Precursor to the next LA riots
 

I was here in SJ participating in another peaceful, legal protest with some friends.

I had a lot of friends in MacArthur Park. The police moved in and opened fire before telling them to disperse. They fired at people dispersing, as they were hit in the back. Several people were struck with butts of guns. A reporter was struck to the ground as she was leaving. Much of it was caught on tape by the several camera crews on the scene covering this legal, peaceful protest.

I have to wonder, what can be done? If a police officer starts to hit you, can you fight back? The answer, unfortunately, is no. They can beat you, but you can't fight back.

Next year when I'm down there, I'll be wearing protective gear under my clothing. I'll be wearing my old hockey shin guards and girdle, something I'm sure I can move in and that will protect me, and I'll have to find a decent vest, bucklers, and helmet. I absolutely will not break any law, as most people around here who know me will attest to, but I won't be shot.

Pretty chilling images.

Where exactly was the wall of riot police pushing the protesters anyways? Once they were out of the park and dispersing, what was the point of continuing?

Have local officials released their reasons for cracking down on the demonstration yet?

Un-fucking-believable.

I think the guy summed it up pretty well when he commented that (paraphrasing) when the police came in and started to intimidate the people, they created the atmosphere of resistance and anger that can lead to violent protest.

They released a statement early on about 'anarchist youth', but the media that covered it basically debunked that instantly and they stopped trying to use the story. Now we've moved on to the, "We'll look into it" phase where the Mayor and Police Chief have promised investigations.

kent state......chicago......seattle wtf police riots.....:mad: ?

If I were like, you know, paranoid, I might think that riots are incited by the police on purpose as a means of ending public protest.

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ok I saw it. it's pretty intense! why the fuck are they doing this? I'm glad i don't live in the states. :shakehead:

Oh yeah, the LAPD certainly is a shining beacon of achievement for police departments everywhere.

And some people wonder why pigs are hated....

mmmm, bacon....

k.. mix it up a bit.

I support what the police did.

WTF'S wrong with the LAPD? They have a long history of overstepping their authority!

Some of them are PIGS, although I wouldn't group all cops in the same light!

too busy to poke around google right now, but does anyone have more information on this? I'm curious why the demonstration was originally dispersed in the first place.

I think the video itself is not enough to condemn the police.

I also think that it's a little abusrd to call the US in 2007 a 'police state', as it betrays a historical ignorance as to the kind and levels of state violence usually employed by states with which we associate that term. Now of course when I say that we aren't a police state, I mean that only as a statement of current fact and not a blanket underneath which to duck my head and hide, justifying any and all measures of state violence. That is to say it's an assessment of the US at present, not a definition.

Again, the police initially released a statement saying that the crowed was dispersed because of 'anarchist youth', and no further explanation was offered.

'anarchist youth'....what about us old anarchist's!!!....PEACE ON YOU PIGS!!!

XOXOXOO

Will, that's interesting. Sorry I missed your answer to the question before I asked it.

You know, I sometimes think we look to the wrong places for explanations of problematic state violence. Is the answer in the event iself - in some tactical failure to respond properly to a given situation - or is it somewhere else, in the social milieu? State violence only becomes necessary when more sophisticated versions of state power - ideology - begin to break down and lose their effectiveness, and we are after all living in a fairly disillusioned and disaffected period in US history.

I think the crisis, to the extent there is one, is located primariliy on the plane of legitimacy, not one of bottles and rubber bullets.

No worries. I'm glad people are asking that question.