Welcome, Nato, to Chicago's police state

A great, comprehensive primer on the police state in Chicago surrounding the NATO conference:

With Nato delegates arriving Saturday night, the City of Chicago has been turned into a police state. Courtesy of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who several months ago began implementing new draconian anti-protest measures, Chicago has gone on security lockdown. Starting early Friday night, 18 May 2012, the Chicago Police Department began shutting down – prohibiting cars, bikes, and pedestrians – miles and miles of highways and roads in the heart of Chicago to create a security perimeter around downtown and McCormick Place (where the Nato summit is being held).

In part:

The Chicago Police Department has spent $1m in "riot-control equipment" in anticipation of the Nato summit.

Then, there is the "secret suburban Chicago" police control center where "officials from more than 40 different agencies sit side by side with a giant central screen before them," as reported by the Chicago Sun Times.

From the multi-agency command center, all different types of federal, state and local law enforcement can "view live video feeds from security cameras that are already up and running throughout the city".

And a very good point, here:

this police state serves, in reality, as our new welfare state. The security mania represents our truly unique way of stimulating the economy, of employing piece labor, of creating government jobs and subsidized contracts. Just think of the amount of overtime pay that we are disbursing with all this policing. Instead of investing in schools and education, in job training, or in re-entry programs, this is how we invest in our future. And we never think of it as government welfare because it falls in that sacred space of security – because, essentially, of the American paradox of laissez-faire and mass punishment.

www.guardian.co.uk...

www.nbcchicago.com...

www.indypendent.org...

www.suntimes.com...

Isn't it perrrrty?
Look at their cute little blue helmets and batons!








But look away when they're beating people and drawing blood. You don't beed to see that....

Shouldn't it be "Welcome Chicago to NATO's Police state?", Without NATO being there the Paramilitary police state wouldn't be showing it's teeth.

reply to post by novemberecho


Are the Smurfs expected, and, Gargamel has fielded thousands of Gargamel clones in disguise to finally catch them.

People should never underestimate the power of ridicule, i have seen it sway Police officers at demonstrations, the moment you can make them think about what it is they are doing, and, how utterly ridiculous it is for them to be doing what they are, that realisation if you can foment it, is a powerful thing.

The moment they see violence though, it is hard to get through the training that is instilled in them.

I thought this was quite an interesting picture taken duting the protests.

Was watching a few of the streams going on and found it all quite riveting.

Today could prove even more interesting, in a chinese curse kind of style...

Originally posted by The X
Shouldn't it be "Welcome Chicago to NATO's Police state?", Without NATO being there the Paramilitary police state wouldn't be showing it's teeth.

Fair point, except that NATO is the one visiting Chicago, not vice versa.

reply to post by Jomina


Great shot!



Personally, with this spectical of police state, i think the 'protesters' are fools. There is no way to win in street battles with this kindof opposition. The better photo op would be of cops just standing around with nothing to do, costing the city millions of dollars.

Originally posted by stanguilles7

Originally posted by The X
Shouldn't it be "Welcome Chicago to NATO's Police state?", Without NATO being there the Paramilitary police state wouldn't be showing it's teeth.

Fair point, except that NATO is the one visiting Chicago, not vice versa.

I meant it in a kind of Tongue in Cheek way, NATO visiting chicago and bringing the teeth of the western worlds bigotted violence industry, to the Convention hall, and, the streets outside.

Does anyone have any idea what it is they are going to be discussing?.

Originally posted by stanguilles7
reply to post by Jomina

 

Great shot!

Personally, with this spectical of police state, i think the 'protesters' are fools. There is no way to win in street battles with this kindof opposition. The better photo op would be of cops just standing around with nothing to do, costing the city millions of dollars.

You know, there are five coppers watching that with smiles on their faces, This must be regarded as a time to get some payback on the people for all the grief they get in their daily working life.
These people are not fit for human interaction, I doub very much you could trust these guys to work for the city dog pound, dogs would be getting dragged in on terrorism charges.


