link at sig in either post...

Thanks for bringing that up...you can find a link to an image of the damage police did to the bodies of protesters back in '03. It caused quite a furor here, but I doubt anyone in Minneapolis gave it a second thought. Keep this in perspective, it happens all the time and its wrong (I met this woman several weeks later, and she was fine, no scars). The lawsuit that followed brought an end to Oakland's experiment with rubber bullets. Just as the one in LA brought a change to the way LAPD ostensibly handles demosntrations involving browner people. Finding a resolution to this, even justice, will bring us no closer to any of our goals. i think we may have reached the limit of useful discussion on this issue. Noted, documented.

is to watch the damn videos, linked at my name -- I know they're long, and there isn't all that much excitement, and the dialogue really sucks -- and tell me how a) the protesters and the onlookers and the media and whatnot are engaging in riot or even endangering the public safety (you'll note some traffic is continuning relatively unimpeded while grenades and teargas are being launched at the dispersing crowd) and b) how the police response is proportionate to the threat of all these unarmed no accounts doing nothing but disobeying. Or -- as the case may be -- obeying unsatisfactorily.

What I'm getting at is that some jurisdictions (after bitter and very expensive experience) and many nations around the world have figured out how to deal with these sorts of things without too much damage to their reputations. The United States, China, Israel and several others have not.

What, specifically, are the Authorities so desperately afraid of?

Answer if you can.

Know Your Rights: What to Do If You're Stopped by the Police (7/30/2004)

To fight police abuse effectively you need to know your rights. There are some things you should do, some things you must do and some things you cannot do. If you are in the middle of a police encounter, you need a handy and quick reference to remind you what your rights and obligations are.

Print this page and carry it in your wallet, pocket, or glove compartment to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning police encounters. Download the PDF.

Think carefully about your words, movement, body language, and emotions.

Don't get into an argument with the police.

Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.

Keep your hands where the police can see them.

Don't run. Don't touch any police officer.

Don't resist even if you believe you are innocent.

Don't complain on the scene or tell the police they're wrong or that you're going to file a complaint.

Do not make any statements regarding the incident. Ask for a lawyer immediately upon your arrest.

Remember officers' badge and patrol car numbers.

Write down everything you remember ASAP.

Try to find witnesses and their names and phone numbers.

If you are injured, take photographs of the injuries as soon as possible, but make sure you seek medical attention first.

If you feel your rights have been violated, file a written complaint with police department's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

1. What you say to the police is always important. What you say can be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you, especially if you bad-mouth a police officer.

2. You must show your driver's license and registration when stopped in a car. Otherwise, you don't have to answer any questions if you are detained or arrested, with one important exception. The police may ask for your name if you have been properly detained, and you can be arrested in some states for refusing to give it. If you reasonably fear that your name is incriminating, you can claim the right to remain silent, which may be a defense in case you are arrested anyway.

3. You don't have to consent to any search of yourself, your car or your house. If you DO consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ASK TO SEE IT.

4. Do not interfere with, or obstruct the police -- you can be arrested for it.

You get the idea...

A little further down there must be an exception for protestors, anarchists and communists and typical asshats

http://www.aclu.org/police/gen/14528res20040730.html

Goodman, who had not witnessed any of the events leading up to the Salazar arrest, was subsequently arrested when she obstructed the officers proceeding to arrest Salazar.

-- Elephantman

Goodman didn't "obstruct the officers proceeding to arrest Salazar". But what's one more incorrect accusation from you?

Watch the first half of the edition of Democracy Now! from this morning, September 2nd. Goodman, Salazar and Kouddous are all there, and they each tell what happened before during and after.

http://www.democracynow.org/

This intentionally or unintentionally funny article in Businessweek about what HR managers can learn from McCain's fumbling VP choice...

http://www.businessweek.com/election/2008/blog/archives/2008/09/corporate_board.html

It may be true that as many as 200 demonstrators committed acts of property damage. And it is almost surely true that at least 285 persons were arrested. But this does not mean that the ones who caused the property damage were also the ones arrested. In fact there is now an abundance of video evidence that the police were assaulting and then arresting persons within their view and their reach, probably - speculating now -choosing those who triggered some hateful, atavistic impulse in them. I did a comparison today of accounts of the Minnesota assault on civil liberties and of the Chinese police behavior around the Olympics. Setting aside reports of disappearances of some dissenters in China, Minneota's security bling-laden cops have the edge in brutality.

Things were bad enough they called in the national guard.

Ordinary citizens who fear to leave their homes, unable to move with reasonable expectation of safety tend to resent it and the taxes they pay for those services and the management that failed to adequately prepare and/or deal with the problem.

Then there are the kids and commuters who have no choice but to navigate the crowds, the uncertainties and endure the delays ...

... there's more... I won't bore you...