What is it that makes the police want to hurt the 99%?

[lunatica]

I really don't understand it. I can see a few bullies wanting to hurt people, but a great number of the police in the different cities in the Bay Area went to the Ogawa Plaza dressed to kill. Literally dressed to kill. How did this happen? Why did it happen? I don't believe that most cops are fascists who want nothing better than to hurt people. Did we witness a cop mob mentality?

There was no physical threat to any of the city's residents or officials. Not even when the cops started shooting gas canisters and beanbags and rubber pellet shot into the crowds. There is no evidence that anyone threw anything at the cops except the same gas canisters thrown back at them. Not one of the protesters was shooting up the place. It's as if the cops were shown old film of the riots in the 60s and they came prepared to recreate them. Peaceful protesters standing in front of them didn't stop the cops. It was like they were mindless mad dogs who are trained to kill being unleashed on people who never posed an instant of threat.

Where did that hatred come from? And it is hatred that started with our elected officials. The Mayor of Oakland thought it was fine and even praiseworthy until the world came crashing down on her via email and Facebook. Why does she think such violence is called for? And the City Administrator, Deanna Santana? She planned the whole thing. She's the one that coordinated the extra cops from all over the Bay Area to act together. I don't even know if that's even legal. Unless she made it sound like Oakland was a war zone.

I really don't get it, and I would like to have people, individuals and groups held accountable. If the cops in an entire county and a city's cops are that out of control then there's something very, very wrong.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Authoritarian assholery.

[nc4bo]

4. and they have their orders.

I can only assume they come from somewhere high on the foodchain.

[ret5hd]

2. sadistic control freaks just sometimes do that.

[lunatica]

5. I'm trying to figure out how an entire County's cops can be made to

act that way against people who are unarmed and peaceful and no threat. This isn't just a city's cops. This was the entire Bay Area.

[ret5hd]

10. The same way an entire towns white men can be made to lynch someone.

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. They don't hate us at all

They love inflicting violence upon people. The screening tests select people like that. It's not personal; they're just enjoying their own power.

[lunatica]

9. the cops may be thugs as you say, but what about Deanna Santana and the Mayor?

Why aren't cooler heads prevailing right now?

[Cronus Protagonist]

32. Psychopathology?

I could make a case for that for most elected officials.

[Warpy]

6. They've been given permission to

and cement headed authoritarians always obey.

However, if you've watched more of the footage, you've seen most of the tear gas directed to open areas away from people but upwind of them. It seems there were only one or two total assholes who were firing at people. Unfortunately, that's all it takes and the thin blue line had better not hold this time. They need to be held accountable.

[xchrom]

7. The desire to shoot somebody legally.

Mostly the desire to shoot somebody - deterrent of prison has them put on a badge.

It's what I think of most people w/ guns.

Double ++ if you're white & the person shot isn't.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. There is an old psychological test where someone off the street is asked to, using

increasing amounts of voltage, to momentarily shock a subject (unseen, in another room, but there is audio of their responses), every time that subject incorrectly answers a question. The hidden "subject" increasingly makes incorrect responses, and the actual test is of the person off the street, to see how long they will comply with an authority figure telling them it's okay, and that they have to do it, even when the voltage goes into an area clearly labelled Dangerous or even Deadly, and in response to the hidden subject's increasing screams and eventual utter silence when the Dangerous range is reached.

It is chilling to watch "regular people" continue to apply Deadly voltage to a subject who has stopped screaming, all because they are submitting to a man in a lab coat with a notebook.

[lunatica]

11. I've heard about that experiment and not everyone did that

There were people who refused to hurt someone even if they were out of sight. People with conscience, or maybe just more evolved.

This is what puzzles me. How is it possible that there were only two kinds of cops there. The ones that wanted to hurt people and the ones who stood back and let them. Where are the ones who don't want to be a part of hurting people? These cops live in the Bay Area. They're part of the community. They go play little league with their kids. Their kids go to the same schools. Many of them have kids the same age as the protesters.

Again I wonder if we witnessed a cop mob mentality.

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. Mob mentality, definitely. Exacerbated by most of them being from out of town.

Sort of a "spring break".

[redqueen]

17. The Milgram experiment

frightening stuff.

There was a book about these counterproductive ways that people act called Prisons we Choose to Live Inside by Doris Lessing. I need to re-read that.

[villager]

12. the mentality of kapos -- they think they will be "spared" when the shtf,

or their "betters" will protect them, for the thug protection they offer

[lunatica]

19. Do you think they're all aware of what's really going on with the 1%

taking over? I tend to think they aren't aware of what's been going on since Reagan was President. I know lots of people I work with don't even know about OWS or the 99%. I ask them and they don't have a clue, yet just a few miles away is Oakland.

[villager]

22. Not aware at all -- maybe some occasional Fox news permeates the weekend beer busts, etc

...but there's certainly no interesting in "gathering information" in their spare time...

