The crowd had the stupid permits allowing them to be where they were. They were behind the fence that the police established. I don't like the stupid bastards either, but in this case I see no evidence that the crowd did anything that justified an assault by the police.
Perhaps you should study further the tactics of this Tre arrow crowd. Confrontation for the sake of publicity IS the goal. And if confrontation is not occuring fast enough for these idiots....they will escalate the situation for the cameras.
Yes, that is their MO. However, in this case, that is not how it went down. You live here. You can address this on the level of facts, rather than emotion. I doubt you bothered, but I went down to Klamath Falls last summer to stand with the farmers against the feds. The farmers stood toe-to-toe with the jack-boots that were brought in from San Francisco. They didn't jump when the feds gave them orders because the feds had no authority to give the orders they did. Would you be cheering if they had detonated the CS bombs that were deployed on the perimeter? Would you have cheered if the families who were pleading for their water had been fired upon with rubber bullets? If not, then you best think about the position you are taking here. They are one in the same.
Oh stop with the straw men. You are just a self-defined "activist" looking for a cause just so long as it is "sticking it to the man". Get over your bad self.