That Fine Gentleman
I'm an intellectual, a gamer, a car aficionado, a music enthusiast with an eclectic taste, a beer connoisseur, an atheist, a motorcyclist, and an overall nice person.
Writing/Literary blog:
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My favorite part of this video is how they sulk away at the end. Good. They should be scared.
defending against tear gas
Important information.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan meme.
Needs a brown checkered ball cap…
Tear gas and rubber bullets to the face are really healthy. Didn’t you know?
(via stfuconservatives)
Time to wake up, America. You no longer live freely.
The photo above, taken by Jay Finneburgh, shows Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen being carried away after he was struck in the head by a tear gas canister thrown by Oakland police during last night’s raid on Occupy Oakland.
Video shot at the scene shows police throwing a flash grenade into the crowd as other protesters rush to help him:
Olsen did two tours of duty in Iraq and is a current member of Veterans for Peace. He’s now listed in critical but stable condition with swelling of the brain and a skull fracture. He is also on a respirator due to the doctors sedating him in order to evaluate the possible injury to his brain.
From The Guardian:
Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq, arrived at the hospital after protesters contacted him through Facebook. He confirmed Olsen had a fractured skull, and said he had been told by a doctor Olsen also had brain swelling. A neurosurgeon was due to assess Olsen to determine if he needed surgery, Shannon said.
“It’s really hard,” Shannon said. “I really wish I had gone out with him instead of staying home last night.”
Shannon, who is also 24, said he had seen the video footage showing Olsen lying on the floor as a police officer throws an explosive device near him. “It’s terrible to go over to Iraq twice and come back injured, and then get injured by the police that are supposed to be protecting us,” he said.
This is utter brutality. Scott Olsen enlisted in the military, fought for the U.S. in combat, and is thanked for it with a severe head injury while defending his fellow citizens from police action at home. Veterans for Peace have stood with numerous camps, including Boston, where elderly members were beaten by police.
In Oakland, despite police using multiple rounds of tear gas, flash grenades, rubber bullets and beanbag projectiles on protesters, they remained peaceful. Police denied the use of tear gas initially, but confirmed it at a press conference today. It was also claimed this started because a protester threw a rock at police, while Oakland Mayor Jean Quan stated the raid was because of “unsanitary conditions” and “ongoing vandalism” happening because of Occupy Oakland.
As for police denying the use of flash grenades and rubber bullets, the video above shows use of the flash grenade, and here’s a rubber bullet picked up by a demonstrator:
How long will this police aggression against unarmed, peaceful protest be allowed to continue? Scott Olsen is merely one of its victims. We, as citizens, must demand an end to the vicious crackdown at occupy protests across the nation. Remember, be peaceful, but stand resolute.
The tides are moving in favor of occupy movements. For example, Occupy Cleveland just won the right in federal court to occupy a city park around the clock. The judge wrote the demonstrators of Occupy Cleveland had their First Amendment rights violated and ordered the city to grant the protesters a permit.
Solidarity forever, my friends. Do not let the police scare you away.
(via occupywallstreet)
![thedailywhat:
Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Demonstrator Felix Rivera-Pitre, who was involved in a serious altercation with an NYPD officer, spoke out in the aftermath of the incident to insist that he did nothing to provoke Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona’s right hook.
“The cop just lunged at me full throttle and hit me on the left side of my face,” Rivera-Pitre, a former dancer from Queens, told Gothamist. “It tore my earring out.” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne disputes this claim, saying Rivera-Pitre provoked the attack by attempting to assault Cardona.
The police are seeking to arrest Rivera-Pitre on several charges, but his attorney Ronald Kuby warned against pursuing that line of action.
“On the off chance they were intending to arrest him for injuring the captain’s fist with his jaw, I strongly suggest that you decide not to add insult to injury and avoid such a retaliatory move,” Kuby wrote in a letter to the NYPD.
Rivera-Pitre said he chose the identify himself after leaving the scene because his injury caused blood to be spilled, and he is HIV-positive. “That cop should get tested,” he was quoted as saying.
Video of the incident follows:
In addition to the above video, a second angle shows Rivera-Pitre walking away before being turned around by Cardona and struck in the face.
Elsewhere, some 82 countries held solidarity protests, some of which were far more restive than their American counterpart.
Answering the call for a worldwide rally, tens of thousands marched through hundreds of cities across the globe, including Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and Toronto.
Protesters in London were visited by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was placed under house arrest nearly a year ago. Assange rallied the attendees with a short speech before being escorted away by the police.
In Rome, a peaceful protest turned violent, with masked demonstrators setting cars on fire and damaging buildings. Police attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons, but rioters pushed back with rocks and fireworks. Dozens were injured on both sides, and Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi called for the identification and punishment of those involved.
Back in New York, demonstrators marched on Chase and Citibank, with some withdrawing their money in protest. “A bank that got billions in bailouts and cut jobs doesn’t need my savings,” Brooklynite Biola Jeje told the Daily News.
According to reports, at least 20 people were arrested near the Citibank on La Guardia Place. A similar standoff outside the Chase Bank branch at Astor Place ended without any arrests.
