Video of off duty Dallas officer working at BOA assaulting Occupier

[rainbow4321]

Happened last weekend when OD went to BOA to protest. Things started going badly...protestors arrested for "misuse of sidewalk" (??)..and what set everything off was what happened in the video below. A protestor was on a four foot high planter in front of the bank. He was PUSHED off the four foot ledge by an off duty Dallas officer. Dallas police then arrested him, saying that he tried to attack other officers with his union-related flag.
The assault of the protestor, along with his followup arrest of him and 7 other occupiers sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The occupier involved was charged with felony assault of a peace officer because police say other video show him trying to hit an officer with his flag...um, NO, the cops were pulling and tugging at his flag and he was trying to hold ONto it. And, BTW, what put him in the situation where he was being confronted with those officers...he was PUSHED off the planter by the off duty cop working for BOA when he was just peacefully standing on the planter holding the flag. The planters were deemed "private property" even though they are out on the sidewalks and the off duty cop defense "I told him to get off and he wouldn't"


Afterwards the City of Dallas is trying to use the whole incident as a reason to shut down OD, saying that the group is causing problems and not following "rules" (example: feces droppings were found near/around their camp and moldy food was found, also----occupiers replying non-occupiers walk their DOGS in the area--who the hell knows if it is dog shit or human shit?) Dallas has given OD til today at 5 pm to "make corrections" to what the city has "found" or be evicted

Lots of shaky, unclear video surfaced afterwards from occupiers trying to show the assault....the below video is the CLEAREST yet. Watch the background, at the top of the video, you will see the officer on top of the planter, the occupier next to him. The cop reaches out and outright SHOVES the occupier off.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/11/1035334/-Occupy-Dallas:-How-Police-Create-Disturbances?via=recent



More background from one of our local papers:

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/11/occupy_dallas_bogus_arrests_we.php

Only thing that is not updated in article is that the assaulted protestor is now out of jail



Get alot more background and follow OD on their facebook:


http://www.facebook.com/#!/OccupyDallas

[snot]

1. This is very clear –

Thank you for your good work!

I also like the "Who are you protecting?" message from the crowd in the video below that one. I think it's very important to continue to appeal to the better natures of police et al., as well as to hold them accountable for their aggression.

PS: From what I've seen, if Dallas officials consider the Occupy camp a problem, they should have shut down the Texas State Fair decades ago!

[rainbow4321]

3. No kidding...

Some Dallas Occupiers brought to the Dallas PD attention that they IGNORE the drunks and troublemakers who are in Dallas' Deep Ellum bars/partying area when the bars close down and the streets are full of people getting in the way of traffic, loitering, creating a ruckus. Yet a group of peaceful people practicing their First Amendment rights get surrounded by half the DPD department in the middle of the day and the officers seem to be out for blood and conflict.

[justabob]

5. hahaha

if Dallas officials consider the Occupy camp a problem, they should have shut down the Texas State Fair decades ago!

Seriously. :)

DPD had been pretty good for a while, and every time I was down there for anything, the cops I saw were mostly relaxed, if not friendly. I knew it was just a matter of time before we had issues here though. We have plenty of cops that aren't so cool, and the occupation has been going for a while now. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I am curious how the courts here will handle the case of the camp vs the city. They might surprise us? :shrug:

[rainbow4321]

6. OD case against the city has just been moved to federal court

Per the OD facebook:

Our injunction against the City of Dallas was removed to federal court. Our case is now being heard by a federal judge. We are contesting the arguments presented by City Hall that we have violated our agreement with them to maintain our camp. The number of enlisted and ranking military personnel coming to our camp to support our cause is an interesting contrast to the number of SWAT SUVs that are parked on the corner. Once again, we must question the allocation of these resources towards the peaceful collective of individuals on behalf of the taxpayers.

--------------------------------------------------


BTW, the reference to the SWAT team...a few days ago someone posted on the FB page that the overseeing of OD activity has been "moved" (?) to Dallas SWAT and also Homeland Security. I think DPD itself still has a presence, but the other two agencies have now stepped into the mix, apparently.

[saras]

2. I want to live in a country where cops like this just die unnoticed

[rainbow4321]

4. Update: Dallas police chief places the officer on restricted duty

And an "investigation" has been launched.


Hopefully the officer's cover up of the incident will also be considered seeing as how he has been LYING for the past week--denying that he pushed/assaulted the protestor.

[easttexaslefty]

7. It's a tough city to protest in,

If you're not a redneck. For sure.

[rainbow4321]

8. DPD tonight: In light of new video, all criminal charges against protestors

are now on HOLD, per a DPD news release tonight:

Last night, the Dallas Police Department discovered a new video of the Occupy Dallas demonstration that occurred on November 5, 2011. The video shows a Dallas Police Officer, who was working off-duty for Bank of America, push a demonstrator off a planter in front of the building. Chief David Brown has ordered the officer placed on restricted duty and initiated a formal investigation into the officer's actions. The restricted duty assignment will also prohibit the officer from working off-duty employment until the departmental investigation is complete. In light of this development, the Police Department has requested that the Dallas County District Attorney and the Dallas City Attorney proceed no further with the criminal cases alleged to have occurred until further consultation takes place. These meetings are anticipated to occur next week. The Dallas Police Department is dedicated to the protection of all members of the public. Any allegation of police misconduct is taken seriously and will be vigorously investigated. The Police Department encourages any witnesses who would like to make a statement or who have additional video to contact the Internal Affairs Division at [phone].