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Related: About this forumWis. Capitol Police Turn Violent During Solidarity Sing Along Arrests MULTIPLE ANGLES
Last edited Tue Aug 27, 2013, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Pretty intense.
Hat tip to Daily Kos "noise of rain"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/26/1233973/-Songs-in-the-Key-of-Brutality-Tackled-Immobilized-and-Jailed-for-Singing#
"There is a time and place for free speech, and we reserve the right to regulate that a little bit..."
-Wisconsin Capitol Police Chief David Erwin
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)when is Holder going to step in and protect our right to protest ?
it has gone on for too long and too much abuse by cops of people who are non-violent and not a threat.
Warpy
(110,909 posts)Anybody who aint rich starts to organize and the whole gummint collectively shits an enormous brick.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)annm4peace
(6,119 posts)The Solidarity Sing Along continues to grow in Madison. Walker's palace guards are obviously getting frustrated, as the press is breaking less and less in their favor. Generally speaking, folks don't think that people should get arrested, handcuffed, dragged down the hallway, processed and fined or jailed merely for singing historical protest songs. Instead of dialing their aggression back a little, the police went whole hog today, taking down two young African American singers, and dealing with one of them with a vehemence and force that can only be described as excessive.
Damon Terrell was merely observing when the police approached him. They had just arrested his brother, who sat down passively and continued to sing. Damon put his hands up and visibly tried to back away. As he did, they ran at him, tackled him hard to the marble floor, immobilized him, shouted at the singers who were quite obviously disturbed by the brutality of the handling, and picked him up, running down the hall in a phalanx as if they had just apprehended a violent criminal.
Previous to this treatment, Terrell had been complaining to one of the capitol police about the unlawful arrests of the singers. You can see that footage here. Was his fate sealed at this moment? The cops seem to come into the crowd looking for someone, see his brother and take him down. You can see that footage here. (Sorry, these links are Facebook videos, which do not embed here on Kos). They then go after him, and from what we can see, he doesn't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary.
They've arrested priests, firemen, old ladies, old men, children, and countless citizens who feel that we shouldn't need to get permission to protest our elected government. The whole thing is beyond embarrassing for the state, and for the United States. Every time they take it up a notch, a score or more singers appear the next day. Is it fair to ask why the police have been unusually brutal (compared with a lot of aggressive arresting in the last month!) with two young black men? Is it because Damon "disrespected" an officer by questioning authority? Is it because they were singing? Is it because the cops have absolutely no idea how to handle the situation, and are looking to try to escalate the peaceful singers to violent response, so they can demonize them?
Be careful, oh peaceful protestors. The machine feeds on violence, and it hopes to engulf you in hot flames of rage.
Locrian
(4,522 posts)the excessive police brutality towards the AA's doesn't surprise me in the least. This is post racial amerikkka, dontcha know!
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)annm4peace
(6,119 posts)the media should be reporting on this every day. It is outrageous what the cops are doing.
postulater
(5,075 posts)Ellipsis
(9,123 posts)JimboBillyBubbaBob
(1,389 posts)........need to get it over with and don their Brown Shirts. Disgusting.......................
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)... somebody ordered this, I bet.
-- Mal
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)He is some kind of dictator. He is certainly using thug tactics on these people. Some where someone has to step in and say enough is enough. If a governor went rogue, who is to stop him?
heaven05
(18,124 posts)it just goes to show how many fascist RWer's are out there. A majority voted him into office. Went rogue? Always was this way
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)hypothetical question, It was a what if.. and not speaking of Walker, but any future governor who decided he could kill his constituency any time it pleased him. Someone who thinks they are above the law. If in the future a Governor or Mayor is sworn in, and decides that he/she can do anything he/she wishes, because he/she is in a position of power, then who has the authority to stop them?
Wasn't it President Kennedy who activated the national guard against Governor Wallace's wishes?
blackspade
(10,056 posts)What a bullshit statement.
"There is a time and place for free speech, and we reserve the right to regulate that a little bit..."
