It bears repeating.
It'd be nice if the Marines would use the Ray Gun, a/k/a "Crowd Buster", on anti-war/anit-military activists. I'd PAY to see the video.
Posted on 03/15/2008 2:24:29 PM PDT by USMC Brat
Antiwar protesters lambasted the Berkeley Police Department — accusing officers of knocking them down and stomping them, among other things — at last night's Berkeley Police Review Commission meeting to review a petition regarding police crowd control tactics allegedly used last month on said protesters outside the downtown U.S. Marine Corps recruitment office. Representatives from World Can't Wait, Code Pink, and Berkeley Copwatch talked and showed video clips of demonstrations. The BPD went unrepresented. Commissioner Victoria Urbi announced that she had sent the police chief an invitation on Monday, but that given the short notice he had declared himself unable to attend. It was unclear whether other officers had been invited or, for that matter, informed of the meeting.
Can you say "kangaroo court"?
A series of protesters took the mic. One lamented "belligerent riot squads who use batons and arrests ... to silence political speech." Another claimed that "the Berkeley Police Department has committed acts of violence that ... create a climate of fear." Another described "a very marked escalation of hostility and physical violence on the part of the Berkeley Police Department" against people protesting "this disastrous, immoral, criminal war."
A Code Pink member described her group as "risking our lives" by protesting, because "there are people willing to kill to get what they want."
Another claimed that the cops have done "everything they could to facilitate a right-wing hatefest."
In tears, one man said that as he carried a World Can't Wait sign at the February 12 rally in Civic Center Park, "the police ... shoved me into the mud. One of the cops took my sign and stomped it into several pieces, inches from my head. ... They stomped me hard in the chest," he claimed amid gasps from the audience, which applauded after he described an emergency-room visit and a chest-wall-contusion diagnosis.
"I wear pink. I'm passive," said one slender woman who described feeling menaced.
"The police allowed big Marines to climb right over us," another said.
The video clips showed rows of police on Shattuck Square near the recruiting station and at the corner of Center and Shattuck across from the BART station on February 22, clutching batons amid a crowd of bandanna-masked protesters screaming over and over in unison, "This is what a police state looks like!"
In an email sent the day after that protest, BPD public-information officer Sergeant Mary Kusmiss gave this description:
"At approximately 4:05 pm or so the group of 25 protesters who had been protesting in front tof the Marine recruiting Center decided to go mobile and march in the downtown area, presumably to gather some momentum. A couple members of the march group had bullhorns, a violation of the conditions of the special permit issued by the City of Berkeley. Two bicycle officers followed the march crowd to ensure public safety. A decision was made at about 4:11pm to detain and cite a primary instigator with a bullhorn. ... The male protester refused to comply, pulling away from the officer. The crowd then surged and encircled the two bike officers and closed in on them. Some of the crowd were kicking them and their patrol bikes. The officers called for Code 3 cover, emergency assistance and approximately 20 officers responded from around the city. The officers made a safety/skirmish line to hold the crowdback. The crowd was pushing, yelling, and shoving. Some force was used to control/manage the crowd. The concern was that the crowd was attempting to incite a riot, [free] their friends from police custody, injure officers, and become a threat to public safety. Another male protester tried to force his way through the skirmish line a couple times and was eventually arrested. ... Minor injuries to a few officers. ... No reports to us as of yet of any protester injuries."
At the meeting, the presence of Berkeley High School students among the protesters was much praised.
Interviewed yesterday, Berkeley Unified School District spokesman Mark Coplan voiced a different take on this. He has nothing against antiwar protests in general and attends them often, but he says World Can't Wait "just want to create disruption, to incite some type of negative response from police officers or other authorities." He says World Can't Wait regularly tries to make inroads at BHS, but are prohibited because "we will never be able to work with a group that encourages kids to walk out of classes."
World Can't Wait, Coplan says, actively advocates truancy among kids who are "fourteen, fifteen - literally babies," by giving them free logo shirts and bandannas and "getting them to hang out [at protests] all day. World Can't Wait thrives on those young kids, whom they use, telling them to line up against the cops, telling them, ‘The cops can't make you move. You have rights.'"