(How long before someone photoshops a pigs head under the cap?.)

reply to post by stanguilles7


You know. I'm all for the right for people to protest and peacefully assemble.
But these guys aren't just protesting. They are there to cause trouble.

And what would you have the cops do? Nothing?
Can't do that because then people would complain that the cops are lazy pigs that didn't do anything to stop violence.
But if they go in there and control the situation they are brutal pigs.

I don't see the protesters effecting any change. And they've protested a bunch of these meetings. What's the goal of the protesters?

Originally posted by grey580
reply to post by stanguilles7

 

You know. I'm all for the right for people to protest and peacefully assemble.
But these guys aren't just protesting. They are there to cause trouble.

Which guys?

And what would you have the cops do? Nothing?
Can't do that because then people would complain that the cops are lazy pigs that didn't do anything to stop violence.
But if they go in there and control the situation they are brutal pigs.

I think you misunderstand most people's objection, or the points I am raising about the meeting. My main concern is the cost of all this security infrastructure.Why hold the NATO summit in the middle of a city that costs millions of dollars to secure?

Not to mention the curtailing civil liberties through all kinds of special 'temporary' laws that make basic assembly illegal.

I don't see the protesters effecting any change. And they've protested a bunch of these meetings. What's the goal of the protesters?

Agreed. I think most the people who show up to these things wanting to riot are just playing a role in a highly scripted play.

Context:

www.reddit.com...

The photo is from a Chicago Tribune photo gallery. The caption reads reads: "A Chicago police officer throws a punch at a protester who broke a stick over another officer's head." The previous photo shows a police officer being hit in the head. That caption reads: "A protester breaks a stick over the head of a Chicago police officer as the two groups clash at Cermak Road and Michigan Avenue." The Chicago Tribune has a video showing the incident from another angle. The relevant part begins at about 1:03. The photographer has his own account on his personal website. He says, "The officer [in the white shirt] had his helmet knocked off, then charged forward a bit into the crowd with his baton drawn and striking people. A protestor then broke a stick over his head, and as he fell backward, another protester was doing the same. Another officer quickly approached with a punch that hit someone right in front of me to move them back." The photographer's site also has a third picture, taken before the other two, of the officer in white wielding his baton. Credit goes to users strathmeyer, ShimmyShimmyShimmy, krp31489 and Marbla, among others.\

galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com...-nato20cop220120520171912

www.chicagotribune.com...

After the official rally ended, it was clear that a group of “black bloc” protesters were gathering in the intersection and had no intention of moving. I squeezed my way toward the front for a view of the line between the protesters and the Chicago police officers in riot gear. A few protesters were shoving and throwing objects at the officers who were pushing the crowd west, and things very quickly heated up for a few seconds.

cassella.wordpress.com...

cassella.files.wordpress.com...

I like this one. Cops and 'protesters' hanging out line line at McDonalds:

I saw this whole thing on two different UStreams accounts and I cant see why people are putting the blame on the protesters.

While the 2 POV cameras I had dont tell the whole story, from what I saw the police are the main culprits for the violence.

On the two cameras what I saw was a very peaceful protest, then I started reading on FB, Twitter and IRC that the police started shutting radio channels down and that troops were being moved to intercept them, also that tear gas had been authorised to be used.

Then I saw the cops kettleing the protesters in an aggressive manner, from all sides, the guys running the streams could not get out, then the cops started telling them to disperse to the west but they couldnt... I saw cops beating young girls and boys with their batons and pushing them.

That guy that broke the stick on a police's head probably did so out of anger and frustration, I am very peaceful and I even felt like just jumping on one of them and doing as much damage as I could before being arrested, that is how much anger watching that injustice built inside of me.

Then I saw Fox News, ABC and CNN trying to justify the police actions by hinting there was domestic terrorism involved, they were basically lying as they normally do.

