Here is a soldier who went to another country to defend what he thought were the freedoms and rights of the people of this country.
He then comes home and exercises some of these rights, freedom of speech, right to peaceably assemble, and now lays in critical condition.
It is the police not the protesters who are armed and in riot gear, not the protesters. Has one protester thrown a stone? Has one fired a gun? Has one attacked a policeman? NO!! But the police across the country following the orders of politicians who most likely are under the control of the very same people the protesters are against orders them to create a violent situation and arrest and now possibly killing the first protester a Marine Vet back from Iraq.
I am surprised that the police are not wearing red arm bands with swastikas on them. I wonder why they are not matching with the protesters because many of their fellow policemen across the country are suffering the same as the protesters. Loss of job and no jobs, loss of retirement and homes, loss of benefits and pay cuts.
The politician shouts from his pulpit in praise of the people of other countries who protest and demonstrate against the oppressions of their government and the media reports it 24/7. Yet in the USA the protester, is met by the same response that other governments use and our politicians condemn and the media degrades or does not report. It is a shameful statement about how we want the rest of the world to act and be, and yet do not want to be themselves.
Daniel;;
Last night, Scott Olsen, a Marine who served two tours in Iraq, was struck in the head by a "nonlethal" projectile fired by the Oakland police. The round fractured his skull, leaving him in critical condition.1
Olsen had joined with other members of Occupy Oakland to peacefully protest the group's eviction that morning. When a group gathered to help Olsen after he was hit, a police officer threw a flash bang grenade into the group from a few feet away.
Deeply disturbing video of the incident was captured by a local news crew and provides the clearest evidence yet of the lengths that authorities will go to to stop Occupy protesters from voicing uncomfortable truths about our economy.
Yesterday's eviction in the predawn hours2, and last night's violence against protesters, are only the latest attempts to silence the voices of those who are speaking up for the 99%. But members of Occupy Oakland, who faced the most brutal crackdown yet, refuse to be intimidated. They've called for another peaceful gathering tonight to stand up for their First Amendment rights.3
To help defend their rights, we're scrambling to put together a rapid response ad to run in Oakland urging the mayor and the police to end their brutal tactics and respect the protesters' rights. We want to make sure everyone in Oakland sees the footage of the crackdown for themselves. Every dollar we raise will go to pay for the ad, and if there's anything left over, we'll donate it to a group doing good work helping our veterans as they come home from war.
We're also supporting a petition by a local Oakland group—Causa Justa :: Just Cause—to Oakland's mayor to stop the police repression of Occupy Oakland.
Many MoveOn members experienced the police crackdown firsthand last night. Here's what some of them said:
The police were intimidating and I have been to many protests in my life, but nothing quite like this. I have never seen such a police presence with such force, especially for a calm crowd. The tear gas was pretty brutal, it is still on my clothes and skin this morning. Anywhere in downtown Oakland had the smell and sting of the gas all night. —Gina W.
We talked to the police across the barricades about how we were also fighting for them, for their children's shot to education without lifelong debt, for the preservation of their collective bargaining rights. We expressed this solidarity knowing that they might not be listening, but we also know that the reasons for not listening are deeply personal... —Julie K.
As a retired military man, I wanted to reiterate what [I heard] the Marine Sgt espousing to the police: There is NO honor in brutalizing your own people. The tear gas stung but I have been exposed to worse, including Agent Orange. What I saw at Ogawa Plaza made me extremely proud of those brave souls that were passionate about their causes. As we say in the Marine Corp and Navy...BRAVO ZULU.—Pete H.
Thanks for all you do.
–Justin, Marika, Anna, Laura, and the rest of the team
P.S. Many occupations are gathering at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT to stand in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. To find an occupation near you and see if they'll be gathering, go to http://www.occupytogether.org/
Sources:
|
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Political_Views" group.
To post to this group, send email to political_views@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to political_views+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/political_views?hl=en.
No comments:
Post a Comment