Police, Trade Protesters Clash in Miami (Typical Punks getting 'proper' Police treatment)

Yahoo ^ | 11/20/03 | MIKE SCHNEIDER

[Poohbah]

I had one poster during the Milan riots tell me that throwing a 50-pound fire extinguisher at a cop's head isn't "assault with a deadly weapon."

I offered to let him test his hypothesis.

He declined. Pity.

[1rudeboy]

Do you remember the guy who claimed that the protestor who lost his life was shot as he was on the ground? And posted that doctored photo to prove it? What a hoot.

[CWOJackson]

Those people didn't go to Miami to exercise their rights, they went there to get on TV...by deliberately causing trouble. Anything less and no TV coverage.

Seattle should have known that, Miami apparently understands very well. Good.

[Poohbah]

Do you remember the guy who claimed that the protestor who lost his life was shot as he was on the ground? And posted that doctored photo to prove it? What a hoot.

YGBSM.

Doctored photos are like red effin' meat around here. Ever since Lazamataz did his HellGlock and Registered has been doing his thing...sorry, kids, we recognize Photoshop when we see it...

[ezo4]

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever"

Not in my future :o)

[B-Chan]

Don't forget your source. You know the FR Black Helicopter guys don't like it when you forget to link to a source.

[george wythe]

Police tazer non-violent protesters (quicktime video 1.2MB)

Those protester shown in the video were violent punks. They threw objects to the cops, they threw gas canister at the cops, and they attacked the cops with homemade weapons such as chains, and the horses with ball bearings.

If anything, this video show the enormous restrain shown by these cops.

The cops waited for the appropriate time to arrest them, when the major crowd has been pushed back, and the protestors have broken up in smaller groups.

The undercover cops who were among the violent protesters identified the perps, and the violent protesters were arrested.

Again, kudos to the Miami Chief of Police. He has met all day long with the organizer of peaceful protesters, and he has accommodated their requests to the best of his abilities.

After the Miami cops cleared the downtown are of 'anarchist' punks, the peaceful protesters were allowed back in. It's a great day for freedom of speech in Miami.

[BobS]

Why, oh why doesn't somebody drop a mortar round in the middle of one of these crowds? Just one will do.

[Nebr FAL owner]

The peacably to assemble part of the 1st Amendment is why the cops are out in force .The black block/anarchists aren't interested in peacable assembly & go to these little get togethers expressly to cause trouble .Trouble being defined as firebombing police cars, looting stores destroying other peoples property commiting various acts of vandalism,arson & street violence

[rogue yam]

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever"

So you think it's a bad thing that the police prevented a mob from attacking people for having a meeting?

[kinghorse]

The SoFla police are a little less sympathetic to the grunge cause than the Seattle latte sippers. Good to see a little healthy fear put back into the mob.

Score at the end of the first quarter
Miami po-lice 17
Fruits and nuts -0-

[finnman69]

Gee, the cops tell them to move on how many times after god know what and you are surprised the cops use non lethal force to break up the crowd?

I suppose you want International War crimes charged against them.

You are the worst kind of free speech advocate as you defend those who break the law. The anarchist LW unwashed wackos are happy to have you on their side. Feel ashamed.

[cc4851]

I haven't been keeping up with this specific protest...But, speaking from the past, there is a small group of troublemakers in Miami who show up at all protests and attempt to turn them violent. They seem to get a kick out of setting trash on fire, vandalizing, and attacking cops. They don't care about the cause, they aren't there to protest, they are there to wreak havoc. Sadly, it is virtually impossible to have a peacefull protest in Miami because of these folks. Nonetheless, the right to protest must be protected. The police need to finally lock these troublemakers up where they can't cause anymore trouble.

That being said, the Miami Police have an equally appaling history of unnecessary violence. At previous protests they have dragged people out of cars and thrown children to the ground and violently arrested them, who weren't even involved in the protests. Mixing the Miami Police with a small number of the previously mentioned troublemakers is a recipe for disaster...because it always leads to unnecessary violence on the part of both sides...and non-violent protestors and persons who just happen to be in the area [who aren't even protesting] tend to catch a baton to the head or eat pavement courtesy of MPD.

I would guess this is probably the same situation...a group of law-abiding protestors attempts to hold a peacefull protest, Miami Police and thusly cameras show up, prompting the local troublemakers to show up and attempt to start a riot. The peacefull protestors then get blamed for the actions of the troublemakers and the Police go crazy and start busting the heads of anyone who looks at them cross-eyed.

The solution to this problem is identify the group of troulemakers who keep trying to start riots, [and yes it is the same group of troublemakers who've tried to turn previous protests violent] and lock them up where they can't cause anymore trouble. Don't take your vengance out on those who attempted to have a peacefull protest.

[scooterguy]

The solution is to not use police/military units to repress a march if it is a legal event. Certainly they can protect around the meeting site. BUT they want to quell dissent PERIOD. Marchers are herded like slaughter animals and purposefully scattered to cause confusion and disruptions. Then they are easily assaulted. A trash fire in the way of their advance is appropriate.

No commercial media shows the massive numbers of these events do they? Dissent is not covered, only sensational conflict. The voice of the protest is ignored! Their reasons are never addressed but meeting spokepersons are treated as Moses' delivering the 'commandments' as the gospel rather than as some glib unjustified assertions i.e., that "freetrade" is GOOD for the poor.

