Is this freedom?

emciel: UPDATED June 9th There was a rally tonight in Chicago...

kissingrevolution — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:13:00 -0400

The demo

Followed by bike cops from the start

*UPDATED* June 9th

There was a rally tonight in Chicago at which people banged pots and pans in solidarity with the quebec student movement and against the high price of education and the political repression here in Chicago. It was small but noisy and joyful. Chanting, dancing, the whole 9 yards. After about an hour of standing outside one of Chicago’s largest student residences, the protest started to move. Although cops tried to dissuade protestors from taking the streets, even shoving them and rolling their bikes between people’s legs from behind, the protestors took and held the streets, crisscrossing downtown at rush hour to make stops at various relevant destinations.

At one point, after ordering the dispersal of a brief sit-in on an empty street in front of the Canadian consulate, the cops were able to create a barricade of bikes between street traffic and the protest they’d forced onto the sidewalk, making sidewalks impassible to passers-by while still disrupting traffic. But the protest eventually retook the street and filled up Michigan Avenue with pot-banging and chants such as “a-anti-anticapitalista” and “education is a right, not just for the rich and white!”

Just before 7pm, when the march had gone on without incident for about an hour, the cops suddenly began shoving protestors onto the sidewalk, threatening arrest for any who stayed in the street. As the protestors more or less reluctantly were forced back toward the sidewalk (split between opposite ends of an intersection), police began to grab people of the streets and sidewalk, throwing them to the ground and pinning them sometimes three or four cops to one person. I saw or heard of cops beating someone with batons while holding them down, kneeling on someone’s head, and shoving people who came too close to their arrested comrades. Out of a demonstration I estimated at 40-50 people, the Chicago Police Department says they arrested 12.

Ironically, although the cops claimed the protest was impeding traffic, apparently cop cars double-parked, mounted police, and teams of cops holding people down in the middle of the street — while protestors are shoved onto busy shopping sidewalks — is A-OK.

~~As of tonight, there was no information about the charges those arrested will be facing. I’ll update with more as I find out.~~ One person charged with felony assault of a police officer [I have no idea where they get the figure of 5 officers injured. Sprained their backs sitting on protestors, perhaps?], the others seem to be facing misdemeanour charges for reckless conduct.

Brief CBS article about the arrests.

Live stream from the protest.

Communique about the arrests from the Chicago Commune

More links will be added as I find other coverage.

occupyallstreets: Canadian Students Strip Down To Red Squares...

kissingrevolution — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:11:25 -0400

occupyallstreets:

Canadian Students Strip Down To Red Squares In New Protest Technique

In the latest innovative protest technique to come out of Montreal, thousands of students marched on Thursday wearing only their underwear, bathing suits, or strategically placed red squares to protest planned tuition hikes.

According to Russia Today, “Protesters told reporters they were naked for a number of reasons: to show the government they have been transparent in their demands to freeze tuition fees, to garner more media attention to their cause, and to discourage police from handling them roughly.”

One specific objective of the march was to embarrass the city while it hosted the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix, and in this it was clearly successful. “When we attack the Grand Prix, it’s not the Quebec government that people are assaulting,” Quebec Premier Jean Charest complained. “It’s all Quebecers.”

The marchers were less successful, however, in discouraging rough treatment from the police, who arrested 39 people and used tear gas, pepper spray, and batons in an attempt to break up the crowd. A police spokesperson said most of the arrests were made “because police had reason to believe they were preparing to commit crimes and damage property.”

Pepper spraying and beating naked people for thought crimes…

Beautiful sad video about the Police Brutality going on in...

kissingrevolution — Sun, 27 May 2012 03:15:43 -0400

Beautiful sad video about the Police Brutality going on in Quebec.

batmanwi: Protestors “unarresting” someone after a cop tried to...

kissingrevolution — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:57:36 -0400

batmanwi:

Protestors “unarresting” someone after a cop tried to grab him at the NATO protest in Chicago on Sunday.

Breaking: Nearly 700 protesters kettled and arrested in Quebec, eached fined C$600.

kissingrevolution — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:56:12 -0400

Breaking: Nearly 700 protesters kettled and arrested in Quebec, eached fined C$600.:

#Policestate in #Quebec

nationalpost: Record arrests as police use controversial...

kissingrevolution — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:47:43 -0400

nationalpost:

Record arrests as police use controversial kettling to control Montreal protests
Police made more than 500 arrests Wednesday evening, the largest number of people arrested in a single night so far in the weeks-long Quebec student demonstrations, after using a controversial technique to control protesters.

The evening march that began with people festively banging pots and pans in support of protesting students ended in the early morning hours with police kettling a crowd of demonstrators and arresting 518 people.