-Wisconsin Capitol Police Chief David Erwin
On what authority?
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)a society led by powers that brook NO protest of their on high status and 'laws'. The on high 'gods' will turn violent through their proxies(police and military- I remember det(12th street riots-67, lot's of AA killed by the military and police) if we don't submit to their orders of obedience. They will kill. 'From Wounded Knee to Libya'--Dr. Zoltan Grossman. Another 'Kent State' in the offing? Possible.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)draconian? fascist? AmeriKKKa today. 'Others' better be careful in this land of the free, home of the brave. It's already hit the iceberg
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)Walker wants this to get violent. That's his only "out" on this now, outside of protestors getting smaller in #.
As long as the protestors grow day by day and remain peaceful, he will eventually be overwhelmed and lose. I hope to get out to Madison fairly soon myself...
Ellipsis
(9,123 posts)Blue Owl
(49,918 posts)Look at the POS hiding behind his goons.
Ellipsis
(9,123 posts)/snip/
Since July 24, State Capitol Police Chief David Erwin has been ordering the daily mass arrests of singers in the capitol rotunda, issuing over 300 citations for "unlawful assembly." In a 40-page ruling in mid-July, a federal judge threw out the Walker administration's rules that groups larger than four require a permit to assemble in public spaces. Judge Conley also wrote in detail about how the Wisconsin state capitol has traditionally been used as a public forum for the people to meet and peaceably air their grievances to their government without fear of arrest or intimidation. Article 1, Section 4, of the Wisconsin State Constitution prioritizes the rights of free speech and free assembly as fundamental rights of every citizen of the state. By arresting nonviolent dissenters for exercising their constitutional rights, Chief Erwin has betrayed the law enforcement oath, failing to uphold the constitution.
Since Judge Conley isn't ruling until January 2014 on new restrictions that forbid groups larger than 20 from assembling without a permit, Chief Erwin is using the lack of judicial precedent to arbitrarily arrest any participant in the Solidarity Singalong. Arrestees have included a sitting city alder, a school board member, two firefighers, teenagers, grandmothers, teachers, journalists, mothers with small children, and many others. On August 26th, two brothers, 25-year-old CJ and 22-year-old Damon Terrell, were both violently arrested in a shocking display of police brutality previously unseen in the state capitol. Even local TV stations have dedicated editorial time to criticizing the Capitol Police Department for "overkill."
This video clearly shows police arresting CJ Terrell for singing. He sits down and refuses to cooperate with an illegal arrest, asking instead for his citation to be issued in the rotunda rather than going through the process of being handcuffed and processed in the capitol basement. His younger brother, Damon, was taking pictures and observing when Capitol Police advanced on him. In the video, you can see him backing away with his hands up before four officers tackle him to the ground without provocation. One officer claimed he was injured while arresting Damon, and Damon is being tentatively charged with felony battery of an officer. At the time of this writing, Damon is still being held in Dane County Jail without bond. While some local media chose to only get the DoA's account of what happened, several eyewitness accounts, including my own, attest that Damon's arresting officer got a small cut on his arm from a reporter's watch as he lunged after Damon, whom he decided to blame for the small injury. Through his brutal means of enforcement, Erwin has failed the oath he and his department swore to uphold.
Chief Erwin has also directly contradicted Department of Administration policy when it comes to the arrests of singers who don't have a permit. When asked in December of 2011 whether or not violators of the permit policy would be arrested, former DoA spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster said, "There's a fundamental misunderstanding of this policy if there was a belief arrests were going to stem from this policy." She was also quoted in a different report saying, "No one is going to be arrested for not being in compliance with the permit policy. It's kind of funny that anybody even thinks that they would be. The standard by which law enforcement will take law enforcement action remains the same." By violating the policy of the agency that oversees his department, Chief Erwin has violated the law enforcement oath, refusing to hold himself or his deputies accountable for their actions.
/snip/
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/287-124/19108-the-wisconsin-state-capitol-police-should-be-abolished