Police repression in America is hardly new. Low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and political activists have always had to deal with unnecessary shows of force by some police officers. However, as the number of Occupy arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up.
The Oakland Police fired tear gas on demonstrators Tuesday night as they marched through downtown, determined to reclaim the camp that officers destroyed that morning. The use of force seriously injured an Occupy activist and Iraq War veteran. Scott Olsen, 24, remains sedated on a respirator, in stable but critical condition at Highland Hospital. Video posted to YouTube suggests that Olsen was hit at close range with a tear-gas canister. After demonstrators rush to Olsen's aid, an Oakland cop waits a few beats before lobbing a second explosive device at the crowd.
Felix Rivera-Pitre was punched in the face in New York during a march through the city’s financial district; Ryan Hadar was dragged out of the street by his thumbs at Occupy San Francisco; and at Occupy Boston, members of Veterans for Peace were shoved to the ground and dragged away for chanting and peacefully occupying a local park.
Now all of America is seeing the result of police militarization. Efforts to intimidate the protesters are symptoms of three decades of policies that have militarized civilian law enforcement.
A clear pattern has emerged in the response to occupations throughout the country, from San Francisco to Denver, involving midnight raids by heavily armed paramilitary units of riot police deployed to enforce park curfews.
This level of overwhelming police presence, along with the disproportionate and combative force directed at peaceful, unarmed protesters, alarms Americans previously unaware of the increasingly militaristic nature of American law enforcement.
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