Lawrence O'Donnell on Police Brutality at Occupy Wall Street

i know if one of these protests takes place near me, i'm going to purchase one of the crowd control pepper spray cans. shoots up to 30 feet! think about how awesome it would be for every person in the crowd to pack one of these and goggles! even twenty or thirty people armed with these could give the cops a run for their money.


edit to add: i just found out it is ILLEGAL to use pepper spray against a police officer in florida, and you can only carry 2 ounce containers on public property.....i'd still do it in a heartbeat if they were hurting people.

I think violence begets violence, as dog begets dog and blood begets blood.

You are talking about protesting and fighting highly armed police forces, and if they fail, better armed militia. You'll eventually die as they do in Syria, and have no recourse.

If you wish to have an alternative, you have to create one. An alternative to government, corporations, police etc... requires that you live entirely outside of the confines of the "system" you currently live in. If you are dependent on this "system" in any way shape or form, you are forced to live by the rules that the "system" produces.

All your taxes go to support the "system". Short of finding a route from within the "system" to support your causes then, you are a slave to what ever rules they implement and choose to enforce. You can easily be dispersed, even in large crowds and be shot etc... There isn't any point in saying that you are not one of the crowd in your defence.

Instead of doing what these protesters are doing: If you are really determined to do so, find leaders who support your cause, who are in fact capable of finding you a peaceful alternative. If you feel the "system" is against you, then the only way to fight, if you are looking to win, is to find something more powerful than the most powerful piece of the "system" that can be used against you - because anything you physically do, can cause escalation on the police/militia front. Short of becoming China, I doubt that you will likely win.

This is why I advocate trying to live independently of the system. If you are truly organized and concerned about your future, there should be nothing standing in your way of setting up a manual labour farm, with a group of friends. Of course, this doesn't come without a good deal of sacrifice. But the alternative is to allow the officers/"system" have it's way, and have you conform to it. Any change then, is what you can figure out how to achieve from within it, without going opposite the flow of the river.

I personally believe that things are only going to get worse - but I also believe that worsening crisis will pull together the smarter birds of a feather who will ultimately establish an independent society that is capable of cookie cutting itself - and this is what will survive.

Lawrence O'Donnell is one of the only voices of reason in the main stream media

reply to post by Domo1


I think it's because of people like you, that we live in such a state!

I hear a Billy Goat coming, best you crawl back under your bridge so you can eat it!

Originally posted by hbarker


All them sheeple should all in one swift move tackle them $@# %@&! hells pawn, rage freak idiots (cops) hold them to the ground , zip tie there slimy little hands and feet.. And toss all there weapons into the river. And let them lay there own feces and piss for a few of days,
Spray em with water twice a day , so they can drink a little .
And so the rest of the street dont smell there stank!

wishful thinking I know.. but they COULD !!

I gree! Unfortunately, none have the balls to do it! If anything, they just sit on the sidelines and watch their friends get beat up and hauled away! It's quite pathetic! Most of them are followers! They just go with the flow! Most of them do it because they think it's cool! They need to organize and fight back in numbers!

reply to post by Bob Sholtz


Peaceful protest, I fully agree with. Start rioting as we saw recently in the UK, where nothing but anarchy reigns, then I fully agree with forceful retaliation.

It's a sad world we live in, and no-one listens to peaceful protests.

reply to post by smugmushroom


Yes let's party like Michigan State Spartans and burn couches and cars and #.

Hi all,
I have been following ATS for some time now but never registered until just now. The reason I registered was because I had to come in here and make a comment on something DOMO1 said earlier.

QUOTE: "I think it's sad more people arent being maced. Protesting scum shouldn't make the news. I'm tired of hearing about them. They need to get jobs. More need to be jailed. Maybe thy can learn how to do laundry or something productive."

Now this comment makes no sense at all it you read into it.

"Protesting scum shouldn't make the news."
You are right, the news should stay like it is with its lies, deceit and misinformation. I am being sarcastic about this one.

" I'm tired of hearing about them."
I thought TV's come with more than one specific news channel, but maybe I am wrong because I don't watch mainstream media news. I watch all my news online, not the fox, msnbc, cnn, ect...

"They need to get jobs.
This is by far the most ridiculous comment you could have made. THERE ARE NO JOBS so where the heck are they gonna get a job at, and anyway this is one reason they are protesting.

"More need to be jailed."
And another ridiculous comment. I you would do your research you would learn that it costs over $23,000.00 per inmate per year for housing/food/health needs, ect.... Say you have 10 non-violent peaceful protesters in prison in the same state it will cost the taxpayers (some say the state, but where do you think they get the money?, from taxpayers) around $230,000.00 a year to care for these peaceful protesters who are giving their all for your freedom from the corrupt system and government.

Originally posted by JJDoggie84

Originally posted by Domo1
I think it's sad more people arent being maced. Protesting scum shouldn't make the news. I'm tired of hearing about them. They need to get jobs. More need to be jailed. Maybe thy can learn how to do laundry or something productive.

