This is fucked up.
I have issues with these OWS protesters, but this is nuts.
This is just more evidence that the police in this country are out of control.
These cops are fucking coward scum bags.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/oct/27/occupy-oakland-police-live?CMP=NECNETTXT8187
This kid is probably brain dead.
Have you watched the video? It seems pretty clear that one police officer exhibited, what could conservatively be called “questionable” judgment (I would use a much harsher term), which likely resulted in the injury. One police officer. Yet, you are ready to condemn the entire police force.
You seem to praise Scott Olsen for his military service, and rightfully so. How many “incidents” of singularly “questionable judgment” do you think have been made by marines in or around his unit? Are you ready to condemn the entire Marine Corps for individual lapses in judgment?
BTW, Olsen strongly disagreed with the war, left the Marines because of his beliefs, and is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He vehemently protests against the current military operations, yet, I have seen nothing that suggests that he in any way condemns the Marines or the military for their ongoing actions.
Just asking …
I don’t really care that he was a war vet, my title was more descriptive.
You haven’t watched the video closely enough.
One cop likely shot him yes, but what about the cop that tosses the flash grenade into the crowd that is trying to help him?
Ok, so now I guess we have just two bad apples?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqNOPZLw03Q
Police say they never used flash grenades and that they never used rubber bullets, only bean bags and tear gas.
However, whatever these projectiles are they aren’t fucking bean bags.
http://www.baycitizen.org/occupy-movement/story/hunt-rubber-bullets-occupy-oakland/
And clearly the video shows a flash grenade being thrown, so the chief is a lying sack of shit.
And there are many other videos showing flash grenades going off.
And here is the PD covering their ass and fucking lying:
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca/groups/cityadministrator/documents/pressrelease/oak031911.pdf
Q.Did the Police deploy rubber bullets,flash-bag grenades?
A. No, the loud noises that were heard originated from M-80 explosivesthrown at Police by protesters. In addition, Police firedapproximately four bean bagroundsat protesters to stop them from throwing dangerous objects at the officers.
And the real kicker, is this nugget:
At a press briefing Wednesday afternoon, interim police Chief Howard Jordan reiterated statements he made Tuesday night that police had used tear gas and bean-bag bullets to disperse protesters, but did not fire rubber bullets. He said the Oakland Police Department was** investigating what munitions were used by the other law enforcement agencies that assisted OPD** in its dispersal of Occupy Oakland protesters.
Ahh yes, “other” agencies, I see.
Lying sack of shit.
Cowards man, all cowards, just like this guy pointed out a few weeks ago, Sgt. Shamar Thomas:
Two tours in Iraq: no problem.
Two days by the Oakland PD: critical condition and potential brain damage.
They need to get rid of the anonymity that cops have when in riot gear. As JSA said, it could just be one bad apple. But that matters for jack shit if they don’t get rid of the bad apple. And any video evidence is just going to see an anonymous guy in riot gear, so the public can’t hold him accountable as an individual. Which means they have to take it out on the whole PD.
Hey, I’m all for the police protecting property and citizens, etc., but is it really necessary to shoot unarmed civilians in the fucking head when you have 40 lbs of riot gear on?
The key issue here is the militarization of our police forces and the lack of accountability, which is driven by corrupt police leadership that covers the asses of even the most shitty cops on the force, just to save face.
Your point about cops hiding their faces etc., is a good one and brought up in this quick video about the police state in this country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INdcaeeb3ws
I think most cops are good people, but at what point do the police become more of menace to our freedoms than protectors of it?
I know several people on the SWAT team that had to respond to the OWS protest. I am sure there are some bad apples in there, but they generally support the OWS idea, but not the actual protesting in Oakland. What I also heard was that Scott Olsen wasn’t shot by a police projectile, but they are blaming the police to get support for the protestors.
Does anyone remember Kent State? It was OK to kill students then, Vets now.
The protestors had plenty of chances to move out of the way before the police came in. The police we pelted with rock, glass bottles, and paint for an hour while the protesters where told to disperse. Anyone that got hurt had ample opportunity to not be part of a riot…
When I was in college there was a riot in SLO on mardi gras. I watched it from my apartment window. The police stood in their riot gear for 90 minutes while the crowd blocked a public street, blocked access to emergency personal, destroyed public property and threw rocks and bottles at the police. The kids in the riot where warned repeatedly that if they did not disperse (over a really load speaker system) that the police would have to respond. So finally, after 90 minutes of being hit by bottles and rocks, the police fired rubber bullets and bean bags and got the riot to disband. The next day the kids that got hit were complaining about police brutality. What idiots. They had ever chance to get out of the way. They deserved to get shot.
I know several people on the SWAT team that had to respond to the OWS protest. I am sure there are some bad apples in there, but they generally support the OWS idea, but not the actual protesting in Oakland. What I also heard was that Scott Olsen wasn’t shot by a police projectile, but they are blaming the police to get support for the protestors.
He could have taken a tear gas cannister to the head, but given his skull is fractured and he’s in critical condition and the fact that tear gas is usually tossed by police, I’d bet that it was indeed some kind of rubber bullet.
And wait a minute, the OWS idea is about protesting…
He could have taken a police projectile in the head, but he didn’t. It will come out in a couple days in the news, but it will be a minor article that gets pushed to the back of the paper.
He could have taken a police projectile in the head, but he didn’t. It will come out in a couple days in the news, but it will be a minor article that gets pushed to the back of the paper.
And how would know that?
And there are tons of footage of this event, so please show me where these protesters were throwing rocks and glass at the police in such a manner that requried them being shot in the head.
And please don’t deny that the officer throws a flash grenade into the crowd trying to help this guy–oh, wait, I forgot the police chief said they didn’t use flash grenades, my bad.
"They deserved to get shot. "
You are a great human being.
I was watching some video of the Occupy Wall Street thingy and the NYPD has got some bad apples there. I can’t find the footage again but there where two ladies standing around and a cop comes up and maces them. There weren’t dong anything then BAM! they are on the ground.
You can’t ever ever question the cops. You are an unAmerican asshole for posting this. The cops are always right and Olsen had it coming to him.
His injury is just like the one that killed that chick after the Red Sox playoff games several years back in Boston.
She died of swelling in the brain too–oh yeah, and she was shot with a rubber bullet at close range:
2.24pm: I’ve just spoken to Keith Shannon, roommate of Scott Olsen, the Iraq veteran who is in hospital after apparently having been hit in the head by a police projectile.
Shannon said doctors told him Olsen has a “skull fracture and swelling of the brain”. A neurosurgeon will assess Olsen later today to determine whether he needs surgery, Shannon said.
The Greek protests have been going on for more than a year and aside from the three people that died in a fire back in May of 2010, I don’t think there have been more than a couple deaths, yet, here in a small park, occupied by unarmed dope smoking hippies, police with kevlar, helmets, chest protectors, leg protectors and face shields shoot an American in the fucking head, mortally wounding him, then when people come to his aid they throw a grenade at the injured man lying in his own blood on the ground.
I’m sorry, but if this doesn’t piss you off then something is wrong with you.
Did you read what I wrote?
Yes, I believe in the SLO riot that every stupid kid that got shot with a rubber bullet or bean bag deserved it.
You mean deserved to get murdered?
So how do you propose that the police should have handled crowd control in this situation? Do you think they should have just stood in a line for ever and hoped the crowd went away? I don’t really think flash grenades, rubber bullets, and bean bags are a big deal.
What the fuck are you talking about? I read what you wrote and think you are a great human being. I agree. Fuck’em. Shoot the shit out of everyone. Cops first.
Who got murdered? What are you talking about?
My problem is that none of them got murdered. Fuck’em.