A few weeks back I wrote that I thought #OWS had gotten all they could out of the camping-as-activism idea. I think the events of the past month have shown that to be correct. Krist Novoselic, formerly the bassist for Nirvana, made the same point on the Alyona Show (video below). At some point, your movement has to get beyond battling with local municipalities and the police and start, you know, doing something.
I’m don’t know the full extent of Novoselic’s political work, he seems too devoted to the idea of ”democracy”, but I think he’s correct with respect to the limits of occupying as means of creating political change.
Iowa Rep. Steve King responding to a question about Alabama’s immigration law:
In the world I grew up in, a police office would see somone on the street and say why are you here? What are you doing? Who are you? I don’t know who you are. Now we get to the point where the ACLU can take the position that law enforcement can’t do their job.
I guess this is what passes for small government conservatism today.
Whatever you think of the Occupy protesters, there is no excuse for this:
When terrorists employ this sort of tactic, attacking someone when they try to aid an injured person, we rightfully decry their inhumanity. Why do we excuse it when done by police? There has been very little violence from any of the protesters, so why do city officials insist on deploying heavily armed personnel to attack them?
Brooklyn police held Takesha Griffin for five days after she we struck in the leg by a stray bullet, because they wanted her to say that her friend who drove her to the hospital was the shooter. There was an outstanding warrant for Griffin, but it was due to a clerical error, something the police may have found out if they had bothered to take her before a judge.
The NYPD’s chief spokesman, Paul Browne, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Executing a no-knock raid on a home looking for a murder suspect, the use of military tactics leads to the death of a 7 year-old girl. The police claim that the weapon accidentally discharged. Regardless of whether or not that is the case, the danger in the police using military style tactics should be painfully clear.
Some might ask why I care. The kid was doing something he knew was wrong and he wasn’t seriously hurt, so what’s the big deal?
It wasn’t.
This incident was not a big deal. It bothers me because it was a highly visible example of a trend that is truly frightening. We as Americans have become far too cavalier about violence done in the name of law and order. Similar to the popular view of the tazer incident, people are not bothered by excessive violence used against those who break the law. They get what they deserve. If this describes you, then I have a message for you.
Wake up.
The charge of police brutality conjures up specific images in the mind of most people. A criminal leads police on a high speed chase which ends with a flurry of night sticks and accusations of racism. Wipe that from your mind. Sure those incidents happen, sometimes the cops’ actions are justified, sometimes they’re not, but its doesn’t concern the average person because they will never be in that situation. I’m not talking about that type of brutality.
The video below is what I’m talking about. Everyone should watch this video, though I’ll warn you, it’s disturbing.
All of this for what? According to the police, inside the home they “discovered a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana”. They broke into the home, fired their weapons, shot two family pets (killing one), all in front of a 7 year-old child. They suspected that there might be a large amount of drugs in the home, but does that justify this level of violence?
Perhaps you are saying to yourself, “yes, but the guy did have drugs”. Yes, he did. If that is enough to allow you to dismiss this incident, then let me give you another example.
Cheye Calvo, of Berwyn Heights, MD returned from walking his two dogs and saw a package had been delivered to his home. Thinking it was something his wife had ordered, he brought it in the house and went upstairs to change his clothes. He then heard the front door shatter and gunfire coming from downstairs. A SWAT team had stormed into his home, shot both of his black Labradors and pinned his 50 year-old mother-in-law to the ground and put an assault weapon against her head. The SWAT team was from Prince George’s Country Sheriffs Department and the box that had been left outside Calvo’s home was full of marijuana. Unfortunately, the Calvo’s had no idea what was in the package and had no involvement in drugs. It had been mailed to their home without their knowledge specifically so a drug trafficker could intercept it.
Did I mention that Cheye Calvo was the Mayor of Berwyn Heights? The Sheriff’s department was so negligent in their investigation that they missed this little fact. They never even contacted the local police to inform them about the operation in their town. The Sheriff’s department was also well aware of the tactic of shipping narcotics to innocent homeowners, but that didn’t stop them from assaulting the Calvo family.