I'm pretty sure he's being sarcastic folks... No need to invoke the "troll" response... And his avatar is cool

These "officials" need to be jailed... You can't just pepper spray people for no reason, as it is clearly assault...

The big question though is, why is MSNBC finally getting it right and balanced? I think that they are trying to get the population of NYC to riot, so that they can really crack down! Think about it, today they called another news corp racist for accurately transcribing Obum's teleprompter speech, And now they get this story 100% correct! There's an elephant in the room!

edit on 27-9-2011 by JJDoggie84 because: (no reason given)

Hi there,

unfortunately, he's not being sarcastic... go check his posts in similar threads and you will know.

This guy must be a crooked cop or something similar. Or have a lot of friends in the police who are not good ones.

Peace out.

reply to post by smugmushroom

peaceful protests require peace from both sides. when you have police pepper spraying people who aren't doing anything and assaulting people who have cameras, there is a problem and it can only be addressed through a forceful response.

i think every protester carrying long range pepper spray cans and wearing goggles is a good way to keep the police in check.

Originally posted by Domo1
I think it's sad more people arent being maced. Protesting scum shouldn't make the news. I'm tired of hearing about them. They need to get jobs. More need to be jailed. Maybe thy can learn how to do laundry or something productive.

yeah after all, why should we change a broken system?

Why should we speak out against whats wrong?

We all should just bend over and ask what color lipstick they want us to wear while they are F****** us. duh!

About time, someone in MSM told the truth. Go Lawrence O'donnell. You have one more watcher. Great job!!

The police are going to have to choose sides soon. They're macing the citizens whose taxes put the money on their paychecks. They are also abusing the people who are protesting to protect not only their own money but that very same police officer's money, savings, and general right to not be a$$ rapped by the banks.

In this light these cops look like total morons. Seriously does wall street care about you officer? Why don't you get your head together and give it a good shake, then get in the protest and start taking care of the real crime that's going on.

Pick a side. The real world or mindless drone slave, with a master who cares nothing about you.

These people are protesting FOR YOU TOO.

Originally posted by KySc5

Well there you have it folks. News coverage. What he says, in my OPINION, are true. Police will walk away from getting political heat.

While there is some serious crap going on inside Wall Street (with orders from the Fed)....why are they not protesting the Fed?

In these "Days of Rage" protests, you have some honestly pissed people....and anarchists, socialist's, communist's, and general trouble makers.




This is the same bunch that has been raising hell in Egypt, Libya, AND WISCONSIN!

IMHO, there are factions on BOTH sides of this that want to see it escalate to something MUCH bigger.

As usual, MSNBC is playing up the bad cop story. Was too much force used? I didnt see what all was going on before this.




It makes me wonder when the cops are videoing themselves. From what I've read, most arrests were from disrupting traffic.

Originally posted by Domo1
I think it's sad more people arent being maced. Protesting scum shouldn't make the news. I'm tired of hearing about them. They need to get jobs. More need to be jailed. Maybe thy can learn how to do laundry or something productive.

Obvious troll is Obvious..... i see what you did there

Even basement dwellers like yourself have a right to protest.... just saying


And just because you work a paper route does not mean you are better then the unemployed

This is a very important point in my opinion. The cameraman was not arrested because he had a camera. He assaults the cops. That's why he is rightfully arrested. You can see that in the beginning of this video.

Originally posted by thedeadlyrhythm

Originally posted by Domo1
I think it's sad more people arent being maced. Protesting scum shouldn't make the news. I'm tired of hearing about them. They need to get jobs. More need to be jailed. Maybe thy can learn how to do laundry or something productive.

leave the country. immediately. you have no sense of what it means to be american (as i assume you are american considering the level of ignorance in what you just said)

we have no use for you here. move somewhere where you can impose your fascist ideals.

edit on 28-9-2011 by thedeadlyrhythm because: (no reason given)

Agreed.

I hear Syria is lovely this time of year...

reply to post by Unknown Soldier


Good lord I actually was just joking on that one. I wasn't even trying to troll! I admit I was getting a little trollish in another thread but that comment was complete sarcasm. I'm amused how many responses it elicited though.

Originally posted by smugmushroom
reply to post by Bob Sholtz

 

Peaceful protest, I fully agree with. Start rioting as we saw recently in the UK, where nothing but anarchy reigns, then I fully agree with forceful retaliation.

It's a sad world we live in, and no-one listens to peaceful protests.

Anarchy in the UK? (smirk) Nope, that wasn't anarchy - just a bunch of violent little morons stealing, burning, and assaulting people. I think they call it 'rioting'. But what does that have to do with these protestors??

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by Unknown Soldier

 

Good lord I actually was just joking on that one. I wasn't even trying to troll! I admit I was getting a little trollish in another thread but that comment was complete sarcasm. I'm amused how many responses it elicited though.

There's this place called the world of text where sarcasm is not apparent and must be conveyed literally.