Oh. My. God.

[filkertom]

Footage from Occupy Cal yesterday. Warning: Violent, may be triggery. Only a minute and a half, but... oh my god.

Comments

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

One of the illusions that I find accompanying the aging process is an expectation that "we" (society, whatever...) should have a memory of past lessons. I'd like to believe that there's no need for a repeat of Kent State or anything even vaguely similar, though for some, the lesson learned there was: you *can* get away with gratuitous violence.

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

I come bearing good news, though! Something like 1,000 people showed up around 10:00 (the curfew that the police gave Cal students) from the community and from Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Oakland. Things looked a little hairy until about 11:30 - cops in riot masks and batons and zip ties kept coming - but everything stayed peaceful. At midnight or 1:00 (I lost track of time) Occupy Cal voted damn-near-unanimously for a general strike on Tuesday (the day before a regents' meeting). They've got some infrastructure going to plan it too, so it looks like it's off to a good start.

Only about 20-30 people stayed the night - I think a lot of people didn't come prepared to sleep outside. Things stayed peaceful until I left (around 6:45) when the news cameras showed up to interview sleepy protesters.

Now I'm going to tap a vein and start running an IV of caffeine before work. x_x

[kshandra]

And the misguided kids at Penn State overturned a camera truck, and nobody was arrested there.

Where the FUCK are this country's priorities?

edited for icon misfire

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[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw all the news/noise about people freaking out because of Paterno getting sacked. Not pursue a child molester on your staff? Get riots with lots of positive coverage. Try to call attention to the social and economic inequity in the country? Get batons in the rib cage.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

From the post: And, god-willing, this video will be seen on newcasts across America, just as the child abuse at the hands of the Texas judge was seen everywhere.

God may be willing, but Murdoch won't be. I'll be amazed if this video makes it onto MSNBC, let alone any other mainstream broadcast station. We forget just how many people out there are so computer-illiterate that they won't see anything that doesn't come across the broadcast media... which are all, every damn one of them, controlled by either Murdoch or people sympathetic to his causes.

Also, they remember how news coverage of Vietnam caused a sea-change in public opinion. Why do you think we haven't been allowed to see video of flag-covered coffins coming back from Iraq? They learned that lesson well.

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

Assuming you live in a nation that still has a conscience, this is how you win.

This is also a prime example (and I don't want to get into it again, oh defenders of the blue, just let it rest) of why I consider that the police, as a concept, are part of the problem. If the individuals in departments across the country want to resign and join the leaderless groups that will continue to spring up over the next ten years, fine. Otherwise, they need to stop doing Wall Street's bidding.

Tom Trumpinski

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

this is how you win.

Seriously. I've been following Occupy SF and Occupy Oakland pretty closely (since I work near one and live near the other respectively), and spent the night at Occupy Cal, and one thing the police just do not seem to get through their heads is that every time they storm into a camp and cause arrests and assaults and property damage? The protesters come back, and they bring their friends and the whole fucking Internet with them. SF's been raided twice and another raid appears imminent, and each time they've at least doubled in size. After Oakland's relatively small and quiet camp was raided, 1500 people turned out protest and the camp came back bigger and stronger than ever, and they mobilized a strike in less than a week. There were only a handful of Cal students when they raided their camp; by 11:00, there were over 1,000 protesters, and they've just voted to mobilize a strike of their own.

Occupy is basically Ben Kenobi; if you strike them down, they become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Icon love!

[chaosdancer.livejournal.com]

Ditto. :) And hooray for the California people!

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Gandhi was right.

"First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win."