[Tom Ripley]

29. +1

[notadmblnd]

13. because they've been granted a few of the privileges of the elite

They think that they're one of them. What they don't realize is that they are just tools and when they are no longer useful, the elite will rid themselves of them too.

[tularetom]

20. You nailed it - I have had 2 cops in my family

One was my son in law who saw the whole world as a gigantic pecking order and was very conscious of his place in it. He thought by kissing the ass of those above him on the ladder he would advance upwards. Of course he was an asshole to anyone he perceived to be a few rungs below him on the ladder. He had a rather rude awakening after he got "downsized" from the department in a reduction in force. He now realized he was only the cheap hired help and not one of the in crowd. He's actually pretty bitter about it but he can't completely let go of his illusions.

The other one was my son who got talked into going to work for the PD by his brother in law. He never had a pecking order world view and he disliked the regimentation and stratification that being a cop involved. He survived the reduction in force that got his brother in law but a few months later told them to kiss his ass and resigned. He's now an assistant golf pro making about half of what he did as a cop but he's a lot happier.

[ixion]

14. because that's the personality type that is attracted to the job

that is: controlling, authoritarian, cruel, sadistic creeps with a chip on their shoulder the size of Gibraltar, and extreme self-esteem issues, to boot.

[Rex]

15. Paymasters. They work for corporate paymasters and will do their

bidding without waver. The white collar type cops are owned by the mega-corporations and they make the rules for the working class cops (blue shirts). Just like all politicians are owned by money. Money owns authority too.

[cleanhippie]

16. It's not the 99%, most simply have authority and power issues.

Any chance to crack a skull...

[Arctic Dave]

21. Here is another question: What makes them and the government forces in other countries different?

Do you think they would hestitate to use lethal force on protestors?

A few months ago I was flamed for saying that what was happening in Africa ws no different then what would happen here if the populace wanted to change the way the government did things. I was met with, "tea party was doing that" but I said they obeyed what their masters told them to do. They came when told and left when told.
Now we have a movement that doesn't have corporate sponsorship and is wanting a voice in how things are run and want to see actual change in the corrupt way our government works and is willing to actually stand up for their rights. Look what happened, direct hostility and repression through violent means. Now what do you think would happen if OWS fought with the police? Do you think they would allow this or do you think they would intensify their crackdown?

In short, I think we should look in the mirror next time our leaders want to fire missiles into ther coutries and kill people to help them witheir "freedoms".

[lunatica]

25. I've been looking in that national mirror my entire adult life

Some people hate to talk politics with me because I bring up all the shit our country has done to the world and to its own citizens. And all of it hidden behind the delusion that we're such a beacon to the world and such a great Democracy and how great we are. It's bullshit. But too many believe the propaganda that's fed to us from the time we're babies.

[Arctic Dave]

27. The PTB, the elites, corporations or whatever you want to call it have mastered propaganda tactics.

I am always amazed at the level of delusion people have of their own situation.

[valerief]

23. What makes a bully a bully? nt

[justiceischeap]

24. Most folks that are cops are a different breed of people

I'm not suggesting that all cops are over-aggressive assholes but there are some that join the force just for the opportunity to bust a few heads and I'm sure many police departments quietly encourage this behavior. Then you have the adrenaline factor--I'd imagine it's scary to have to go face down a demonstration the size of OWS and some cops probably act out of fear when they cross over the line (not an excuse but a reason for some actions).

That dude that threw the flash bang into a group of people, most likely a sadistic asshole that gets off on his position. I wouldn't be at all surprised that if he hadn't been wearing a gas mask, we'd have seen a big 'ol smile on his face.

[lunatica]

28. It was like he couldn't resist attacking a group. Like getting points in a video game

For getting a high 'body count'

[ixion]

34. Yep. They are predators

acting out.

[EFerrari]

26. I can't help thinking Olsen was a target because he was wearing

military garb and standing next to a protester in a Navy uniform. He looked like a "traitor" to someone with permission to shoot him.

[kestrel91316]

31. BINGO. He was specifically targeted because they saw him as a traitor.

Of course we will never know for sure, but it is the only thing that makes complete sense to me.

[kestrel91316]

30. Police are, above all else, dyed-in-the-wool authoritarians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism

Given that they are commonly RWers, who crow endlessly about individual liberty being paramount, when it comes to their fellow man they demand full submission to external authority.

So they are hypocrites, too.

[Odin2005]

33. They are sadistic macho-men that get off from hurting others.

[TBF]

35. Their bosses - the 1%. nt

[Raine]

36. Legal Bullies ... that's what they are and that's how they act.

I come from an extended family that has long hated the cops, it's a family tradition. Even the repugs in the family can't tolerate the police.

[jtuck004]

37. Nothing new. They've been hurting people like this for a long time, but

most don't care enough to get all vocal until the victims look like them.

[lunatica]

38. We can't just accept this as something we take for granted

I know there is outrage at the violence. But it's as if we take the violence as a given that we must accept as normal. It should never be taken as if it's just another day in our lives where the same old thing happens.