And I have no idea why I'm capitalizing Hippies.

Freud?

I wonder how many of you, those of you who want to hang the cops on this one, have ever been in a situation where you had an unguarded moment and said something derogatory about a customer/client/patron/user or even a co-worker that you would never want that person to hear? Or how many of you have had a laugh at a customer/client/patron/user's expense?

If you have, you are officially dismissed from this discussion. Unless of course you enjoy wallowing in your hypocracy, then please, continue.

--h

vanity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War Check out the section entitled 'Social Impact'

Protest brings attention to an issue. How can that NOT have an effect? That is the purpose of a protest, and yes it does work. The murder of 4 students at Ohio state university certainly didn't have 'no impact'. Neither did Ghandi's peceful protests or Tianamen Square.

GavinTheAlmighty: You only notice cops who act out of line. Cops who do a good job don't catch your attention. So your "OMG PIGZ!" rant is a bit misplaced.

that should read:
You only notice cops who act out of line. Cops who watch DVDs and sleep in their cruisers all day don't catch your attention.

Odd, lots of "refusal to disperse" protestors here. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as portrayed? Setting trash on fire, etc is not "peaceful demonstration".

OH, and throw the anti-first amendment stances as well.

vanity: Remember when I told tattoo and body piercing people yesterday; "YOU DONT MATTER" - same applies here. No one cares about protestors, their cause, or how many of them line the streets. Zero results Everytime.

Are you that ignorant of history? Look up Martin Luther King Jr. and then get back to us.

untrustworthy [TotalFark]


Cops have never "assisted" me with anything. They've been more of a pain in the ass than anything, really. Where I live they spend their time ticketing people who aren't wearing a seatbelt, writing citations on kids not wearing a helmet when they ride their bikes, and covering up the illegal activities of fellow civil servants.

Last Spring they sent out a notice to everyone with an alarm on their home that they wouldn't show up when called unless we paid their annual "registration" fee. Farking mobsters.

I suggest you move to a large metropolitan area like NY, LA, or Chicago. There cops are your friends.

forgot link

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/ftaa_miami.html

bully pigs, I hope they get shot dead by a real criminal.

untrustworthy: Man, you are a farking retard. People should not have to live in fear of being shot, beaten or otherwise restrained or injured by the police just because they are protesting. Don't be such a dumbass.


They should. Look. Here is what happens at protests. Every largish protests ends up having the idiot. This idiot is the guy who ruins everything for everyone else. It's the idiot that makes the protesters all look bad. It's the guy who starts throwing rocks and bricks at the police. He's the one who incites others around him via the mob mentality to attack the police. Guess what happens when the police come under attack by an angry mob?

It's common and if you're going to a protest EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. This isn't farking happy fairy land. This crap happens at protests and if you are surprised when it does maybe it's Darwin trying to give you a wake up call.

vanity

Selective memory? or Too young to know about the racial issues of the 50s and 60s?
I suggest you read Letters from a Birmingham Prison by the good Reverend King.
You analysis is a little,,,shallow.

I can't believe those of you who actually agree that this is funny. She was in a situation in which she was being physically attacked (yes, even if the rubber bullets bounce off, they still carry a lot of force), and there was nothing she could do about it. That's the kind of situation that the police force exists to prevent.

Even if you feel that the circumstances in any way justified the shooting, the fact remains that they laughed about it afterward. Whatever you feel about the police as a whole, these guys are no different than schoolyard bullies and need to be fired. I'd make some comment about how they could flip burgers, but they'd probably jack off in the big macs and joke to themselves about the "special sauce."

Seriously, how can you defend these guys, let alone agree with them?

smeegle: angryred

Take a bow.


Thanks, but...


vanity: I'm not being a troll. I'm being analytical.

No protest has resulted in the desired outcome of the protestors. Thus, a reasonable person would conclude that it is a pointless excursion.


...What's the point?

...Fine, I'll try to get through that thick skull again.

Finally, cops doing something worthwhile. We can only hope their shooting this stupid hippie broad in the face kept a speed trap from being manned for a few hours.

Lance Uppercut: Though as a lawyer, protester, and/or female, she probably was being annoying. Though that's not a shootable offense...

Well, I guess that was kind of my point. Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean they don't deserve civil liberties. Like it or not, we can't torture suspected terrorists, either. If you can't go to bed at night knowing you're 100% morally superior to your enemies, then you're not winning.

HDhale,

How about we make that 'if you've shot someone four times with a rubber bullet, and then laughed about it' ... 'and you're a cop' .... you're excluded.

How about that?

/moran

LandofChocolate

I did read the article.