The arrests came just hours after the Quebec government signalled it would be getting tougher on the striking students and set strict conditions for any resumption of negotiations with student strike leaders: There will be no talk of a tuition freeze, and no question of scrapping a newly enacted emergency law. (Photos: The Canadian Press; Gazette; AP/Getty Images; Reuters)

The unlawful abduction of an #OccupyOaklander

kissingrevolution — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:41:00 -0400

“I want to let everyone know some of the details from the Act Full Gospel Church, where family and community members congregated yesterday to ask and receive answers from the OPD regarding the murder of Alan Blueford.

From the very start of the police “presentation” it was painfully clear that this was another charade meant to quell public unrest. Unfortunately, because the City and the OPD are not very smart, the same tactic they use to quell anger only inflames it. We see this tactic at every protest where the police instigate and insure violence.

One very telling control component of the meeting was that questions would not be fielded directly from attendees. Note cards and pencils were provided, questions would only be answered if they were written down. This type of process can easily censor which questions will be presented and in the end, only 7-10 out of the 100 questions submitted were answered before Chief Jordan declared the meeting over.

During and after the meeting, Chris was exercising his first amendment right to use speech as a form of redress. There was no threat of violence, ever. The meeting dispersed into the parking lot where we watched Chief Jordan get in his car and drive away while many of us shouted, JUSTICE FOR ALLEN BLUEFORD. Instead of deescalating the situation, the police did what they do best and escalated tension. 6 or 7 police cars pulled up in the drive way of the church, officers immediately drew their batons and they did this in the presence of a community that is suffering the loss of one of their young, deeply valued members, who was brutally gunned down by the OPD.

Chief Jordan began his presentation by saying how much “reverence” the OPD has for the residents of Oakland and yet time and time again, all I see is a violent insensitivity to life, community, faith, liberty and justice.

On our walk back to the Colliseum Bart station I watched at least two patrol cars monitor our status. One car only had one officer in it, at the time I thought that was strange, but I now know that tactic was intentional, they did not want to tip us off to what was about to happen. We arrived at the Bart station and I saw two patrol cars each carrying 4-5 officers. They were on the inner ring of the Bart parking lot and within about 2 min. were on the outer curb where Sgt. Beere instructed the men to arrest Chris. I’m not sure what the other officers were aware of prior to this abduction, because many of them seemed to appear uneasy, slightly inhibited and it forced Sgt. Beere to repeatedly yell at the officers to move faster.

Sgt. Beere served in Falluja during 2004/2005, which saw some of the most notorious destruction by US forces including chemical warfare. Here is some of what he and his comrades left behind.

Note: There was plenty of time and space to arrest Chris at the Church if any of the allegations were actually true. The Police waited until Chris was out of Church view, public view, surveilled his whereabouts and launched an illegal abduction. That way, when they talk to the media, they can say whatever it is that they want to justify their actions. The arrest was an act of revenge, their personal pay-back to a young man they despise for not cowering in front of their “authority”.

I asked several times, Why is he being arrested? Why is he being arrested? Why is he being Arrested and finally the default mechanism used to justify violence against community members, was, “assault on an officer.” Isn’t that what they said about Alan Blueford to justify murdering him?

So they handcuffed Chris, who did not resist and whisked him away making him sit in the back of a patrol car with two racist OPD officers. My intuitive fear was that those officers were about to do grave bodily harm to one of our own. I am relieved to write that reports from his mother say they did not.

Even after I was “gunned” down in an anti-war demonstration by OPD in 2003, I did not have the sentiment that I do now for the OPD. Since October, I have observed the demolition of our commune by armed forces. I have viewed OPD confiscate personal property and be unwilling to account for it and therefor return it. I have watched the OPD repress this community through repeated harrasment, continual threats of arrests and countless illegal confinements and charges. I have witnessed them use extraordinary scare tactics to intimidate people out of public dissent. I have experienced them place many of us in really dangerous, potentially life threatening situations. I have watched them lie, stumble upon their own stupidity and be willing to enforce laws they cannot cite. And I have seen them do all of this with total impunity from within and with a stamp of approval from the City administration.

Repression invariable results in radicalization. I flashed my first fuck you sign when the plaza was raided on Jan 4th. I subsequently started to attend FTP marches. Many people have warned us not to let the police be our occupation, but I don’t think we have a choice and until more people are willing to stand up to the brutal injustice of the OPD, we will not be able to prevent them from killing more black and brown men in our community.

Our rage is an indication of how much we are suffering. Many of us are under extreme duress. Let us come together tomorrow and soothe some of this madness through a renewned sense of solidarity. Do not wait until someone you love is imprisoned or murdered.

Please, by then it will be too late, for all of us…everywhere.