At the February 12 rally, Coplan watched kids standing on the frontlines while "the World Can't Wait folks were reaching out between them and poking the cops. The police had kids screaming at them with adults behind them encouraging them. I told the kids, ‘The Berkeley police are not your enemies. When they tell you to move back, you have to or you'll be arrested.' I yelled at a couple of kids, ‘What you're doing is outrageous.'... I felt tortured watching what those officers went through that day." — Anneli Rufus
That figures... a Police Review Commission where the police aren't even represented. Only in Bezerkeley.
"A Code Pink member described her group as "risking our lives" by protesting, because "there are people willing to kill to get what they want."
Is she serious?! The only violence I've witnessed is from the protesters themselves! And it's escalating in the methods and frequency. There's a whole paragraph in this story detailing how violent the protesters are toward police.
"The police allowed big Marines to climb right over us," another said.
I have no patience for liars and thieves.
"Berkeley Unified School District spokesman Mark Coplan...says World Can't Wait "just want to create disruption, to incite some type of negative response from police officers or other authorities." ... "World Can't Wait thrives on those young kids, whom they use, telling them to line up against the cops, telling them, ‘The cops can't make you move. You have rights.'"
At least someone in Berkeley knows how to call a spade a shovel. He knows WCW was using those kids as human shields to suit their own agenda.
AAR of the Berkeley Police Review Commission hearing
Just like a "good-lil Jihadi" would.
Have a big marine climb all over me doesn’t seem like a bad idea, lol!
True. And it's not always about wanting world domination or billions in oil profits. Sometimes all people want is just to not have to listen to a bunch of lunatic moonbats.
The weenies comments are hilarious!
It bears repeating.
It'd be nice if the Marines would use the Ray Gun, a/k/a "Crowd Buster", on anti-war/anit-military activists. I'd PAY to see the video.
Ironically, if the police really were as these idiots describe, and we actually had the fascist police state they fantasize about, they wouldn't dare say the things they said at this meeting.
Oh sure.
Crimes and Criminal Procedure - 18 USC Section 2388
Sec. 2388. Activities affecting armed forces during war
(a) Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; or
attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, WILLFULLY OBSTRUCTS THE RECRUITING OR ENLISTMENT SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE INJURY OF THE SERVICE OR THE UNITED STATES, OR ATTEMPTS TO DO SO -
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both.
(b) If two or more persons conspire to violate subsection (a) of this section and one or more such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be punished as provided in said subsection (a).
(c) Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has REASONABLE grounds to believe or suspect, has committed, or is about to commit, an offense under this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(d) This section shall apply within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and on the high seas, as well as within the United States.
Both the Berkeley City Council and Code Pink have clearly and blatantly broken the above Federal Law. This is not a “free speech” issue, it is an issue of Laws of the Land which hold us back from total anarchy in this nation. Berkeley should not get a free pass to break it. Has anyone notified the Code Pinkers that they have a right to protest, but they legally have no right to do it when they are obstructing and interfering with an United States Marine Recruiting Station?
Wasn’t that a hoot? Bet it wouldn’t take more than a benjamin to get miss cic to find something pink and infiltrate.
Hopefully soon someone who can will seek litigation under 18 USC CHAPTER 115 - Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities. There are several areas of Chapter 115 that would apply, and Sec 2388 is the most obvious place to begin. A knowlegeable team of prosecutors would have a hayday in court.
The Berkeley PD has the Berkeley Minicipal Code on their side, providing they actually enforce the laws...otherwise it can be used against them.
Am I miss cic? I better ck out what you are yapping about:)
One of their scuzzy guys (pretending to be normal) asked to say something to the Patriot crowd in the park, and Melanie Morgan gave him the mic.
He started cussing and spewing the liberal hate-America talking points, and Melanie grabbed the mic back, and the guy held on to it.
Not for long though. A Vet and Gold Star Father flew onto him and he ended up with his face full of dirt and grass.
When he got up, he scampered off like a scared rat.
It was a beautiful thing to see!
But did you hug Justa for me?
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