A study done at the time of the Vietnam War protests found that protests would remain peaceful unless the police showed up in riot gear. Riot gear starts the riots, not protesters
As one who lived through the Chicago Democratic Convention Riots live on TV, JFK< MLK< RFK, MALCOLM X., Vietnam War, Body Bags, Jane Fonda supporting in person our student strike via a hellicopter fly in with her own money or Tom Hayden, the Rise and Fall of Tricky Dick, in grammar, high school and Ramapo College. My book"organized labor" (AuthorHouse) focuses on Justice, 1913 Paterson strikes and more...
Much more---I don't remember very much Justice or Peace but there were moments, days, years or decades of war and misery to match each...one or the other. Better and worse across the USA and our globe my entire life..
Here in PoTown, Ore and surrounding areas southward in Washington and Clackamas Counties along with eastward past Mt Hood almost to the Idaho border in Multnomah County there is no confused memory regarding the instigators of violence that met the rigorously trained in non-violent protest procedures and processes of the orderly masses gathered downtown by the federal building through the plaza to the state and City Admin buildings along with City Hall:
"Judge Holds Portland in Contempt Over Violent Policing of Protests
Police in Portland, Oregon, shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and paintballs during demonstrations against police violence in violation of a court order barring that very thing, a federal judge ruled Monday night."
Karina Brown / December 1, 2020
Protesters mass in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse Friday, in the 58th consecutive night of civil unrest over systemic racism and police brutality. (Courthouse News photo/Karina Brown)
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Police in Portland, Oregon, shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and paintballs during demonstrations against police violence in violation of a court order barring that very thing, a federal judge ruled Monday night.
In the weeks following the May 30 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Portland’s streets were often filled with thousands of protesters calling for an end to police violence, especially against black people, who are more than three times as likely to be killed by police than white people, according to a nationwide study published in June by researchers at Harvard.
Portland’s ongoing protests against systemic racism and police brutality are often met by police in riot gear, who dispense thick plumes of tear gas and fire concussion grenades, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and projectiles filled with paint, shards of metal or pepper powder.
In early June, protesters and local civil rights group Don’t Shoot Portland sued the city claiming Portland police used chemical weapons like tear gas during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to suppress protests critical of violent policing. The case is separate from one pending against federal agents accused of targeting journalists at protests for assault and arrest. It is also distinct from a case accusing police of targeting protest medics.
Despite concerns that chemical weapons that attack the lungs pose a heightened risk during the pandemic, Portland Police Bureau lead trainer Zachary Domka testified in October that Portland police haven’t had training on the use of less such weapons in over a year.
In June, U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ordered the city to use tear gas only in life-threatening situations. He soon extended the order to include police use of so-called “less lethal” impact munitions like rubber bullets and pepper balls that shoot capsules filled with burning powder. Hernandez barred police from using those weapons against “people engaged in passive resistance.”
But police violated the order almost immediately, Hernandez found in a ruling issued late Monday night.
Hernandez found “clear and convincing evidence” that Portland police had violated his restraining order in three incidents at a protest outside the building that houses the Portland Police Association — the city’s police union. At a demonstration four days after Hernandez issued his order,police shot multiple peaceful protesters with paintballs and rubber bullets, violent acts that Hernandez found to be in contempt of the federal court’s authority.
On the night of June 30, hundreds of protesters demonstrated at Peninsula Park in northeast Portland. Police didn’t intervene. But that changed when part of the crowd marched to the nearby police union headquarters. Within minutes of protesters’ arrival there, police declared an unlawful assembly, formed a line to shove protesters back and began firing rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd.
In three of the instances outlined by protesters’ attorneys, Hernandez found the city in contempt of his order. That included incidents where police fired over a dozen rounds at protesters holding a banner as they complied with police orders, shot rubber bullets at a protester on roller skates who fell when police tried to grab the banner, and later shot paintballs at a protester who ran toward an unidentified object lying between protesters. In none of the incidents were protesters “engaged in active aggression” or otherwise threatening police, Hernandez wrote.
Officer Brett Taylor testified at the October hearing that he fired 15 rounds at banner-holding protesters from his FN303 — a type of grenade launcher that he uses to shoot rubber bullets, paintballs and munitions containing pepper powder. Taylor said banners and signs can be used as weapons.
But after reviewing video of the incident and testimony from those involved, Hernandez found that Taylor was not firing his weapon in response to “active aggression,” as the order requires. On the contrary, Hernandez found protesters carrying the banner were complying with police orders to move east when Taylor fired.
“And — most importantly,” Hernandez wrote, “nothing suggested that the individual Officer Taylor targeted was engaged in ‘[a] threat or overt act of an assault, . . . which reasonably indicate[d] that an assault or injury to any person was about to happen, unless intervention occur[ed].’”
Hernandez found that “at most” the person holding the banner was “engaged in passive resistance” by refusing to let go when police grabbed it. Passive resistance is specifically protected in the judge’s restraining order.
Taylor violated the order a second time when he shot his FN303 launcher at the protester on roller skates. Taylor claimed in court testimony that he shot the skater in an effort to protect them from worse violence at the hands of police.
“I know that a pile of officers on top of an individual attempting arrest is far more dangerous than the injuries a FN303 poses,” Taylor testified.
But video evidence showed that police had shoved the skater to the ground and other protesters were simply helping the person get back up when Taylor shot them.
“Though undoubtedly a chaotic and difficult moment for an officer in his position, the evidence shows that Officer Taylor did not deploy his FN303 in response to active aggression or to prevent the use of a higher level of force,” Hernandez wrote.
And there was no evidence that the protester who later approached an unknown object on the ground between police and protesters planned to use that object as a weapon against police.
“It simply cannot be that any attempt by an individual to pick up an item off the ground at a protest constitutes a threat of assault to officers or others,” Hernandez wrote. “There was nothing in this moment to suggest that the protestor was grabbing an item with the intent to throw it at the police. The individual moved slowly and was struck by a munition before they even had the object in their hands.”
Hernandez rejected the city’s claim that the incidents were “merely technical” or “inadvertent” violations of his restraining order. He found the three violations warrant a finding of civil contempt.
They’re just a few of the many violent incidents attorney Franz Bruggemeier said constituted “months of ongoing and fairly brutal violations.” Attorneys described multiple times on June 30 where police shot or sprayed protesters with less lethal munitions not to prevent an assault, but as either a preemptive strike when a protester hadn’t shown they were about to assault police, or after a protester had acted — which attorneys said was tantamount to extrajudicial punishment.
But Hernandez found five such instances to be fair game under both his restraining order and the bureau’s own rules. And he noted that he “offers no opinion” on the numerous other types of police violence that night, writing that physical force, batons, smoke grenades and tear gas are not covered under his June 29 restraining order.
Hernandez will determine potential sanctions at a future hearing. Punishments for contempt can include further restrictions, fines or jail time.
Every Vietnam protest I went to was peaceful. Every protest I went to against Trump in 2017 was peaceful. The protests now are peaceful. Any violence will be an invitation for Trump or a republican governor to bring the police or national guard into the picture.
I protested in the twin cities after the Kent State shooting, I was 17 that year. I grew up in Madison, WI and my family knew the Armstrong family. Karl and Dwight Armstrong were part of the group who bombed the Sterling Hall. I rented our upstairs apartment to Dwight, his wife and baby in 1984-5 after he got out of prison. Needless to say his name was notorious in Madison.
Ironically, while the Kent State events inspired a popular American protest song, the song in question was actually written by Canadian music icon Neil Young, who was then recording with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. It was rush released and hit #14 on Billboard in 1970.
I was a sophomore in high school when Kent state happened. I vaguely remember it being on the news back then. I lived in a place where the news was spotty at times and my crazy Da always hogging the TV. The difference between then and now is that Trump is getting things ready ahead of time as we write this. Putting active duty troops on the southern border in defiance of the Posse Comitatus law, and, as you put it, militarizing the police through ICE and Homeland Security.
It's another one of those times where the people aren't seeing the forest for the trees. I'm waiting for Trump to declare martial law under the insurrection clause of the constitution and we end up with national guard troops in the streets to quell the insurrectionists (protestors). Someone will get shot and I think it will be much worse than Kent State if it happens. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
I am 65 lived through Beatles, Vietnam war, prisoners of war returning home, inflation, Nixon, Carter, bush, mom leaving dad, and big sigh, living in Baltimore. We had riots then. We had riots in 2015 when Freddy Gray died. I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot. There is always a whole lot more to the story. Most of the protests were non violent, but when rioting began all bets are off. When anarchists are hiding in a group, people who want blood, justice and a change in how they are treated and availability of resources and my personal favorite corruption again all bets are off.
There is the story the media presents and then there is the truth with all the misinformation, lies, and agendas. There are those among us that would happily burn everything to the ground, make life hard, walk away from the rebuilding process, just to do the same thing next town over.
Nothing is black and white, true false, right wrong. Think of this as a teenager or young adult learning the ropes, figure out what works and what does not, and the ground constantly shifting under your feet. You can’t build a solid foundation in the sand.
No one was ultimately punished for the Kent State shootings. While investigations and charges were filed, the individuals accused were acquitted.
Nothing ever changes
I’m seeing a trend ….
A study done at the time of the Vietnam War protests found that protests would remain peaceful unless the police showed up in riot gear. Riot gear starts the riots, not protesters
Thank you for writing this post, Michelle, I appreciate your work very much.
Thank you, Nan. Comments like yours keep me going!
As one who lived through the Chicago Democratic Convention Riots live on TV, JFK< MLK< RFK, MALCOLM X., Vietnam War, Body Bags, Jane Fonda supporting in person our student strike via a hellicopter fly in with her own money or Tom Hayden, the Rise and Fall of Tricky Dick, in grammar, high school and Ramapo College. My book"organized labor" (AuthorHouse) focuses on Justice, 1913 Paterson strikes and more...
and Kent Stat.
Much more---I don't remember very much Justice or Peace but there were moments, days, years or decades of war and misery to match each...one or the other. Better and worse across the USA and our globe my entire life..
Thanks, Michelle...you give me hope too...
Here in PoTown, Ore and surrounding areas southward in Washington and Clackamas Counties along with eastward past Mt Hood almost to the Idaho border in Multnomah County there is no confused memory regarding the instigators of violence that met the rigorously trained in non-violent protest procedures and processes of the orderly masses gathered downtown by the federal building through the plaza to the state and City Admin buildings along with City Hall:
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-holds-portland-in-contempt-over-violent-policing-of-protests/
"Judge Holds Portland in Contempt Over Violent Policing of Protests
Police in Portland, Oregon, shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and paintballs during demonstrations against police violence in violation of a court order barring that very thing, a federal judge ruled Monday night."
Karina Brown / December 1, 2020
Protesters mass in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse Friday, in the 58th consecutive night of civil unrest over systemic racism and police brutality. (Courthouse News photo/Karina Brown)
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Police in Portland, Oregon, shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and paintballs during demonstrations against police violence in violation of a court order barring that very thing, a federal judge ruled Monday night.
In the weeks following the May 30 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Portland’s streets were often filled with thousands of protesters calling for an end to police violence, especially against black people, who are more than three times as likely to be killed by police than white people, according to a nationwide study published in June by researchers at Harvard.
Portland’s ongoing protests against systemic racism and police brutality are often met by police in riot gear, who dispense thick plumes of tear gas and fire concussion grenades, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and projectiles filled with paint, shards of metal or pepper powder.
In early June, protesters and local civil rights group Don’t Shoot Portland sued the city claiming Portland police used chemical weapons like tear gas during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to suppress protests critical of violent policing. The case is separate from one pending against federal agents accused of targeting journalists at protests for assault and arrest. It is also distinct from a case accusing police of targeting protest medics.
Despite concerns that chemical weapons that attack the lungs pose a heightened risk during the pandemic, Portland Police Bureau lead trainer Zachary Domka testified in October that Portland police haven’t had training on the use of less such weapons in over a year.
In June, U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ordered the city to use tear gas only in life-threatening situations. He soon extended the order to include police use of so-called “less lethal” impact munitions like rubber bullets and pepper balls that shoot capsules filled with burning powder. Hernandez barred police from using those weapons against “people engaged in passive resistance.”
But police violated the order almost immediately, Hernandez found in a ruling issued late Monday night.
Hernandez found “clear and convincing evidence” that Portland police had violated his restraining order in three incidents at a protest outside the building that houses the Portland Police Association — the city’s police union. At a demonstration four days after Hernandez issued his order,police shot multiple peaceful protesters with paintballs and rubber bullets, violent acts that Hernandez found to be in contempt of the federal court’s authority.
On the night of June 30, hundreds of protesters demonstrated at Peninsula Park in northeast Portland. Police didn’t intervene. But that changed when part of the crowd marched to the nearby police union headquarters. Within minutes of protesters’ arrival there, police declared an unlawful assembly, formed a line to shove protesters back and began firing rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd.
In three of the instances outlined by protesters’ attorneys, Hernandez found the city in contempt of his order. That included incidents where police fired over a dozen rounds at protesters holding a banner as they complied with police orders, shot rubber bullets at a protester on roller skates who fell when police tried to grab the banner, and later shot paintballs at a protester who ran toward an unidentified object lying between protesters. In none of the incidents were protesters “engaged in active aggression” or otherwise threatening police, Hernandez wrote.
Officer Brett Taylor testified at the October hearing that he fired 15 rounds at banner-holding protesters from his FN303 — a type of grenade launcher that he uses to shoot rubber bullets, paintballs and munitions containing pepper powder. Taylor said banners and signs can be used as weapons.
But after reviewing video of the incident and testimony from those involved, Hernandez found that Taylor was not firing his weapon in response to “active aggression,” as the order requires. On the contrary, Hernandez found protesters carrying the banner were complying with police orders to move east when Taylor fired.
“And — most importantly,” Hernandez wrote, “nothing suggested that the individual Officer Taylor targeted was engaged in ‘[a] threat or overt act of an assault, . . . which reasonably indicate[d] that an assault or injury to any person was about to happen, unless intervention occur[ed].’”
