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(peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com)
James Fallows:
While the first 60 seconds of the 8-minute YouTube video are dominated by the shockingly calm brutality of the policeman, the rest of it is remarkable mainly for the stoicism and resolve of the protestors. You don't have to idealize everything about them or the Occupy movement to recognize this as a moral drama that the protestors clearly won. The self-control they show, while being assaulted, reminds me of grainy TV footage I saw as a kid, of black civil rights protestors being fire-hosed by Bull Connor's policemen in Alabama. Or of course the Tank Man in Tiananmen Square. Such images can have tremendous, lasting power. [...]
What is going on is a war of ideas, based in turn on moral standing. This engagement, which started in Minute 1 with police over-reaction and ended in Minute 8 with nervous police retreat, was a rout.*
A rundown of recent Occupy-related news:
The UC Davis chancellor's walk of shame. As Fallows says (link above): 'Again, as a moral confrontation, this is a rout.' Two officers have been placed on leave; Chancellor Katehi says she will not resign, but has put the UC Davis police chief on leave.
Joining an ever-growing chorus, the faculty of UC Davis' English department has released a public statement calling on Katehi to resign.
New York media outlets are demanding a meeting with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other police officials over recent treatment of reporters:
The letter cites the blanket restriction placed on all members of the media that prohibited them from observing the late-night clearing of Zuccotti Park last Tuesday, as well as the arrests of credentialed journalists and others whose press credentials were seized by police. It also lists various alleged instances of physical aggression against journalists, including one in which 'a female reporter, also displaying DCPI-issued press credentials,' was allegedly shoved to the ground by a police officer and taken to Bellevue Hospital 'for treatment of her injuries.'
Part of me is irritated that the concerns being raised are solely over overly harsh police responses toward reporters, as opposed to overly harsh police actions against everybody. Another part of me is at least happy they're complaining about their treatment at all.
Video of another protester being beaten by Oakland police has surfaced. Kayvan Sabehgi, also an Iraq War veteran, suffered a lacerated spleen.
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has stated strong support for the Occupy movement, saying, 'It's a good thing for our democracy. My only surprise is that it took so long.'
A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows:
More than half [of those surveyed] — 56 percent — say they do not consider themselves either supporters or opponents of the Occupy demonstrations.
And even more, 59 percent, told pollsters they don’t know enough about the Occupy movement to form an opinion on it, despite the extensive media coverage it has received.
The Law Union of Ontario has filed a complaint at the United Nations over the eviction of Occupy protesters in cities across Canada, saying the 'actions of government officials and police in seeking to remove Occupy movement protests from Canadian municipalities indicate a widespread disregard for fundamental freedoms.'
Remember that 'foreclosure mill' law firm that held a Halloween party in which employees dressed as foreclosed-upon homeless people? As a response to the publicity, Fannie and Freddie dropped them like a hot rock, and now the firm is closing down. Very, very sad. A tragedy, really.
Speaking of mean-spirited bastards:
At a November 19 town hall meeting in Gurnee, Illinois, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) smeared Occupy Wall Street protesters as “generally spoiled, pampered, unfocused, clueless young people and a smattering of other people who don’t understand this country and are advocating anti-American solutions.” When asked by a subsequent questioner if his attack applied to “veterans who fought in foreign wars” who are part of the 99 Percent Movement, Walsh replied that they were advocating “socialist solutions” and that “they don’t understand this country.”
Speaking of mean-spirited bastards, again:
John Tabacco and his brother Derek got massive press attention when they showed up at the big protest Thursday with anti-Occupy signs and posed for the news cameras, deriding the protesters as “animals” and demanding they leave Wall Street. They declared the launch of the “Wall Street Freedom Fighters” movement and were immediately embraced by Fox News.
But it turns out John Tabacco was barred from the securities for misconduct back in the '90s. Wow, he's even better a representative of the 1 percent than Fox News thought!
No longer speaking of mean-spirited bastards, but of the tools some of them use, a Scientific American commentary notes that dousing someone with 'pepper spray' can be much more dangerous than it sounds:
Pepper spray use has been suspected of contributing to a number of deaths that occurred in police custody. In mid-1990s, the U.S. Department of Justice cited nearly 70 fatalities linked to pepper-spray use, following on a 1995 report compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union of California. The ACLU report cited 26 suspicious deaths; it’s important to note that most involved pre-existing conditions such as asthma. But it’s also important to note a troubling pattern.
So maybe it's not a good idea to use them on protesting students who are literally just sitting on the ground, doing nothing.
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