The camera then finds Ritter again, crouched alone in the street under her sign as rubber bullets continue to fly around her. She said a rubber bullet pierced her foam-board sign and struck her forehead.

"I fortunately had my head down between my knees while I cowered on the ground under my sign, so the shot didn't hit me directly in the eye," she said. "It hit me in the top of the head, so I felt blessed."

Crouching down, bullet went through her sign and hit her in the top of the head. That does not come from a bouncing rubber bullet, she was shot at deliberately. I have several at home I collected from a G8 protest I was in. They are very hard, compressed pieces of rubber. When they hit the ground, they tumble, but loose their velocity very quickly.

If the cops are trained correctly, rubber bullets are an effective means of breaking up protests. Sounds like they gave no verbal warnings either, but that's hard to conclude just from that article.

2006-08-11 01:15:42 PM TheSignPost
Put me in front of that unit for 5 minutes and they'll stop laughing.
-------------------

Enter the Internet badasses, lol tough guy! They'd have you hog tied and squealing like a pig.

Now you see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help! I'm being repressed!

NittLion78: This is probably why professional lobbyists get things done and street protestors rarely do.

fashion has less to do with it then the millions of dollar contributions to campaigns and free "fact finding" trips to tropical islands.

This reminds me of those kids riding around in a car shooting random people with a paint ball gun. Its just wrong but very,very funny. So ... ya I would wax the biatch just for laughs .

i have tremendous respect for the protesters who take time out of their lives to help us all by holding law enforcement accountable, even if it's just for a fraction of the stolen lives the system is responsible for.

it's sad that peaceful protesters have to endure things like rubber bullets then ridicule, but it's people like that who are to thank for the civil rights that we've earned so far.

cheers.

Just made me think of this song...

Battalions of riot police,
With rubber bullet kisses,
Baton courtesy,
Service with a smile

Beyond the Staples Center you can see America,
With its tired, poor, avenging disgrace,
Peaceful, loving youth against the brutality,
Of plastic existence.

Pushing little children,
With their fully automatics,
They like to push the weak around,
Pushing little children,
With their fully automatics,
They like to push the weak around.

buzzcut73
Oh I get it. Freedom of speech only if it's agreeable speech to you.

The boat for China leaves at 6. Be on it.

No, the protestors would NEVER throw stuff at cops.

salty1
You're a farktard

Maybe so, but if was just shot by the cops, my first reaction wouldn't be to stand around, admonishing the crowd about my innocence. I would have gotten the fark out of the way.

I actually support the cause of people who come forward to challenge police brutality. But something doesn't add up based on what we're given in this version of the events. And what I DO know is that she could have gotten out of the way when the shooting started. THEN make your appeals to justice.

sylaak: Read my whole post. Protests are dangerous. Do not be surprised when you get hurt at one. Skydiving is dangerous. Do not be surprised when you get hurt doing it. Auto racing is dangerous. Do not be surprised when you crash and get hurt. Motocross is dangerous. Do not be surprised when you get hurt doing it.

Oh yeah, I forgot that part of the Bill of Rights, where the government of this country guarantees (as an inalienable human right) SKYDIVING AND MOTOCROSS. You are being deliberately obtuse. The police, as agents of the government have a SWORN DUTY to serve the people and protect their rights. In fact, a police officer would be well within his rights to pacify and arrest another officer who is trying to break up a protest. You'll never see it, because policemen are cowards. Protesters know that they are in danger, but they don't take to the streets with guns and riot shields. Because they have something even stronger protecting them. THE LAW OF THIS LAND. So take your awful analogies and bugger off.

China is still communist.

The war in Iraq is still going on.

Bush was re-elected president.

Illegals have not been granted citizenship.

Blacks, for the most part, are still having a very difficult time.

All examples of tried, tested, and failed protests. We didn't pull out of Vietnam b/c of hippies. If you believe middle-class America gave a shiat about what they think you're dillusional. There were a myriad of other reasons, namely, failure to win.

Yo fark the po-lice.

Goodness, a lot of Farkers seem to want to kick a cop in the nuts.

Yes,
All cops are heroes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/01/national/main1271574.shtml

hdhale: I wonder how many of you, those of you who want to hang the cops on this one, have ever been in a situation where you had an unguarded moment and said something derogatory about a customer/client/patron/user or even a co-worker that you would never want that person to hear? Or how many of you have had a laugh at a customer/client/patron/user's expense?

is this before or after we shot them with a potentially lethal weapon?

I'm absolutely siding with the cops on this one. A bunch of punk college students are out there throwing rocks and bricks at the police.

The police have several options:

1) flee - not going to happen
2) open fire with live ammo - not going to happen
3) respond with some kind of non-lethal, yet effective, weapon

The eyes are a vulnerable place on the human body. Just about anything you use that will stop or disable a violent protester will injure their eyes if you hit them there. Bean bag grenades, rubber bullets, etc. Some weapons are designed specifically to affect the eyes (mace, pepper spray).

If you get into a physically violent confrontation with a cop in this country, you deserve to be shot and killed. The fact that our police don't do that is one of the signs you live in a civilized, free country, and you should be thankful every day that this is the case.

These protesters picked a fight with the police, and they're surprised that they got hurt? People know that the police are going to respond with things like this. Anyone who plays paintball knows to wear a face mask and to protect the neck and kidneys, because even though your friend doesn't intend to hurt you, he isn't going to be able to keep his shots on "safe" parts of your body when both of you are moving.

The protesters should have been wearing something to protect their eyes. I've seen protests where this is done, and it's only sensible.

fact is this, police are very rarely punsihed for their screw ups. Even in the unlikely event that they are found to have done something wrong, they rarely are held to pay for it. If anyone pays, its the tax payers.

lets look at the facts that we can analyze objectively. The police were laughing about having SHOT civilians they are charged with the protection of. They referred to civilians as "cockroaches". They took personal effects of civilians as trophies. Their US and THEM attitude enabled them to view this as a win or Lose scenario, and they consider what they did a victory....

consider also....
police open fire on a peaceful protest, protesters are COWERING IN FEAR ON THE GROUND and still manage to get shot multiple times...
any officer who considers her attitude or her opinion to be grounds for shooting her needs to be immediatly discharged from the force and placed in jail for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. (yes, rubber bullets are deadly).

fact is that police that show up at protests, want to bust heads. thay have no interest in standing around all day watching dirty peace loving anti-facists complain about thei various injustices of the establishment that gives them their livelyhood and life style. I have been to enough of these situations to know that the police start conflicts knowing that they CANT be blamed for it. If they open fire on a crowd and they crowd fights back, the news will show the protestors throwing rocks and blame it on them.
wake up americans, you are running out of time, facism settled in a long time ago, and bush II perfected it.
i hope one of these officers gets blinded by a stray rubber bullet next time he goes out on one of these adventures in opression.

Ripkord
Dumbass = Protester

We needed more people like you in 1773. I for one welcomed my Imperial British overlords.

/get off my lawn and stop dumping my tea in the harbor, hippies!

Headso

Cops who watch DVDs and sleep in their cruisers all day don't catch your attention.

Oh I see, you're 12. Carry on then.

vanity: No protest has resulted in the desired outcome of the protestors. Thus, a reasonable person would conclude that it is a pointless excursion.

I don't understand how you can even know what the word "analytical" means after reading that statement.

Do you think maybe the 60's protests changed some aspects of American culture? Just a little? Something about equal rights for women and blacks?

Boo hoo.

Why are hippies such weak sisters? They get together and scream like its Nazi Amerikkka, and we're supposed to recognize their moral superiority for standing up to "the man." Then, when they go to spout the same tired old socialist bullshiat and scream at people who actually work for a living, one gets a little roughed up and all the 13-year olds start crying like someone took their gange.

GET.
A.
JOB.

If you are defending the cops actions and dogging this lady's right to peacefully protest, you are an idiot.

NittLion78, I was just pointing out that the fact that she was dressed professionally was not only mentioned in the article but as a major point since that was the feature that stuck out to the cops bragging about shooting her.

She wasn't at the major protests where the rock throwing occured, if I understand correctly, but a later protest at the courthouse about police behavior. Nothing in the article says that there was any threat from the protestors, or that they were ordered to disperse (not that violent force would be justified in that circumstance anyway).

And the cops didn't appologize for shooting, only for getting caught laughing about it.

vanity

The british colonial rule in India has ended.

vanity: I suggest you move to a large metropolitan area like NY, LA, or Chicago. There cops are your friends.

What? Like Miami? Oh wait...

sylaak: It's common and if you're going to a protest EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. This isn't farking happy fairy land. This crap happens at protests and if you are surprised when it does maybe it's Darwin trying to give you a wake up call.

I'm really not sure of what your point is. Are you trying to say that the protesters shouldn't complain about being shot? Or that the cops shouldn't be reprimanded for their actions and behavior?

Yeah, life has its dangers. But that doesn't forgive the cops for what they did, and nor should it intimidate people into not protesting.

vanity

Oh and universal sufferage.

wmoonfox

You sir shall spark the revolution.