In Prayer & Resistance,

Sri”

Saw this personal account on Facebook and wanted to pass it on. Please *Signal Boost*

If you live in Oakland and you would like to support Chris please check out this event: https://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/events/231536996961976/231940526921623/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

simply-war: Demonstrators trying to flee police are moved down...

kissingrevolution — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:53:48 -0400

simply-war:

Demonstrators trying to flee police are moved down Cermak Avenue during the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20, 2012.

Photography by; JOHN SMIERCIAK

#NoNATO #PoliceBrutality

ATO Summit: Journalists Arrested, Injured Covering Protests (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

kissingrevolution — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:51:13 -0400

ATO Summit: Journalists Arrested, Injured Covering Protests (PHOTOS, VIDEO):

“Several journalists were arrested and injured while covering the protests against theNATO summit in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.

As thousands of anti-NATO protesters met thousands of police officers in the streets, photographers found themselves repeated targets of the CPD…”

#NoNATO Military Alliance Summit protests in #Chicago this...

kissingrevolution — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:49:08 -0400

#NoNATO

Military Alliance Summit protests in #Chicago this weekend.

Chicago Police Face Accusations of Entrapment, Brutality in Crackdown on NATO Protesters

kissingrevolution — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:33:36 -0400

Chicago Police Face Accusations of Entrapment, Brutality in Crackdown on NATO Protesters:

#NoNATO

occupyallstreets: Occupy Livestreamers Detained At Gunpoint By...

kissingrevolution — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:31:03 -0400

occupyallstreets:

Occupy Livestreamers Detained At Gunpoint By Twelve Chicago Police Cars

Occupy Wall Street livestreamers Tim Pool, Luke Rudkowski, and Jeoff Shively, along with two other friends, were driving back to their apartment around midnight on Satuirday, after a long day covering the anti-NATO protests in Chicago when they were suddenly surrounded by twelve police cars and told to come out with their hands raised.

“Get your hands up! Hands! Fuckin’ hands!” the officers yelled at them.

The police never explained why the men were being detained but handcuffed and interrogated them, searched their car, repeatedly slammed one of their computer hard drives against the car floor, and attempted to delete their footage of the incident before it could be archived at Ustream.

According to Firedoglake, Pool tweeted a couple of hours later that “the police were still following them on the police scanner around 2 am. They allegedly wanted the targeted journalists to announce where they were staying for the night so they could raid where the journalists were staying.”

A few hours after that, however, Pool posted at Facebook, “We are at a safe place.”

Firedoglake also recounts a similar incident involving other livestreamers and concludes, “In each of these instances, the police did not inform those detained why they were being detained. The police stopped them to find criminal activity that they could then use against the journalists to make arrests. And so far they have not been able to find any justification for arresting any of these people, but they have been able to briefly frighten and infuriate these journalists and also to impound a vehicle.”

Source

#NoNATO #Occupy Livestreamers Detained At Gunpoint By Twelve #Chicago Police Cars

peterwk: “Does Anybody Deserve This!” CNN’s Don Lemon...

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:16:10 -0400

peterwk:

“Does Anybody Deserve This!” CNN’s Don Lemon Shocked Police Brutality At NATO Protest In Chicago

@CNN has a moment of clarity. #NoNATO #PoliceBrutality

#NoNATO #Policebrutality

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:02:25 -0400

#NoNATO #Policebrutality

#Riotpolice #NoNATO

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:41:04 -0400

#Riotpolice #NoNATO

onlyonet: Video of police brutalizing defenseless, unarmed...

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:36:24 -0400

onlyonet:

Video of police brutalizing defenseless, unarmed protestors lying on the ground from yesterday’s NATO summit.

#Policebrutality of unarmed protestors lying on the ground.

May 20, 2012- Montreal police under fire after video surfaces of...

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:53:15 -0400

May 20, 2012- Montreal police under fire after video surfaces of officers pepper spraying bar patrons
source: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1181479—montreal-police-…

Montreal police pepper-spray bar patrons amid protest- CBC News

“A day after a sometimes violent Montreal protest ended in a series of street fires, police were criticized for pepper-spraying patrons at a nearby bar patio.

Surveillance footage shows several people on the St-Bock Brasserie terrace being sprayed at close range by police in riot gear.

As other customers at the St-Denis Street bar scurry inside, an officer barrels through a tangle of tables and chairs.

Another video from a local TV station shows the officers took action after one was hit by a chair that someone threw. The chair was then flung back toward the patio.

“About one foot from the faces of my clients, police also threw this,” said bar owner Martin Guimond, holding up an empty muzzle blast.

“They created panic, they destroyed the terrace and people scrambled inside, throwing themselves over each other. Everyone left without paying.”

A waitress told him to call 911, then said, “But wait, it’s the police that are doing this,” Guimond recounted.