I am aware that most protests will have undercover cops and other types of mercenaries that normally start all the violence...

In just about every protest I have seen in the past 2 years are the same... they are very peaceful until the cops show up, thats when all hell breaks loose and the blame gets put on all the protesters, it could be a 100k+ protest but if a group of 20 ppl start vandalising then all 100k+ get blamed for it and that gets used as justification for treating all protesters like criminals.

Then the mainstream media does a good job in brainwashing the masses into thinking is ok to beat the crap out of protesters... and completely ignore why they are protesting in the first place.

Same as with Occupy, the media made sure they completely ignored the message and just highlighted the rapes, drug use, etc... and everytime Occupy was mentioned they make sure to attach rapes, drugs, hippies, filthy to it... and so many sheeple still buy the script without realising that rapes, drug use, etc... are normal in today society.... I didnt say they are ok, just that is a consequence of the current state of affairs, it was not caused by Occupy, a person doesnt transform into a rapist at Occupy, society already made them a rapist before they went to Occupy.

Shame critical thinking is as rare as dinosaurs.

reply to post by stanguilles7


Which guys?

Why the protestors of course.

And why hold the meeting in chicago? You got me there.
I wouldn't of put it there. I would of done it in Orlando or another venue that would of been cheaper.

And as for the curtailing of the civil liberties. Well that's the fault of the protesters. If the protests were peaceful there wouldn't be an issue.
But when you throw in anarchists in the mix. And they start hitting cops. Well it's not a peacefull protest anymore. A bad few apples ruin things for everyone else.

reply to post by Xality


I'm hardly trying to defend police violence. I'm just giving some context to the shot, which I found interesting.

Personally, I thin the only way to expose the enormous security budget for this sort of thing is to make it look useless. All these protesters just make the average media consumer thankful for the police state.

But what if they spent millions on security and no one showed up? That would be the best outcome, in my opinion. I mean, its not like the protests are changing NATO policy in any way. And too many of the cops have infiltrated their ranks anyway. The whole game is rigged.

All communist propaganda. The cops did a fantastic job of keeping these occupiers/99percenter’s from doing what they were trying to do and that’s just to create chaos. The cops made it possible for the 49% to still go to work so we can pay taxes and support these 50%ers that have no desire to go get jobs. I can't stand that these pieces of s%$# claim to represent me! Get a job to support the other 50% that don't, then you'll be like me! How the hell do these dog a##$# afford cell phones, iPods, lap tops...These turds can get bussed back to New York and anywhere else they came from.

Originally posted by D1Useek
All communist propaganda. The cops did a fantastic job of keeping these occupiers/99percenter’s from doing what they were trying to do and that’s just to create chaos. The cops made it possible for the 49% to still go to work so we can pay taxes and support these 50%ers that have no desire to go get jobs.
I can't stand that these pieces of s%$# claim to represent me! Get a job to support the other 50% that don't, then you'll be like me! How the hell do these dog a##$# afford cell phones, iPods, lap tops...These turds can get bussed back to New York and anywhere else they came from.

LOL. Nice troll, but this isnt an 'occupy' protest. Its a protest against NATO. You know, the guys behind the Libya war?

Furthermore, commuters and regular Chicagoans are greatly inconvenienced by the presence of the NATO summit and subsequent multi-million dollar security budget that has descended upon their cities and raped their public coffers. Wehre's your complaint for that?

So who is really the blame the cops or the potesters. If the protesters wern't trying to destroy everything the cops could stay home. You probablyu shouldn't blame the cops for your ruined day because you ruined their day first.

Originally posted by mikellmikell
So who is really the blame the cops or the potesters. If the protesters wern't trying to destroy everything the cops could stay home. You probablyu shouldn't blame the cops for your ruined day because you ruined their day first.

The problem with that, of course, is that the cops were there before the protesters. This will cost the city of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the Federal government millions of dollars to hold this summit of International leaders.

Your outrage is misguided, and favors fascism and tyranny.