When Police Aren't Busy Protecting Citizens
 

...they're busy shooting them. With rubber bullets.

And then they laugh about it, later.

So, a lady with a sign that says "Fear Totalitarianism" is shot with a rubber bullet while conducting a peaceful protest (I checked the Constitution, you're allowed to do this, at least, for a little while longer), the perps - I mean, law officers - laugh about it, and yet we aren't supposed to be worried about suppression of our rights. I guess she was nailed in order to protect us from terrorists, huh?

Why do you two hate America?

More unAmerican hate speech.

Maybe she proved too much a target in that red dress.

Thirty years from now, will kids be saying,
"Didn't you realize what was happening?"

Do you have your 'sarcasm' hand up?

photo shop! Therefor nothing ever happened!

Well, these are the guys you're supposed to call and wait for rather than defend yourself, right? Ah...no...this is Florida. These are the guys you call to do the paperwork *after* you defend yourself.

She's gonna sue them, and they've got it coming. This is the same state where the DEA undercover literally shot himself in the foot in front of a class of kids.

Heh. I had to see that one again.

Sorry, I thought it was obvious that I was being sarcastic. But you can never be sure.

Video of the shooting.

Why not? That's what they said thirty years ago.

Yep...and then Nixon was impeached and a bunch of his co-conspirators prosecuted.

Wonder when that will happen again? I mean for something other than lying about blow jobs.

[sarcasm][If you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about.[/sarcasm]

When something comparable happens, most likely. As opposed to the currently stylish faux nostalgia of the hippie-wannabee GenX-spawn.

Apparently it's not just the generals who are always perfectly prepared to fight the last war... :-)

If only there was a smoking gun and a Deep Throat for the whole WMD scam. Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you need 'em?

maybe a link to ColbertNation in your sig would suffice?:D

There's an entire generation of journalists that want to be Woodward and Bernstein when they grow up.

So, as soon as that happens...:-)

These Florida cops are not atypical. Below the state police level I expect it, having seen it since my early teens, in many states.
If one of the local cops get a hardon for you, the whole force will make you're life unpleasant.

The only difference now is, people farther up the socio-economic scale are getting a taste of it.

the Supreme court says there is higher standards, more training, more professionalism. That's true, but the effect is they are more like marines and less like police.....shoot first and questions later. Collateral damage should not be in your local police lexicon. :(

That is hands down the best protest sign I have ever seen.

Perhaps you never saw "Nodody can lick our Dick" during the Nixon administration, or "Lesbians {For/Against} Bush" more recently.

Or, make your life very pleasant, indeed!

Nope. Wish I had, though. Would have saved me the trouble of making yet another superlative. :neutral:

I hope you bunch of freedom-haters realize that we are at war! Because of...something...to do with our boys overseas, it just isn't appropriate to criticize our government, because if you do: the terrorists have won. If I have to get shot with a barrage of rubber bullets, for no reason whatsoever, if that's what it takes to protect freedom and liberty, then as a good American citizen, I would be a hypocrite not to get down on my hands and knees and thank God that I am getting shot with a barrage of rubber bullets for no reason whatsoever in America, the land of the free, the home of the brave! I feel sickened at these protesting traitors who want to destroy our way of life.

Most logical solution to this 'problem' : Build a much more substantial protest sign. Have "Mythbusters" check it out for you.

Care to elaborate on those ironic quotations? Or, do you prefer to let your punctuation do the talking for you?

I though this was current event?


the dateline on the news-story is Nov. 2003

Yeah, the best since "Dick Nixon before Nixon Dicks you" ;)

Why not?
To some, the problem would be the protest. To me the problem is not having a protest sign strong enough to ward off rubber bullets.;)

No, it isn't.
The story was generated by...
Reading is FUNdamental.

so it was....


referred to an event in 2003, tho.....

*refrains from commenting on the timelessness of US media*

One of my Profs brought in a couple "rubber" bullets to class after a trip to Northern Ireland. I'd say they cross the line into lethal. It is remarkable that more protestors have not been killed over the years.