“That’s when you realize there’s a total breakdown of order.”
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/20/quebec-student-protes…

Montreal cops seen pepper spraying bar patrons
MONTREAL — Montreal police are being criticized over an altercation caught on video that shows a group of patrons on a patio bar getting pepper sprayed during a protest Saturday night.

Surveillance footage, being played in a loop today on one of Quebec’s all-news stations, shows several people sprayed by riot police at close range.

The footage shows customers scrambling to get inside the bar as a police officer knocks over tables and chairs.

Another video from a local TV station shows the officers took action after one was hit by a flying chair.

Martin Guimond, the owner of the bar, says police went too far and he’s considering taking legal action.

There is a protest underway today in Montreal against Quebec’s new emergency law (Bill 78)

source: : http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Montreal+cops+seen+pepper+spraying+patrons/66…

Quebec Student Protests: Video Shows Police In Montreal Pepper Spraying Bar Patrons (VIDEO)

Surveillance footage, played in a loop Sunday on one of Quebec’s all-news stations, shows several people sprayed by riot police at close range. Customers are seen scrambling to get inside the bar as a police officer knocks over tables and chairs.
source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/20/video-montreal-police-pepper-spray-pa…

CTV: Montreal police pepper spray bar patrons on video

Bar manager Nicolas Paquet said police also fired a crowd-dispersal powder at the patrons gathered on the patio. “In my eyes, (police were ) violent and rough with the customers,” Paquet told CTV Montreal. “All that for only one guy.”
Martin Guimond, owner of the bar, said he’s considering taking legal action against police. “People were falling on each other running inside to get away from the pepper spray, breaking things, and then people left by the back exit,” Guimond told The Canadian Press. “My waitress said, ‘We have to call 911.’ And then she said, ‘But wait, it’s the police that are doing this.’ That’s when you realize there’s a total loss of security.”
source: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120520/quebec-tuition-protests-make-wa…

The bar owner said police went too far and he’s considering taking legal action.
“People were falling on each running inside to get away from the pepper spray, breaking things, and then people left by the back exit,” said Martin Guimond, who runs the Saint Bock brasserie in the city’s lively Latin Quarter. “My waitress said, ‘we have to call 911.’ And then she said, ‘But wait, it’s the police that are doing this.’ That’s when you realize there’s a total loss of security.”
source: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/national-news/video-shows-montreal-police-p…

This Video is not for profit, It is shared/used for the purpose of research, criticism, review and news reporting under the fair dealing exceptions 29, 29.1 and 29.2 of the Canadian Copyright Act (R.S.1985 c, C-42)
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42….

Broadcaster: Canadian Press, CTV news

Video Credit/sources:

1.http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/canews-22424922/video-shows-montreal-police-pep

per-spraying-bar-patrons-29356157.html

2.http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120520/quebec-tuition-protests-make-waves-120520/

Today in police brutality across the world… this probably...

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:27:11 -0400

Today in police brutality across the world… this probably doesn’t even cover it. I bet that Bahrain, Syria, Spain, and Greece should be up there too.

Another protester on the ground with blood dripping from his...

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:23:00 -0400

Another protester on the ground with blood dripping from his face. Police everywhere. #NoNATO

Bloody protester from today’s #NoNATO protest in Chicago.

kissingrevolution — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:53:58 -0400

Bloody protester from today’s #NoNATO protest in Chicago.

Is this freedom?

emciel: *UPDATED* June 9th There was a rally tonight in Chicago...

occupyallstreets: Canadian Students Strip Down To Red Squares...

Beautiful sad video about the Police Brutality going on in...

batmanwi: Protestors “unarresting” someone after a cop tried to...

Breaking: Nearly 700 protesters kettled and arrested in Quebec, eached fined C$600.

nationalpost: Record arrests as police use controversial...

The unlawful abduction of an #OccupyOaklander

simply-war: Demonstrators trying to flee police are moved down...

ATO Summit: Journalists Arrested, Injured Covering Protests (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

#NoNATO Military Alliance Summit protests in #Chicago this...

Chicago Police Face Accusations of Entrapment, Brutality in Crackdown on NATO Protesters

occupyallstreets: Occupy Livestreamers Detained At Gunpoint By...

peterwk: “Does Anybody Deserve This!” CNN’s Don Lemon...

“Does Anybody Deserve This!” CNN’s Don Lemon Shocked Police Brutality At NATO Protest In Chicago

#NoNATO #Policebrutality

#Riotpolice #NoNATO

onlyonet: Video of police brutalizing defenseless, unarmed...

May 20, 2012- Montreal police under fire after video surfaces of...

Today in police brutality across the world… this probably...

Another protester on the ground with blood dripping from his...

Bloody protester from today’s #NoNATO protest in Chicago.

emciel: UPDATED June 9th There was a rally tonight in Chicago...