a board, council, etc., or otherwise take responsibility locally for how we’re governed. If we do that, we’ll be in a position to perhaps stop something bad from happening locally.
@ssgconway –
I read a headline a week or so ago stating that Oath Keepers were going to be at NYC OWS, but I haven’t followed up on it.
Thanks, Terry, for the update. I hope that Ok is there, and that they’re netowrking with indiviudals and vets organizations like the VFW to reach as many as possible.
I learned this while protesting the Viet Nam War with Hanoi Jane: If you apologize profusely to the nice officers and make scraping and grovelling motions while tongue-bathing their boots, they will be less aggressive with their night sticks and tear gas (now tasers I suppose). The whole point of a demonstration is to not rock the boat. For the love of God do not upset the status quo. While it is all right to throw caution to the wind and pen a scathing indictment of government and send it to the local opinion column, NEVER go out in broad daylight and seek any kind of confrontation whatsoever.
Smokey says:
“I look at those OWS protestors and I see Ignatius J. Reilly everywhere I look.”
Funny! I look at Wall Street, Washington, my city council and state legislature and see the exact same guy.
He is everywhere, and in every socioeconomic group.
Nice call.
I wonder if we will see Hoovervilles on the horizon, with veterans protecting the parimeters?