Police crackdowns at Occupy sites stir debate | Seattle Times Newspaper

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016775237_apusoc...

[…]

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed lawsuits - and in some instances, won temporary restraining orders - on behalf of Occupy activists in such places as Nashville, Oakland, Calif., and Trenton, N.J.

“There is no such thing as a beginning, middle and end to free speech rights,” said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero. “The right … doesn’t toll after a certain time period.”

Romero also said it’s hypocritical to try to limit the duration of protests “when we celebrate the occupation of Tahrir Square (the site of anti-government protests in Cairo). Certainly no one was citing the Egyptians for their overnight, multi-day protests. We ought not to criticize the Occupy movement for demonstrating their points of view with similar zeal.”

[…]

There also are restrictions in many places, such as requiring permits to march, assemble and speak, Zick said.

“Governments have the authority and the power to regulate things for public safety, traffic flow, sanitation,” Zick added. “None of these things have anything to do directly with freedom of speech. They regulate time of day, place and manner. You can limit the size of a protest … you can’t protest in the middle of Times Square whenever you like. There are a lot officials can do and a lot they do to regulate public protests.”

He also said there are legitimate concerns about violence breaking out in protests such as the anti-Wall Street demonstrations, such as those that occurred in Oakland.

“It’s a delicate balance,” he said. “It’s a difficult question that has to be decided locality by locality. But I think the calculus in some places has been `enough is enough.’”

Note Anonymiss: But it wasn’t decided locality by locality, was it? Homeland Security Coordinated 18-City Police Crackdown on Occupy Protest

National Coordination Goes Against Protection of Local Accountability

According to Oakland Mayor Jean said that 18 cities coordinated police crack downs on Occupy protests.

Wonkette reports that Homeland Security likely organized the crack downs:

Remember when people were freaking out over the Patriot Act and Homeland Security and all this other conveniently ready-to-go post-9/11 police state stuff, because it would obviously be just a matter of time before the whole apparatus was turned against non-Muslim Americans when they started getting complain-y about the social injustice and economic injustice and income inequality and endless recession and permanent unemployment? That day is now, and has been for some time. But it’s also now confirmed that it’s now, as some Justice Department official screwed up and admitted that the Department of Homeland Security coordinated the riot-cop raids on a dozen major #Occupy Wall Street demonstration camps nationwide yesterday and today. (Oh, and tonight, too: Seattle is being busted up by the riot cops right now, so be careful out there.)

 

Rick Ellis of the Minneapolis edition of Examiner.com has this, based on a “background conversation” he had with a Justice Department official on Monday night:

Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict “Occupy” protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night’s move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.

[...]

According to this official, in several recent conference calls and briefings, local police agencies were advised to seek a legal reason to evict residents of tent cities, focusing on zoning laws and existing curfew rules. Agencies were also advised to demonstrate a massive show of police force, including large numbers in riot gear. In particular, the FBI reportedly advised on press relations, with one presentation suggesting that any moves to evict protesters be coordinated for a time when the press was the least likely to be present.

***

(And for those who are understandably doubtful about Examiner.com as a news source, here’s an AP story from a couple hours ago that verifies everything except the specific mention of DHS coordination.)

Views: 371

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Anonymiss Express on November 16, 2011 at 6:34am

I sure hope not. The pen is mightier than the sword, if it is sharp enough. Then again, you are talking guns, not swords.

I bet that when that happens, it is agitators. In Greece the ones instigating violence were.

We first found pictures of agitators being arrested where we could see the soles of their boots. They were all the same, and police issued boots at that. Further research from the faces on the images, involving some crowd sourcing, revealed exactly who they were. Even without the boots, we would have found out.

Comment by youhavetoforgiveme on November 16, 2011 at 5:05am

Sooner or later....someone is going to pull a gun....it's a matter of time.....

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
4 hours ago
tjdavis's blog post was featured
4 hours ago
Burbia's blog post was featured

Mystery illness strikes Russia with fever, blood symptoms, and no cure in sight.

I guess releasing this bio-weapon upon Israeli neighbors would be hitting too close to home. I…See More
4 hours ago
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's photo
Thumbnail

main-qimg-357a10f7111dcf87a3cc6e2afad83855

"Islam is only a phase preceding a total Talmudic rule and a new world religion."
4 hours ago
Less Prone commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

WWRJD

"I doubt a d-rat Jesus would be better. Much worse. “Politicians are the lowest form of life…"
4 hours ago
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
4 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
12 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Lost History

"The Tartar wall - aka The Great Wall of China is hundreds of years old and was up and running in…"
13 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
13 hours ago
tjdavis posted a blog post
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a photo
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

No Place to Hide

Stumbling through this confusing lifeLike a blunt and rusty knifeSo why is there all this…See More
Wednesday
Burbia posted a blog post
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post Vaccines Cause Autism: The Burden of Proof has been met.
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a blog post
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a video
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Soros Will Never Recover..Elon AIR The whole Thing

"Good find Burbia. It can only get worse. Is Soros too big to fail for he has his thumb in every pie…"
Monday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted