The officer was suspended for it. He is apparently a retired army vet who served two tours of duty O/S.
IIRC he also got some medals (dunno how important). Im surprised he wasnt more controlled given his experience. Pretty fucking lame spraying some non violent people.
IIRC he also got some medals (dunno how important). Im surprised he wasnt more controlled given his experience. Pretty fucking lame spraying some non violent people.
Yeah, agreed. Totally unnecessary. They were just sitting on a path FFS. Just let them sit there. If it doesn't escalate from that, then there is no problem.
Yeah, should only used if they were prepared to pull their gun out. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't block the police from leaving and would move before the seventh or eighth time they told me to move (watch the extended version not just the pepper spray bit).
(watch the extended version not just the pepper spray bit).
Exactly, they were being total cunts and the police were being very reasonable.
They were just sitting on a path FFS. Just let them sit there. If it doesn't escalate from that, then there is no problem.
I'm pretty sure they were blocking police cars from leaving, demanding that people arrested earlier in the day needed to be released before they would let the police leave.
Yeh watch the full version before you make a call.
They denied the cops exit from the park by surrounding them, that's not peaceful and they couldn't let them just sit there. You don't get to kidnap police in a peaceful protest! They were actually chanting that they would let the cops go if the arrested protestors were released, you don't get to do that when people are arrested :P
They were told over and over that if they did not move that they would be sprayed, individually. Every person was specifically spoken to "Do you understand that if you do not move you will be pepper sprayed?".
No sympathy, the only other option was to physically start moving people / bunting them which probably would have been a bloody incident.
IIRC he also got some medals (dunno how important). Im surprised he wasnt more controlled given his experience. Pretty fucking lame spraying some non violent people.
I'm fairly sure some of you need to watch the video before passing judgement on this cop.
The Students were dicking around in excess of 30 mins and had essentially encased the P.D. within their protests. The P.D. gave them MASSIVE amounts of warning, and the protesters weren't going to have a bar of it. There are some decent writeups/videos of the whole gig on-line which do a much better job of telling it like it was (as opposed to this statement)
I fail to see the connection between blocking cops and kidnapping cops. The cops can cry a fucking river. Did they even try forcefully moving them? A simple twist of a wrist would have gotten them to move and avoided the massive internet issue that the photo has created. Did the guy spraying really think it would be shown in a positive light?
Why don't you watch the full video? They did many times, they were all locked together and were resisting with 100% of their strength.
Im not going to watch the video cause i really dont give a fuck - i take your word that they were being dicks and the cops warned them but i dont see why they could have just twisted a wrist until they moved (more discrete and probably just as effective) as opposed to spraying them.
As long as they were individually told they would be sprayed if there did not stop then I have no problem with it
Several times, using a loud haler, and then eventually the Pepper spray weilding cop essentially walked up to each of the specific line he sprayed and warned them 2-3 times.
I can't find the full version of this right now, but this video shows the people were clearly warned before being sprayed.
The other video I saw shows the whole thing from start to finish. They were warned about 6-7 times in total. In that time police were surrounded and yelled obscenities like "Fuck the police". These people got exactly what they deserved, I have no sympathy for them.
So the Police were armed with Guns, Helmets, Capsicum Spray, Shields and were assaulting people.
The demonstraters were... demonstrating.
And they are to blame ?
One group turned up looking for a fight
The other turned up to practice their Constitutional Rights.
No sympathy, the only other option was to physically start moving people / bunting them which probably would have been a bloody incident.
Because it seems less violent than beating people with nightsticks doesn't make it any more appropriate. The police should either charge and arrest the protesters or yes, manhandle them out of the way. If when manhandled or arrested they became violent then sure, spray the fuck out of them but spraying them beforehand is not really a call the police should be allowed to make IMO.
Then again being from the military he is probably used to "pre-emptive strikes" being an acceptable terminology.
It's beginning to seem if you do something the police don't like they will taser or pepper spray you as a punitive measure. That's not their job, the courts decide upon punishment, if someone has broken a law it is the cops job to charge or arrest people. If they are resisting arrest then they are meant to use only the amount of force necessary to safely subdue someone. If what he did was ok then he wouldn't have been suspended.
WWW