I agree with this but from a different view of the beast:
#52 posted on 11/20/2003 1:18 PM PST by Snardius
"The problem is, peaceful protest doesn't get anywhere near the media attention that violent protest does."
...Seems to be a natural resultant behavior coming from an oppressed and frustrated group of people who refuse to become sheep headed for their slaughter.

[scooterguy]

finnnman69 your name calling, labeling and partisan carping is too much. My above post is for your overbearing and outrageous culture-clash basher attitude. You totally fail at trying to find a common ground but only seek to cause discord and prejudices. I can see you mimicing cartman from SouthPark, "Respect mah Authorta!" as you don't even know how embarassing you are to your own inferiority complex. You need a dressing down here not the guys who refuse to be sheep like you led blindly to their happy demise. Your American Dream is a holocaust but you will not know it until too late.

Keep on keepin' on Freeeee! They might get it sooner than later we can only hope. Globalization has to be reigned in by an informed and sovergn citizenry......not unleashed by secretive transnational corporate governances unaccountable to any human. The system needs to be checked & balanced because corporatism has run amok.

[Snardius]

I agree with this but from a different view of the beast: #52 posted on 11/20/2003 1:18 PM PST by Snardius "The problem is, peaceful protest doesn't get anywhere near the media attention that violent protest does."
...Seems to be a natural resultant behavior coming from an oppressed and frustrated group of people who refuse to become sheep headed for their slaughter.

Spare me the "oppressed and frustrated group of people" BS. There is ample opportunity in this country for this group's views to be heard. The reason they are out in the streets acting like childish thugs is because they aren't getting their way. So don't try and romanticize their actions. Their behavior is wrong and should be punished.

[scooterguy]

"There is ample opportunity in this country for this group's views to be heard. "

Where might this be? Certainly not in the mass media consisting of sensationalist corporate-interest entities that prostitute our "representative government" into one hazy amalgam of pro-business perspectives. Democrats and Republicans alike are at the mercy of this bought & paid for political symbiosis of anti-democratic interests. The system of influences needs to be balanced as it has grown oppressive and able to shut down voices by keeping them out of the public discourse. You do not see that perhaps because you cannot hear them as a result of this. It's not really your fault. The issues are not weighed for you to have the full perspective of each side presented fairly so that you are informed sufficiently. Why else would people support issues against their own self-interest? That is what is wrong and should be corrected. You seek to punish the punished again and oppress them further. If they had been permitted to protest freely as they should have been rather than corraled and herded and their voices divided and separated by brute forces in order to disrupt their dissenting witness and full presence, things would have been more orderly for you civil sensibilities. Your feathers will be ruffled though more so by the stomping impact on your civil liberty than ever caused by some marchers in the streets. It will be more insidious though and as you bleed slowly to death you will not even be aware of why it happens. We have been sold out and you know this but you won't accept that you need to do something about it.

[Snardius]

We have been sold out and you know this but you won't accept that you need to do something about it.

scooter, my boy, you are so disconnected from reality (political and otherwise) that I am afraid that any response I write will not make it through the filters you've set up...but I'll try anyway.

Like all radical believers throughout history, you are so ideologically constipated that you believe everything and everyone oppresses you and your ilk. That the only way for you to get your way is to destroy the system so you can set up your own...which you think is superior to all now in existance. That if only people would listen to you (even if you have to get their attention by burning down their homes) they will see the brilliance in your philosophy and join your movement.

Reality is, however, that the political theory you so ardently subscribe to has been tried before by monsters like Hitler, Mao and Stalin and their only accomplishment was to murder and enslave millions.

But all is not lost for you, little scooter. You have reminded me to again read one of my favorite books...Animal Farm written in 1945 by George Orwell.

If you've not read it, you can get it here. And you should read it because you, my friend, represent the pig in that story.

[GETMAIN]

Please explain to me why privately owned media corporations have an obligation to give equal time to every "voice of dissent"? Should we give the same coverage to the voices of the Planet X cultists as we do to NASA scientists? Or do we only have an obligation to listen to those voices of dissent that you agree with? Please tell me your idea for establishing which voices must be heard, and a mechanism for enforcing these rules of coverage upon media organizations.

You do not see that perhaps because you cannot hear them as a result of this. It's not really your fault. The issues are not weighed for you to have the full perspective of each side presented fairly so that you are informed sufficiently.

You're right, if only us Stupid Average Americans were only as smart as you, we could figure out how to get alternative news. I mean, in an ideal world, one would be able to walk into Barnes and Noble or public library and pick up Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky) or Peoples History of the United States (Zinn) or go to the Z magazine website . Oh wait, I have done all of those things. Wow, could I be a Supreme Elite Intellectual like you? I always thought I was just an Stupid Average American, but maybe....

You presume that a great number of Americans would agree with your personal favorite voices of dissent if said voices were only given an equal share of media time. Perhaps many of us have already given your ideas their fare share of attention, and have determined them to be....utter garbage? But no...that would require independent thought, and only superiour intellects like yourself possess that. Not us Stupid Average Americans.

[Jimmyclyde]

The seven commandments (Animal farm)

1.Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2.Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3.No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.