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Arrests during the conventions

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Arrests during the conventions

Post by Justin D. »

There have been numerous arrests during the Democrat and Republican conventions of protesters, but the most violent occurrence of this happened two days ago. I would have known nothing about this if I hadn't stumbled across a video on Facebook of all places and had to search for it myself among news sites. I've since seen it up on Twitter and other message boards, but have heard very little about it from any sort of reputable news sources.

This is totally fucked up.

Protesters were trying to jump fences? Well, yeah, that's going to happen when you throw tear gas and flash grenades at them.

Some of you may know I had a rather violent incident with police back in college, so I'm a bit more connected and passionate about this sort of subject than others may be. On another message board, I had this exchange with a police officer there. He starts it off with the quoted bit.

. . .
And, if what you said is true then those cops will be dealt with harshly.
No, they fucking won't, and you know it. Investigations may happen, someone may get suspended, and someone may even get fired. Although, I highly doubt that last one will happen. That's not fucking good enough. Many of these police officers were clearly breaking the law and need to be treated as such. They should be charged, arrested, and put in jail for the crimes they committed. I'm tired of this bullshit of people whether they be police officers, politicians, or priests getting away with crimes simply based on their societal stature. A crime is still a crime, even if the person committing it wears a badge on his chest while doing it.

I will not be happy with the resolution of what happened until every one of those cops have charges pressed against them, but that will never happen.
If that was true, people wouldn't hate the profession the way they do.
I don't hate the profession. I hate douchebags who choose that profession. It so happens that more douchebags seems to choose that profession than most others.
My generation is paying for EVERY generation before it, and in the end, it won't matter because no one wants to believe it. Yet, we still go to work, we still do our job correctly, and we have to be lumped with the 1% of corner cutters that the public likes to see us as. It's the profession we've chosen, and I hope someone goes to bed tonight knowing somebody might be out there hoping to make a difference. The day I do this job just for a paycheck...I hope I have the sense to get out of it. And I would say that to ANYBODY I know in the profession as well.
At least you understand that it's a job though. It's not a position handed down by some deity to do whatever the fuck you want with it. Many cops act as if being one gives them the right to abuse the powers and privileges that come with it. Truthfully, many of the those powers and privileges should never come with it to begin with.
Cops don't make mistakes...they either break the law, or they do the right thing according to the law. It is that black and white. If you do the wrong thing, you can loose everything. If you do the right thing, you just did your job. There are no mistakes anymore in law enforcement.
You are extremely wrong about this. That may be the case in your district and with you particularly, but simply paying attention to the news in the last year shows that's not true at all. Hell, here's one small example out of many I could easily pull up. No, a suspension isn't good enough, nor is the internal affairs looking into it any better. If this had been a person who wasn't a police officer acting like that, he would have been charged and arrested. There is no good damn reason why the same wasn't done with that asshole or many of the others out there who commit similar and worse acts.

The mistake isn't when a cop acts violently. That's a purposeful move by a cop who thinks he can get away with it. The mistake is in letting him get away it. Or even hiring him in the first place.

Frankly, Officer, your attitude here is one that helps allow events like this to happen. You especially, as a police officer, should be standing up to condemn these officers and demand not just an investigation, but formal charges brought against them.

We need our Tienman Square moment, but it has to come from the other side. A police officer, hopefully one in full riot gear at a protest, needs to stand up and say he refuses to cause violence and be part of another obvious abuse of power. I don't see it happening, and it's especially not going to happen when people say things like, "They're just human" or "It's their job" or "I'm sure they'll get suspended". When they act like that, they're not human. They're monsters. It's not their job to behave as monsters. And they should be thrown in jail for doing so.

. . .

Don't get me wrong. Many of the protesters were fuckwits too, but they weren't the violent ones hiding behind the "law". Law has to be in quotes there because of the utterly illegal tactics.

To add to what I said elsewhere and reposted here, I want to see some sort of recognition inside the convention of what's happening outside it. More specifically, I want to hear someone condemn the violent actions or those meant to uphold the law.

Post by Brian Boyko »

I actually was imagining that I'd be taking a much lighter tone with my New Zealand documentary. Then I saw footage of the police at the protests.

The movie's a lot darker now.
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Post by BriHo »

Its funny how things affect New Zealand documentaries.


Some of those protesters probably deserved it, cops be darned.
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