The actual story was the tape and its contents. It's one thing to allege being abused by police. It's quite another, very newsworthy in itself, to have discovered evidence that proves it.

The media appears to have done their job in this case, even if they are Yanks. Your job is to RTFA if you're going to comment. :-)

If I remember correctly, the safe method is to 'skip' the bullets by firing low. From the video, it seems some cops were doing just that.

The woman was crouching, so it's not clear if the bullet that pierced the sign was skipped or not. If not, then the cop firing it was intending to inflict more damage. I am curious to know if someone is killed by police using rubber bullets, can the bullet be matched to a specific gun?

The worst part was that the crowd did not appear unruly and I did not hear any order to disperse. If there was such an order given and it was ignored then the police had the right to take some action. It seems to me, though, that moving directly to rubber bullets was dangerous and inappropriate.

I love how the officer in the session talks about how great it is to win one for a change. I think what he was saying was how much fun it was to fire into an unarmed and peaceful crowd and not have to worry about a counterstrike. If they had tried that stuff in Maimi, they would have gone into the 'loss' column.

Many people hear or read rubber bullets and think Nerf, when they should be thinking Tires. The bullets are as hard as a damn tire, so range is critical.

I believe the "skipping" was developed to make them safe to use, when the protesters and cops, got up close and personal. Typically they're used on command rather than the individual cops discretion, and typically they don't like to make that call until the protesters are real close.

I seem to remember a woman being seriously hurt (maybe killed), by a rubber bullet, at a CA demonstration against this current war. :confused:

Unless specifically threatened they don't need to be using them or gas.
Cops are out of hand nationwide and have forgotten for whom they work.

I'm hoping Flint had his sarcasm hand up. Freedom? WTF is freedom is you are being denied your right to peaceably assemble and exercise your 1st ammendment rights. (such as they are)

If it isn't obvious that I was joking, then we, as a society, are completely fucked.

If denied, time to take them back... not having them at any time is never an option.

Not an option, but it does feel like we're sliding in that direction. I remember a course I took in college on the first ammendment, the teacher spoke about "the chilling effect" that certain laws had on free speech. They didn't outright deny your rights, but they chilled the option of excercising them by subjecting you to possibly long, expensive, and career or reputation destroying legal battles. Or in this case, a rubber bullet to the head.

"yeah, you have a right to peaceably assemble, but we'll shoot you anyway, and good luck taking us to court. You'll spend a wad of cash and a month of sundays just to see the affair being handled "internally" maybe a slap on the wrist, and while your at it, expect to be pulled over for routine traffic stops at least three times a day."

It happens around here if you don't keep your nose clean and your mouth shut.

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.”
-- Patrick Henry, 3 Elliot, Debates at 45 (Virginia Convention, June 5, 1788).


“God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always, well informed... what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure.”
-- Thomas Jefferson to William S. Smith on Nov. 13, 1787. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, vol. 12, p. 356 (1955).

No it's not we as a society, I am just under a lot of pressure now (think Ferris Bueller, you could stick a lump of coal up my butt and you'd have a diamond in a week) and I am seemingly able only to see in a rather one dimensional way.

I'll be glad when this crazy project is completed.

Fortunately, it is all for own protection. We aren't able to decide for ourselves anymore, so thank goodness we have a big, strong President who is taking care of all of that for us.

More thorazine, please. What's on TV? Can I have a new videogame?

When public confidence in the government is low, the government apparently becomes eager to validate this perception.

This one? It was an IotD in 2003.

http://cellar.org/2003/woodbulletwound.jpg

That was the protest where they were actively obstructing a military operation, right? I remember coverage on the news talking about how this was a warning that protests would be allowed, but interference would be punished as a crime.

As clear as mud, but it covers the the ground, eh? God help you, if you jaywalk when a convoy to McDonald's is coming through. Those 50 calibers are hell on pantyhose.:rolleyes: