Democracy Now! Host and Producers Arrested at RNC

[pinkstarfish]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/democracy_now_host_and_produce.html

 

[pinkstarfish]

"They seriously manhandled me and handcuffed my hands behind my back. The top ID [at the convention] is to get on the floor and the Secret Service ripped that off me. I had my Democracy Now! ID too. I was clearly a reporter."

WTF??!

 

[unregistered]

 

[unregistered]

 

[pinkstarfish]

Damn... *hands over bra*

 

[yertle]

Did someone confuse the ABC reporter with FOX News maybe?

Pretty smart of that cop to show what a bad ass he was with a guy half his size and a camera crew right there.

 

[unregistered]

 

[KingOrfeo]

That ain't the half of it.

 

[unregistered]

 

[busybody..]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/democracy_now_host_and_produce.html

Thats HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whey didnt they SHOOT HIM instead

 

[RightField]

What is it with all those hoodlums demonstrating in Minneapolis and breaking the windows at the local stores? There were no demonstrations at the democrat convention...it must be that Republican Soccer Moms aren't very good at rioting.

 

[KingOrfeo]

What is it with all those hoodlums demonstrating in Minneapolis and breaking the windows at the local stores?

Cite that has happened?

 

[unregistered]

 

[Guest]

Here's video, which I just got the chance to watch.

Amy Goodman's arrest.

Makes me fucking sick. Tell me, Rightfield et al., where are the riots, the broken windows? I'm not saying that somebody, somewhere, got drunk and stupid. But seriously, where is it called for to manhandle and restrain a middle-aged woman, who can't even be bothered to resist or even speak harshly of her captors? I don't see a riot, do you? "Conspiracy to riot?" Please. These days, you can be accused of conspiracy to engage in anything. Ask any attorney. It's what they throw up there when they can't get anything else to stick. So yeah. Hope you feel good, guys. Make your smarmy-ass bullshit talking points.

Seriously, is this your country? Because it isn't mine.

 

[busybody..]

Here's video, which I just got the chance to watch.

Amy Goodman's arrest.

Makes me fucking sick. Tell me, Rightfield et al., where are the riots, the broken windows? I'm not saying that somebody, somewhere, got drunk and stupid. But seriously, where is it called for to manhandle and restrain a middle-aged woman, who can't even be bothered to resist or even speak harshly of her captors? I don't see a riot, do you? "Conspiracy to riot?" Please. These days, you can be accused of conspiracy to engage in anything. Ask any attorney. It's what they throw up there when they can't get anything else to stick. So yeah. Hope you feel good, guys. Make your smarmy-ass bullshit talking points.

Seriously, is this your country? Because it isn't mine.

The Face of Evil

The first day of the RNC was fun but muted. One group, though, wasn't deterred from pursuing its agenda by events in the Gulf. The Communist/anarchist/truther/pro-Obama protesters were out in force, committing various crimes and attempting to disrupt the proceedings.

The most shocking events are described by Jim Hoft, who was on a bus that was attacked from above when a group of protesters dropped sand bags on to the top of the bus. This is attempted murder: if the protesters had succeeded in hitting the windshield, a sand bag would have crashed through and killed the driver. The resulting accident would have killed or injured others on the bus. To my knowledge, the left-wingers/would-be murderers were not caught.

A little later, a busload of Cub Scouts were en route to the convention, where they were to present the colors to open the convention. A group of protesters--liberals, Obama supporters, or whatever--blocked the road, surrounded the bus, and attacked it, rocking the bus back and forth, denting and scratching the sides, and generally terrifying the children trapped inside. The left-wing protesters attacked a number of buses in the same way, but there is something especially despicable about attacking a group of Cub Scouts.

Among us conservatives, it's pretty much an article of faith that people of all political persuasions are good folks who should be treated with respect; we just disagree about issues of public policy. (Liberals generally don't adopt that view, although there are some honorable exceptions.) But sometimes that model doesn't apply. The liberal/anarchist/Communist/pro-Obama protesters we have seen today in St. Paul are terrible people who, in many cases, should be subject to long prison terms. Let's hope that a few of them, at least, are prosecuted.