Hernandez found that “at most” the person holding the banner was “engaged in passive resistance” by refusing to let go when police grabbed it. Passive resistance is specifically protected in the judge’s restraining order.
Taylor violated the order a second time when he shot his FN303 launcher at the protester on roller skates. Taylor claimed in court testimony that he shot the skater in an effort to protect them from worse violence at the hands of police.
“I know that a pile of officers on top of an individual attempting arrest is far more dangerous than the injuries a FN303 poses,” Taylor testified.
But video evidence showed that police had shoved the skater to the ground and other protesters were simply helping the person get back up when Taylor shot them.
“Though undoubtedly a chaotic and difficult moment for an officer in his position, the evidence shows that Officer Taylor did not deploy his FN303 in response to active aggression or to prevent the use of a higher level of force,” Hernandez wrote.
And there was no evidence that the protester who later approached an unknown object on the ground between police and protesters planned to use that object as a weapon against police.
“It simply cannot be that any attempt by an individual to pick up an item off the ground at a protest constitutes a threat of assault to officers or others,” Hernandez wrote. “There was nothing in this moment to suggest that the protestor was grabbing an item with the intent to throw it at the police. The individual moved slowly and was struck by a munition before they even had the object in their hands.”
Hernandez rejected the city’s claim that the incidents were “merely technical” or “inadvertent” violations of his restraining order. He found the three violations warrant a finding of civil contempt.
They’re just a few of the many violent incidents attorney Franz Bruggemeier said constituted “months of ongoing and fairly brutal violations.” Attorneys described multiple times on June 30 where police shot or sprayed protesters with less lethal munitions not to prevent an assault, but as either a preemptive strike when a protester hadn’t shown they were about to assault police, or after a protester had acted — which attorneys said was tantamount to extrajudicial punishment.
But Hernandez found five such instances to be fair game under both his restraining order and the bureau’s own rules. And he noted that he “offers no opinion” on the numerous other types of police violence that night, writing that physical force, batons, smoke grenades and tear gas are not covered under his June 29 restraining order.
Hernandez will determine potential sanctions at a future hearing. Punishments for contempt can include further restrictions, fines or jail time.
(C) Courthouse News Service
Evidentiary submission
Via
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
Every Vietnam protest I went to was peaceful. Every protest I went to against Trump in 2017 was peaceful. The protests now are peaceful. Any violence will be an invitation for Trump or a republican governor to bring the police or national guard into the picture.
I protested in the twin cities after the Kent State shooting, I was 17 that year. I grew up in Madison, WI and my family knew the Armstrong family. Karl and Dwight Armstrong were part of the group who bombed the Sterling Hall. I rented our upstairs apartment to Dwight, his wife and baby in 1984-5 after he got out of prison. Needless to say his name was notorious in Madison.
Ironically, while the Kent State events inspired a popular American protest song, the song in question was actually written by Canadian music icon Neil Young, who was then recording with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. It was rush released and hit #14 on Billboard in 1970.
I was a sophomore in high school when Kent state happened. I vaguely remember it being on the news back then. I lived in a place where the news was spotty at times and my crazy Da always hogging the TV. The difference between then and now is that Trump is getting things ready ahead of time as we write this. Putting active duty troops on the southern border in defiance of the Posse Comitatus law, and, as you put it, militarizing the police through ICE and Homeland Security.
It's another one of those times where the people aren't seeing the forest for the trees. I'm waiting for Trump to declare martial law under the insurrection clause of the constitution and we end up with national guard troops in the streets to quell the insurrectionists (protestors). Someone will get shot and I think it will be much worse than Kent State if it happens. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
I am 65 lived through Beatles, Vietnam war, prisoners of war returning home, inflation, Nixon, Carter, bush, mom leaving dad, and big sigh, living in Baltimore. We had riots then. We had riots in 2015 when Freddy Gray died. I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot. There is always a whole lot more to the story. Most of the protests were non violent, but when rioting began all bets are off. When anarchists are hiding in a group, people who want blood, justice and a change in how they are treated and availability of resources and my personal favorite corruption again all bets are off.
There is the story the media presents and then there is the truth with all the misinformation, lies, and agendas. There are those among us that would happily burn everything to the ground, make life hard, walk away from the rebuilding process, just to do the same thing next town over.
Nothing is black and white, true false, right wrong. Think of this as a teenager or young adult learning the ropes, figure out what works and what does not, and the ground constantly shifting under your feet. You can’t build a solid foundation in the sand.
If need be---the sand must become cement !!!
Black is the absense of color; The Truth is NEVER a lie.
Honesty, Integrity and Morality are still the 10 commandments hanging on,
When djt spouts nonsense and hyperbolie it is still nonsense and NOT the truth.
Actually black is 100% of all colors together. The absence of color is white. Finally my art classes payoff!
sorry am trumped out