Mass Arrests and Police Brutality in New York / Los Angels Activists Arrested 1Planet1People 01 Sep 2004 07:49 GMT A picture of Gene and Joe in a ralley yesterday. Here is a picture of Kim right before she is takin into custody I took from far. Here is a picture of the police attacking us Here is another picture of the thug cops charging the peaceful protesters. This is a report from the front lines in the police state of New York. If you have been watching the New York Indymedia you know the tensions are high and the police have become the thugs on the street. Yesterday there was a march that lasted over two hours when, for no reason, the police pulled a fence through the middle of the crowd. They then opened a small hole in the gates and two plain clothed police officers drove two motor scooters into the crowd, running into people and hurting them. Today during several protests people followed the directions of the police department and were lead into fenced areas where they were arrested. Three of the people arrested are well known to the Los Angels area. Gene, Kim, and Joe are in a room down at the pier waiting to go in front of a judge. They are registered with Independent Media and are working in the role of media reporter and were covering the march starting from Union Park. The police directed them down a side road, when the march reached the end of the block police blocked their way and did not let them go any further and put up the gates behind them. The only reason people are being arrested is because they are abiding by the law and listening to law enforcement personal. The lessons learned here are that you never enter a caged protest and that you never, I repeat, never listen to an officer of the law when you are protesting anything in the capitalist system. The room that they are being housed in has a floor covered in oil and gas. They provide small metal benches that are also covered in oil. They should be out by tomorrow sometime. I will post more updates when I hear them. It would mean a lot to the people arrested here if there is another show of solidarity back home. [article.homepage.prefix]: http://nyc.indymedia.org/
Not seeing any pictures. So what's going on out there in New York? Lots of scattered demonstrations but not the rioting that was anticipated? Could it be that the police presence is so overwhelming that violent demonstrations are out of the question?
as a first hand witness, I did not see any "violent demonstrators" only violent and impatient police. Please don't formulate all your opinions based on what you watch on FOX "news".
You misunderstood me, my friend. I can understand you're upset under the circumstances. Those of us not in New York are getting inconsistant info about the demonstrations. In the months leading up to the convention it was widely anticipated that there would be fighting in the streets comparable to the 1968 DNC convention or the Seattle WTO conference. Thus far, for good or bad, that doesn't seem to have happened. What we're getting is that there have been numerous demonstrations since the mass march on Sunday but no rioting, though there have been nearly 2,000 arrests. Perhaps tonight when Bush makes his "acceptance" speech things might get unruly. You being an eyewitness, I'm sure I can speak for the others in these forums when I say we'd like to hear your account of what's been going on.
I heard that they're offering discounts in broadway plays, restaurants and stores to people if they dont protest or interact in the protests. I say if you accept those discounts you're just as much as tool as anyone.
sorry Newo, I guess I misread your words. for the most part, all I can say is check out www.nyc.indymedia.org for the latest news. I only saw a portion of the actions (obviously, as I can't be everywhere at once) but I'll post new info soon as it comes in. As for my personal account. I'll dedicate a thread to it when my mind recovers