 

[busybody..]

That ^^^^ Is You

Shitty Har Har!

 

[mark_j]

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...

Very interesting... One of the things that always strikes me about these You Tube type reports, is that they show a small snippet of the event and then build the story around the clip..

In the case of the report and clip Pinkstarfish posted, if you go by what the clip and text showed from washingtonpost.com you get the impression that Amy Goodman was arrested for no reason.. Not quite the case... Seems that she and her production crew got caught up in a protest that was getting out of hand that day...

Kingorfeo posted the link from The Nation which did clarify a bit what actually was taking place and that Amy Goodman walked into.. Unfortunately she and her crew happened into a situation and got caught up in it...Uhhmm Hello.. when you run into the middle of an ensuing riot where cops are making mass arrests don't you figure that there is a small chance you might get caught up in the net as well?

Now I have no problem with protesters. It is our right as citizens to peaceably assemble and protest. But when that assembly starts to no longer be peaceable and turns violent or destructive to private property (much as was the case with the WTO riots in Seattle) then one would expect the police to move in and break it up...

And another point... Riot police are not trained to be "politically correct" when making arrests in this manner,, they are trained to get the job done in a manner that is effective and efficient while using as little force as possible yet protecting themselves and others from a very volatile situation.. (or so I was trained in both military and civilian police training 20 odd years ago)..

An aside... Don't quote me the Boston Tea Party line.. We all know what happened there... they ended up sending the British Army eventually...

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I've met Amy Goodman.

Let's just say that the Left Wing media needs a better messiah.

 

[crackerville]

Link TV sucks anyway

 

[KingOrfeo]

Here's Democracy Now!'s own coverage of the event; same in brief here:

As the Republican National Convention opened in St. Paul Monday, thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets. Local police arrested nearly 300 demonstrators as well as several journalists covering the protests. I was arrested along with two producers from Democracy Now – Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Also arrested were Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and two filmmakers from Pepperspray Productions— Lambert Rochfort and Joseph La Sac. Officers in riot gear fired rubber bullets, tear gas, pepperspray and concussion grenades at the protesters. Gina Berglund of the National Lawyers Guild said the police action was “completely out of proportion.” While most protesters took part in a permitted anti-war rally, some activists staged breakaway marches and were seen breaking windows at the First National Bank, Macys and other buildings. One of the broken windows came in the building that houses Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, where Democracy Now is broadcasting this week. Some activists also set up makeshift barricades in the streets and tried to block delegate buses from reaching the convention. By late afternoon 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers were deployed in St. Paul to help police control the city. At the antiwar march, demonstrators called for all U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Rush Limbaugh wanted all this to happen at the Democratic convention; I guess the message got garbled somewhere along the line.

 

[busybody..]

Im sure THEY will tell us the truth

 

[Guest]

Link TV sucks anyway

I don't think anyone recalls you being a part of this discussion. Seriously, I think Paul Wall just went ridin' that-a-way. Run, fatty, and maybe you might catch up.

 

[busybody..]

I don't think anyone recalls you being a part of this discussion. .

asshole

 

[Marxist]

I've met Amy Goodman.

Let's just say that the Left Wing media needs a better messiah.

As a fellow Liberal she's an embarrassment.

All of the Democracy Now people are an embarrassment.

And the fact they play that shit on public radio and don't have a disclaimer about how far to the Left it runs? Wow. I guess maybe the Republicans do have a point about the many faces of public radio.

 

[KingOrfeo]

And the fact they play that shit on public radio and don't have a disclaimer about how far to the Left it runs? Wow. I guess maybe the Republicans do have a point about the many faces of public radio.

Disclaimer? Why? DN! makes no secret whatsoever of its politics and nobody's gonna mistake it for All Things Considered. Also, they describe their venue as "community radio" rather than "public radio," and where I live that's a distinction with a difference: All Things Considered runs on WUSF, the stodgy university station and National Public Radio affiliate that otherwise runs mostly classical and jazz music; DN! runs on the infinitely more funkitudinous self-identified "community radio" station, WMNF.