[News] The USA Police State will never satisfy its lust for beating, gassing, and imprisoning minorities
- Thread starter Charlie Don't Surf
- Start date
And now the PPB has declared this event a riot, and is launching CS gas into the crowd, into open streets, into public buildings, into stores, they've started a fire, there are car horns going off like mad as people in their cars get gassed with tear gas - for what? Fucking cops. All of this because the marchers marched on the union hall tonight instead of the justice center.
I've only seen it once, and it was a long time ago, but that sounds about right. I've been trying to be extremely cautious to only call munitions by their exact names, since so many judges have made rulings against the use of "tear gas." Tonight, one of the announcements over the LRAD was "Please disperse immediately. This event has been declared a riot. CS gas has been used. Please disperse immediately. This event has been declared a riot."
I watched as cops pulled a man's mask down and pepper sprayed him directly in the face, I watched as cops fired CS gas onto the occupied apron of a major gas station, I watched as cops herded the crowd of protesters onto a freeway, I watched as cops beat press members in the back with batons for not running quickly enough when there was a mass of protesters in front of them - it's all just insanity, only it's happening live and I think I keep making my san checks.
Hell, in Louisville we watched as a journalist, walking backward on a sidewalk with his hands in the air, was grabbed live by a group of cops - one of whom shouted "GUN!" - bounced off a porta-potty onto the sidewalk and beaten; the cops then chased after another journalist who live-streamed the event, caught up with him when he got into someone's vehicle, and blocked off the vehicle with an MRAP. When the second journalist immediately got out of the car and started running, four other MRAPs followed him onto the sidewalk, trying to smash him between themselves. Several officers then jumped out and chased him, on foot, into a parking garage, the exits of which had been surrounded by cops in SUVs. In another event in Louisville, police drove a Bearcat into a caravan of protesters in their personal vehicles, got out, pulled the people out of the car and started beating them. They then pulled another streamer from her car, slapped her around a bit, told her to get back in, then pulled her out again, accused her of assault, and arrested her. It sounds very much like the police in Louisville have decided that they're just done having their bullshit broadcast around the world. The last streamer we had on the ground had to go dark while she tried to rescue the second journalist, and to try to stay out of jail herself. I still haven't seen any further reports out of Louisville.
Yep - and now the cops in Portland have initiated a mass arrest action on protesters who followed their orders and dispersed to the specific street they were told to disperse to; as they made it to the intersection where they were ordered to go next, four more vans of cops flooded in and started arresting people en masse. They have now beaten the phone out of the hands of another journalist. Looks like the cops around the country are acting up tonight. Must be getting cut off of overtime next month.
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And now the same officer who assaulted the journalist and slapped the phone out of his hand 15 minutes ago just jumped off the line and beat the fuck out of him. Then two other officers violently arrested him, while yelling "stop resisting," at him. The same fucking officer. This dude isn't just some scrub streamer either, he's a bonafide member of the Portland press. None of the officers have their names shown, or their badge numbers, or any of the official numbers the PPB leadership told them they had to wear (which they couldn't remember last week and were wearing different numbers on the front than the back). They have since hauled Cory Elia away, and are shoving an older woman around for funsies. The cops are trying to find Cory's phone and destroy it, still completely and utterly failing to understand that live-streams go out... live.
A third reporter has now been arrested in Portland. That makes the list so far tonight:
Lesley McLam - She has not yet been charged and is still in jail, per the Odyssey court records database.
Jacob Hanning - Has no charges from last night, per the Odyssey court records database.
Cory Elia - he has been charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, two counts of interfering with an officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly contact in the first degree. That's four Class A Misdemeanors and two Class C Felonies.
And in Louisville:
Jacob Downey
Maxwell Mitchell
Jane Doe
They have also assaulted Tuck Woodstock (they/them), an LGBTQ+ journalist from Portland.
Lesley McLam - She has not yet been charged and is still in jail, per the Odyssey court records database.
Jacob Hanning - Has no charges from last night, per the Odyssey court records database.
Cory Elia - he has been charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, two counts of interfering with an officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly contact in the first degree. That's four Class A Misdemeanors and two Class C Felonies.
And in Louisville:
Jacob Downey
Maxwell Mitchell
Jane Doe
They have also assaulted Tuck Woodstock (they/them), an LGBTQ+ journalist from Portland.
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Here's some footage (albeit incredibly dark and bouncy) of the aftermath of the police in Louisville driving a Bearcat into the side of a protester's vehicle (a jeep).
The ACLU Oregon chapter has filed a restraining order against the PPD to protect journalists covering the protests.
Glad this week's donation was to ACLU.
I set up a monthly one a few weeks after the 2016 election. Had a feeling they were gonna find good use for it.
