Police Violence Against Veterans: A Long and Painful History

[Better Believe It]

Police Violence Against Veterans: A Long and Painful Legacy
by Matthis Chiroux
October 29, 2011


One need only search the words, “Bonus March,” for a bloody history lesson in how America treats its veterans demanding a fair shake from the 1%. In 1932, under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Infantry and Cavalry deployed in the streets of Washington D.C. to violently dismantle a large encampment of WWI veterans demanding benefits promised them for their service and sacrifice. The attack left more than fifty veterans injured and killed an infant who died several weeks later from tear gas-related injuries. While perhaps the largest example in history of state violence against veterans, it certainly is not the last.

But that lesson is not new to us. Not those veterans who’ve been protesting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the last decade. As I referenced earlier, veterans were injured by police before when American streets became a warzone Oct. 15, 2008. Outside the last Presidential Debate in Hempstead, N.Y., between Obama and McCain, protesters, including veterans, came out in droves to demand the “People’s Agenda” be heard by the candidates. Within that, the veterans had a very specific demand.

We were demanding two veterans in uniform be allowed into the debate to ask one question of each candidate. What happened when we approached police lines felt unreal at the time. The immediate of us were arrested, and then horses were used to disperse the rest. When protesters found themselves trapped between the advancing horses and a wall to their rear, they were trampled. Among them was Nick, a former Army sergeant, wearing his uniform, whose cheekbone was crushed by a horse on the sidewalk. Graphic Video of the incident still exists here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgOKgpWrT04

More shocking is that after his face was crushed, he was arrested. While unconscious, no-less, he was handcuffed and loaded on a bus to jail. Charges were later dismissed against all 15 demonstrators arrested that evening, but officers of the Nassau County Police Department have yet to be held accountable for their actions.

Read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/29-4

See the YouTube video on the 1932 Bonus March on Washington at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkmo4ygPTjc