A potentially “historic” Occupation Party is scheduled to take place in Times Square later this afternoon.
Live Updates: New York Daily News; Occupy Wall Street. Hashtags: #ows; #occupytogether; #globalchange; #occupy; #o15.
[gothamist / nydn: 1,2 / cnn / 15october / japantimes / globalvoices / newsfeed / abcnews / thelocal / elpais / bloomberg / ap / mediaite / reuters / rt / top.]
Yeaaaahhhh… that guy was literally not doing anything to provoke that attack. He was walking the other way when the cop turned him around and gave him a good punch to the face.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt4jg2ijRi1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Demonstrator Felix Rivera-Pitre, who was involved in a serious altercation with an NYPD officer, spoke out in the aftermath of the incident to insist that he did nothing to provoke Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona’s right hook.
“The cop just lunged at me full throttle and hit me on the left side of my face,” Rivera-Pitre, a former dancer from Queens, told Gothamist. “It tore my earring out.” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne disputes this claim, saying Rivera-Pitre provoked the attack by attempting to assault Cardona.
The police are seeking to arrest Rivera-Pitre on several charges, but his attorney Ronald Kuby warned against pursuing that line of action.
“On the off chance they were intending to arrest him for injuring the captain’s fist with his jaw, I strongly suggest that you decide not to add insult to injury and avoid such a retaliatory move,” Kuby wrote in a letter to the NYPD.
Rivera-Pitre said he chose the identify himself after leaving the scene because his injury caused blood to be spilled, and he is HIV-positive. “That cop should get tested,” he was quoted as saying.
Video of the incident follows:
In addition to the above video, a second angle shows Rivera-Pitre walking away before being turned around by Cardona and struck in the face.
Elsewhere, some 82 countries held solidarity protests, some of which were far more restive than their American counterpart.
Answering the call for a worldwide rally, tens of thousands marched through hundreds of cities across the globe, including Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and Toronto.
Protesters in London were visited by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was placed under house arrest nearly a year ago. Assange rallied the attendees with a short speech before being escorted away by the police.
In Rome, a peaceful protest turned violent, with masked demonstrators setting cars on fire and damaging buildings. Police attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons, but rioters pushed back with rocks and fireworks. Dozens were injured on both sides, and Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi called for the identification and punishment of those involved.
Back in New York, demonstrators marched on Chase and Citibank, with some withdrawing their money in protest. “A bank that got billions in bailouts and cut jobs doesn’t need my savings,” Brooklynite Biola Jeje told the Daily News.
According to reports, at least 20 people were arrested near the Citibank on La Guardia Place. A similar standoff outside the Chase Bank branch at Astor Place ended without any arrests.
A potentially “historic” Occupation Party is scheduled to take place in Times Square later this afternoon.
Live Updates: New York Daily News; Occupy Wall Street. Hashtags: #ows; #occupytogether; #globalchange; #occupy; #o15.
[gothamist / nydn: 1,2 / cnn / 15october / japantimes / globalvoices / newsfeed / abcnews / thelocal / elpais / bloomberg / ap / mediaite / reuters / rt / top.]
Yeaaaahhhh… that guy was literally not doing anything to provoke that attack. He was walking the other way when the cop turned him around and gave him a good punch to the face.
(via stfuconservatives)
Second Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: 24 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were locked inside the La Guardia Place Citibank branch and arrested for criminal trespassing. They were attempting to close their bank account at the time.
Footage captured at the scene shows a woman being arrested by a plainclothes cop while shouting “I’m a customer, I’m a customer.”
Earlier it was revealed that the NYPD and several corporations targeted by Occupy Wall Street were tipped off to the protesters’ plans by New York-based computer security consultant Thomas Ryan.
Ryan, who has made a mission out of discrediting the movement, has been monitoring the online activities of Occupy Wall Street organizers since the protest began. Yesterday, Ryan posted to Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government the OWS mailing list, which features thousands of email addresses belonging to OWS demonstrators.
Elsewhere, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was interrupted several times during his speech at the National Summit on Education Reform by Occupy Sesame Street protests.
“Corporations own all the media in the world; why should they not own all the education as well?,” quipped activist Joe Hill, who was dressed as Sesame Street’s Count. (In Taiwan, Occupy Taipei protesters flashed signs that featured familiar Angry Birds characters.)
In New York, the Take Times Square convergence (AKA The Occupation Party) saw thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters descend on Midtown Manhattan.
The NYPD set up barricades to control the crowds; police in riot gear made an appearance, as did mounted cops and the counter-terrorism unit. According to an eye-witness, police officers have formed a human chain stretching for hundreds of feet.
The latest reports from the scene suggest the police are preparing to start arresting any protester who refuses to clear out. Occupy Wall Street’s official site says the arrests have begun. NY Scanner appears to confirm this.
Watch the Take Times Square standoff unfold live below:
[thedailybeast / wonkette: 1,2 / gawker / ap / reuters / nydn / ows.]
shit is getting real.
You are not free.
(via stfuconservatives)