I have a rotating $50 donation set, and am always open to other needy organizations who are using the funds to the best of their ability. Right now this is who we donate to-
ACLU
NAACP
SPLC
Planned Parenthood
Not really police based but I feel it kind of hits the same umbrella, but you guys been hearing about the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood? In the process of trying to locate her they found MULTIPLE unidentified bodies along the premises, likely soldiers that were in the past reported AWOL. This shit is going to get serious.
It better. This keeps happening too.
This morning the mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, fresh off of her righteous indignation that people would dare protest her role specifically, by marching on and speaking at her mansion, from the outside, while she wasn't home; has ordered the SPD to retake their precinct and end the occupation of Cap Hill, so the police have done so. Honestly, the CHOP/CHAZ thing was much more of a trap by the PD than anything else. No one in the protest movement wanted to take territory, they wanted the cops to stop killing them, and they wanted to be allowed to march past the precinct. The cops kept stopping them at the precinct, forming a line in the street, and tear gassing, pepper spraying, and shooting the protest marchers with rubber bullets, flash bang grenades, and marking rounds; rather than just letting them march on past.
The Portland PD is charging Cory Elia and one other reporter with Class C Felonies for assaulting officers. Luckily, their arrests were both filmed and streamed live before thousands of people. The only crime Cory Elia may have potentially committed was getting blood on a PPB officer's fist with his face. The cops attacked him multiple times over the night, tracking him down and assaulting him on three separate occasions before jumping off the line, beating him down, and arresting him.
Edit: This comes after yesterday's emergency proclamation from the governor which states that those charged with violent felonies can be held indefinitely for trial, even if that means that they'll be held for more than 180 days in jail awaiting trial. So these two journalists, who were arrested for doing their jobs, may spend up to 180 days in jail awaiting trial now.
Edit: This comes after yesterday's emergency proclamation from the governor which states that those charged with violent felonies can be held indefinitely for trial, even if that means that they'll be held for more than 180 days in jail awaiting trial. So these two journalists, who were arrested for doing their jobs, may spend up to 180 days in jail awaiting trial now.
Well, that's just part of the standard dictator playbook. What did you expect, originality?
Hell no. I just didn't expect them to be able to read the standard dictator playbook. It must be high on pictures and low on long words.
Now that the cops have retaken the CHOP zone, we're back to an armed line of cops standing off against an unarmed group of protesters, blocking the streets and intersections, and at least one protester has loudly proclaimed that "You've reset the clock, fuckers! We're back to day zero of protesting!" So it look like today's going to be a long day, and tonight's going to be a long night. Again.
Hokay, so this is a new one. Converge Media is being told they are on their final warning to stop broadcasting the actions or they will be subject to arrest. The mayor and the police have told them that. They're an actual, real live media company, with actual, real live press credentials.
Earlier this morning in Seattle, the cops targeted a passerby who asked a question of one of the officers on the streets of the CHOP. While running from the five cops that were suddenly rushing at him, the man tripped. The cops picked him up, slammed him on his head, and knelt on his neck while they arrested him, as onlookers screamed at them to get off the man. He's been charged with jaywalking.
I know, it just so hilariously, laughably racist in the midst of the horribly violent backdrop that it really adds to the dystopian vibe. Converge Media are a small, local, grass-roots media company made up almost entirely of BIPOC employees. They were the ones the mayor targeted with her new order. Not ConcreteReporting, who's crew is mostly white; Not Joey Wieser, white dude; not LuckyBamboo13, white dude; not ShawnGui, white dude; just the BIPOC staffed media firm is now no longer allowed to broadcast from the zone without threat of arrest.
And now, a black cameraman, holding his press pass in one hand and his camera in another, has been escorted out of the area by the PD, who look like they're really interested in taking him out of range of any cameras to beat the fuck out of him while he's arrested. They seriously frog-marched him three blocks down the street out of sight of cameras and behind some trees before the five of them stopped "escorting" him down the street. Meanwhile, there's a cop amiably chatting with a white woman taking photos with a giant fucking telephoto lens, and chit-chatting with another white dude in the street. Just blatant, outright racism.
Edit: Honestly, if Google Glass had worked out, I'd say this was much more Strange Days than Children of Men, but the technology level isn't quite there.
Oh dear, I don't think this has had the effect that Mayor Jenny wanted. The "another white dude in the street?" Yeah, he's a reporter with the Associated Press. He saw that the reporter for Converge Media was being threatened with arrest and harassed by the cops, so he grabbed his camera and headed on down to the scene. It looks like Vice, Reuters, and about a dozen other media companies or TV stations have shown up as well. Maybe they shouldn't have ended last month off by beating and arresting reporters and charging them with felonies.
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Well, this is it, then. For the next 10 days in Seattle, the streets that housed the CHOP are closed. No one is allowed in or out. You cannot protest on those streets. You cannot walk on those sidewalks. You cannot drive on those streets. You cannot park on those streets. Business owners are not allowed to walk down the sidewalk. Residents are not allowed to go in or out. They have locked the city hall, to keep everybody out, while the mayor and chief of police are giving their private press event.
Now, understandably, no one gives a flying fuck about the mayor's orders, and everyone is pretty much still carrying on with their days; but the cops are hassling people (mainly people of color), people walking their dogs, people going from one side of the neighborhood to the other, people who were delighted to see that the occupation was over... but it's not. Now, the excuse that the cops and the mayor are giving is that so much damage was done to the entire neighborhood that it's going to take that long, at least, for the cops to secure the area again and for the city to start estimating the amount of damage that they're going to attempt to charge someone with, I'm sure - probably Councilmember Sawant.
Now, understandably, no one gives a flying fuck about the mayor's orders, and everyone is pretty much still carrying on with their days; but the cops are hassling people (mainly people of color), people walking their dogs, people going from one side of the neighborhood to the other, people who were delighted to see that the occupation was over... but it's not. Now, the excuse that the cops and the mayor are giving is that so much damage was done to the entire neighborhood that it's going to take that long, at least, for the cops to secure the area again and for the city to start estimating the amount of damage that they're going to attempt to charge someone with, I'm sure - probably Councilmember Sawant.
5:40pm - business continues on most of the streets that formerly housed the CHOP, but the area directly in front of the precinct has been crime taped off and is full of cops milling about in little knots of angst and seething hatred. The "frankly astounding amount of damage that has been done to the entire neighborhood" has already been cleaned up. It took less than 12 hours, a pressure washer, a couple dump trucks, and a street sweeper.
Meanwhile, a fourth reporter was arrested last night in Portland, by the name of Justin Yau. Justin has been charged, by the state of Oregon, with Class C Felony rioting and Class A Misdemeanor interfering with an officer. Lesley has been released without charges. The other two - Cory Elia and Justin Yau - have had all of their belongings, including their press passes, seized by the cops and held as evidence in their crimes, so they're not getting any of their gear back, but another press org has vowed to get them press passes by end of day today.
Meanwhile, a fourth reporter was arrested last night in Portland, by the name of Justin Yau. Justin has been charged, by the state of Oregon, with Class C Felony rioting and Class A Misdemeanor interfering with an officer. Lesley has been released without charges. The other two - Cory Elia and Justin Yau - have had all of their belongings, including their press passes, seized by the cops and held as evidence in their crimes, so they're not getting any of their gear back, but another press org has vowed to get them press passes by end of day today.
TRO granted against the city of Portland/PPD to protect reporters. It seems totally bonkers to me that it has come to this!
Alright, took a bit of a night off last night after the extreme brutality of June 30th. Tonight, Louisville is currently reporting that the Bearcat and Riot squad are gearing up at 5th and Armory. Meanwhile, the Mainstream Media in L'ville are going hard after the cops now because the cops reported that the jeep driver drove into the bearcat, and the video clearly shows that the bearcat drove into the jeep. Hopefully the TRO against the PPB will keep things relatively calm in Portland tonight, but at least one professional journalist is done reporting on the protests now, because the cops have just completely beaten the crap out of him - they attack him every time they see him, arrest him, charge him with multiple felonies, steal his equipment, and he just can't keep throwing himself into the grinder anymore. And I don't blame him.
TRO lasted almost a few hours, it looks like. Tre Stewart was just shoved to the ground and pepper sprayed, heavily, by PPB officers after they declared that the protesters had engaged in criminal activity and ordered them to disperse. The PPB is now announcing that they are preparing to tear gas the crowd, as they have declared this a riot yet again. So yeah, they listen to federal judges almost as well as they listen to state judges, which is to say, not at all.
Another reporter just walked up to the door of the Justice Center, presented their press pass, and were promptly maced.
The cops have rushed the protesters and started pushing them down the streets, shooting flash bangs and scatter bombs at the clearly marked press bring up the rear.
The cops have now retreated, with a warning that anyone who follows them will be "subject to force." And the protesters just, went back to the Justice Center to protest some more. Hopefully that's all for tonight, because it is time for me to get some sleep, so we can run to the feed store tomorrow, get duckling food, and hit up one of the power sports stores for some biker armor and helmets in preparation for a protest on Sunday.
Another reporter just walked up to the door of the Justice Center, presented their press pass, and were promptly maced.
The cops have rushed the protesters and started pushing them down the streets, shooting flash bangs and scatter bombs at the clearly marked press bring up the rear.
The cops have now retreated, with a warning that anyone who follows them will be "subject to force." And the protesters just, went back to the Justice Center to protest some more. Hopefully that's all for tonight, because it is time for me to get some sleep, so we can run to the feed store tomorrow, get duckling food, and hit up one of the power sports stores for some biker armor and helmets in preparation for a protest on Sunday.
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Pure co-in-key-dinkey. Really. Absolutely.
So... the exact incident that the PPB used to declare last night's protest a riot was the breaking of a glass door at the court house. There's video of the Portland Police Bureau breaking the door, and then declaring a riot so they can use their chemical weapons and be their hyper-aggressive normal selves.