Read the full story here. Cheye Calvo wrote an op-ed about the incident in the Washington Post as well. There is no video of this attack, but it’s safe to imagine the scene in the Calvo home that evening was very similar to the video above and the hundreds of similar raids that happen every day.
It’s not so easy to dismiss the inexcusable actions of the police in this case, is it? According to Radley Balko of Reason Magazine, these raids happen at rate of 100-150 a day in America, mostly in response to non-violent crimes. Still think it doesn’t effect you? Still think I’m crazy for being sensitive about excessive force by the police? What happened to the kid at the Phillies game was insignificant in comparison to the two stories above. I said in the first post on this topic that my reaction to the tazer incident was instinctive. It’s because I’ve been following this trend towards a militarized police force that what I perceived to be an excessive response by the cop at the Phillies game triggered such a strong reaction.
Nobody likes the guy who jumps on the field and runs around and interrupts the game.
For Philly fans, it’s even more infuriating. More than three million people a year pass through the gates of Citizens Bank Park, but we all get painted with the stupidity of the few from the shallow end of the gene pool. The glee with which the national media reports on every incident that occurs in Philadelphia makes the majority of fans even more intolerant of this kind of idiocy.
So I do understand the “he got what he deserved” mentality.
Here’s the problem. The police aren’t vigilantes. They aren’t supposed to impose punishment and there is a reason for that. Their job is to investigate crimes, make arrests, and turn the person over to the judicial system.
As I explained the last post, the situation did not justify the level of force used. I think most people would have to admit this, but the anger at the culprit is coloring everyone’s view of the incident. We wanted to see the guy get it, and he did.
But it was still wrong.
The fact that we all got some satisfaction from it, doesn’t change that. What’s more, there is great danger in overlooking this kind of excessive force simply because we don’t think highly of those on the receiving end.
Among my family and friends, I seem to be largely alone in thinking that the police were out of line in using a tazer to subdue an idiot who had run onto the field at a Phillies game. My reaction to the event was instinctive, it was wrong. But as I discussed it more, I had to re-examine that instinct to determine if it was correct. Below are the most common justifications I’ve heard for the cops actions and why I think they’re wrong.
1) It sent a message to other morons not to run out onto the field.
Since it took less than 24 hours for it to happen again, doesn’t seem like this argument holds much water. Considering that moron #2 didn’t have the forethought to hand off his weed to a friend before engaging in an activity that was guaranteed to end with him in police custody, perhaps we should avoid relying on the ability of morons to fully think through the consequences of their actions.
2) His intentions were unknown, so we have to assume he may be a danger to the players.
This is a valid concern. Players and coaches coming under attack from fans is not without precedent. However, I don’t see how a reasonable person could believe that this kid had any intention other than getting his 15 minutes of fame as he ran circles around the field waving a white towel. The video of the incident makes it pretty clear he had no ill-intent. If he was intending to attack someone on the field, I hardly think he would have run figure eights around the outfield first. Furthermore, if he had gone directly after, say Jayson Werth in right field, there’s no way the cop would have been close enough to prevent the attack. So the only way a tazer would be effective in stopping an attack is if there was never going to be an attack.
3) Using the tazer protects the police from injuries that may occur in subduing the moron.
I think everyone acknowledges that police officers face serious risks every day, but we’re not talking about someone waving a knife or a bat, or making threats. You can’t justify using a tazer against someone who is not threatening anyone because of incidental injury that might occur. If that is the standard, the range of police encounters where tazers are justified becomes frightening.
But all this is only half the story. Read part 2 here.
A fan ran out onto the field in the 8th inning of Monday nights game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Obviously, this is not a particularly unique event at a sporting event. However, what makes this story noteworthy is that the police used a taser to subdue the fan.
“This is the first time that a Taser gun has been used by Philadelphia police to apprehend a field jumper,” Phillies spokeswoman Bonnie Clark said in a statement. “The Police Department is investigating this matter and The Phillies are discussing with them whether in future situations this is an appropriate use of force under these circumstances. That decision will be made public.”
No, this is not an appropriate use of force, regardless of what the “investigation” determines. Fans who run onto the field are idiots and they are annoying, but they are generally not dangerous. There is no justification for using a taser.
