Police tase innocent #OccupyDC protester, man had seizure, refused medical treatment

(Note: following article posted in Crime section @ WaPo)

Posted at 01:30 PM ET, 01/29/2012

One protester tased, arrested at Occupy D.C.

By Fredrick Kunkle

View Photo Gallery: Demonstrators have entrenched themselves in Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square downtown. Patience with the protests seems to be wearing thin for some officials, and the National Park Service director says Park Police soon will begin to enforce the ban on camping in McPherson Square.

Tensions between Occupy DC protesters and law enforcement increased Sunday afternoon with the arrest of a demonstrator and the approach of Monday’s noon deadline to enforce a ban on overnight camping.

Tempers flared around midday after police subdued a protester in McPherson Square with an electric shock. Several protesters accused the police of using excessive force, saying the demonstrator had been handcuffed by two police officers before a third used the electronic device to stun him.

Police on scene confirmed that a person had been subdued with a Taser and arrested but gave no further details.

The encounter occurred as Park Police passed out flyers warning of the deadline to begin enforcing a longstanding ban on camping overnight in the square and Freedom Plaza. A protester, who is known as “Lash,” became angry when police entered his tent, other demonstrators said.

“He told them: ‘Get out of here, get out of my tent. You’ve already given us enough of these,’” said Tracy Keith, 49, a researcher from Raleigh, N.C. who has been in the square for months. Keith said the protester ripped up the flyer and followed the police around the encampment tearing down other flyers as the confrontation escalated .

Ellie Milne, 23, of the District, said three officers used excessive force by using a taser on him after he was already in handcuffs.

“My mother is a police officer, and I grew up trusting the police, but this was blatant police brutality,” Milne said.

Milne, who works as a nanny, said the officers then dragged Lash out of the park as he pleaded for an ambulance. Other protesters became angry when police instead put him in a police vehicle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/one-protester-...

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Permalink Reply by truth on January 29, 2012 at 6:35pm

Occupy DC protesters mull how to deal with overnight camping ban

By Athena Jones, CNN

updated 6:24 PM EST, Sun January 29, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The National Park Service warned protesters they may be arrested for "camping violations"
Occupy DC demonstrators talk about how to deal with the warning
Area churches may house activists overnight, a pastor says
Video shows a stun gun used on a man, after he took down Park Service notices from tents

Washington (CNN) -- Occupy DC demonstrators spent Sunday afternoon discussing how to respond to a call by the National Park Service to stop camping overnight at sites a few blocks from the White House.

The park service notified protesters on Friday that they "may be subject to arrest and their property subject to seizure as evidence" if there are evident "camping violations" by around noon Monday.

The notice for those in McPherson Square and nearby Freedom Plaza said that to comply with the federal agency's camping regulations, demonstrators must remove all camping material from the sites and leave one side of all temporary structures open at all times. Authorities describe the purpose of the order as necessary to ensure public health and safety.

Video posted online from early Sunday showed a man appearing to walk away from U.S. Park Police members as he yelled out, "I have done nothing wrong." Two officers tried to grab him, before a third officer used a stun gun on the man, who was then handcuffed. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/29/us/dc-occupy/index.html

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Permalink Reply by truth on January 29, 2012 at 7:07pm

Police Department unprovoked indiscriminate violent escalation of #OccupyDC peaceful protest

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Permalink Reply by truth on January 29, 2012 at 7:18pm

Feds to enforce no-camping rules Monday at Occupy D.C. sites

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Permalink Reply by TommyD on January 29, 2012 at 7:22pm

In 1962, John F. Kennedy famously said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Those turds in power should really heed this warning!