Occupy ROTH Army

[FORD]

Well these Oakland pigs shot Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran in the head with a so called "rubber bullet".



How's that for irony? Survive a useless war on the other side of the planet, and then get shot by "friendly fire" in your own fucking country, while standing up to the REAL terorrist threat against this country?

[FORD]

Scott Olsen injuries prompt review as Occupy Oakland protests continue

Oakland's police review body looks into clashes between officers and protesters after Iraq war veteran suffered fractured skull

Adam Gabbatt
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 October 2011 18.34 EDT
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Oakland's independent police review body will examine the clashes between riot officers and protesters that left an Iraq war veteran in a critical condition as Occupy protestors prepare to rally at the same spot for a third night of protests.

Police battled protesters following an Occupy Oakland march to demonstrate against the closing of two occupations in the city in the early hours of Tuesday morning. More than 100 people have been arrested in Oakland since police cleared a camp in Frank Ogawa plaza.

Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling after he was allegedly hit in the head by a police projectile during the clashes on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Highland hospital in east Oakland confirmed he was critically ill after being admitted on Tuesday night.

A source at the Oakland citizen's police review board said it had not yet received a formal complaint, but would be "looking into" the circumstances surrounding Olsen's injuries. The board will decide whether to launch an official investigation over the next couple of days.

Jay Finneburgh, an activist photographer who was at the protest, published pictures of Olsen lying bloodied on the ground, while video footage appeared to show police throwing a 'flash bang' explosive close to fellow protesters trying to provide aid.

"[Olsen] stood behind me," Finneburgh told the Guardian. "I looked to my left and he hit the ground, and he hit it hard.

"A woman went to look down at him, and he was bleeding from the head. She started screaming," he said.

Video footage posted to YouTube shows Olsen lying motionless in front of a police line after apparently having been hit. A group of up to 10 protesters gather around him, but a police officer can be seen throwing a device close to the group which then explodes with a bright flash and loud bang, scattering the protesters. The video then cuts to footage of protesters carrying Olsen away as he bleeds from the head.

Olsen was taken to Highland hospital by protesters. Adele Carpenter, who knows Olsen through his involvement with anti-war groups, said she arrived at the hospital at 11pm on Tuesday night.

Carpenter said she was told by a doctor at the hospital that Olsen had a skull fracture and was in a "serious but stable" condition. She said he had been sedated and was unconscious.

"I'm just absolutely devastated that someone who did two tours of Iraq and came home safely is now lying in a US hospital because of the domestic police force," Carpenter told the Guardian.

Olsen, originally from Wisconsin, had only moved to Oakland in July, and met Carpenter through his membership of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Keith Shannon, who shares an apartment with Olsen and served with him in Iraq, said a neurosurgeon was due to assess him on Tuesday to determine whether he required surgery.

"It's really hard," Shannon said. "I really wish I had gone out with him instead of staying home last night."

Shannon, who is also 24, said he had seen the video footage showing Olsen lying on the floor as a police officer throws an explosive device near him.

"It's terrible to go over to Iraq twice and come back injured, and then get injured by the police that are supposed to be protecting us," he said.

He said Olsen had served two tours of Iraq, in 2006 and 2007. Olsen was in 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines with Shannon before leaving the military in 2010.

Olsen moved to the San Francisco area in July and works for Opswat, a software company, living with Shannon in Daly City, just south of San Francisco.

Shannon said Olsen was hit in the head by a tear gas canister or smoke canister shot by a police officer. He said Olsen had a curved gash on his forehead.

Veterans for Police said Olsen was "struck by a police projectile fired into a crowd in downtown Oakland".

"Police in the majority of cities are acting with restraint and humanity towards the encampments, but Veterans For Peace will not be deterred by police who choose to use brutal tactics," the organisation said in a statement.

Oakland police confirmed at a press conference that they used tear gas and baton rounds, but said they did not use flash bang grenades. Police could not be reached for comment, but Finneburgh, who said he had been "present in many protests" where flash bang grenades had been used, said they had been deployed.

Finneburgh said he had returned to where Olsen had originally lain injured later in the evening, and close to a pool of blood had found a beanbag round, apparently fired by police. The controversial projectile, a small fabric pillow filled with around 40 grammes of lead shot, is one of the most commonly used projectiles in US policing, though it was withdrawn for 18 years after a fatal incident in 1971.

© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

[Nitro Express]

Hmmm....reads like my mother.

You must have one fucked up mom.

[Nitro Express]

All these so called non-lethal weapons have just made the police lazy and they over use them. I think tazers and bean bag rounds should be outlawed.

[Dr. Love]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/watch-successful-ceo-and-financial-expert-peter-schiff-take-on-the-99-at-occupy-wall-street/

Linking this because it's important to show more than just 1 side of the discussion. Not sure how to embed that video, but it's worth a watch.

I do believe, however, that the issue of taxes (like that of jobs) is a distraction from the real issues that needs to be addressed:

1) Removing the influence of money from politics (nationally funded election system, no corporations as people)
2) Holding the people that destroyed our economy accountable
3) Level the playing field for everyone involved -- if a business or individual makes a risky investment and it fails, they should reap the consequences. No bailouts, no 0% loans, etc. If something is "too big to fail", it's too big to exist.

Jobs are important, taxes are important, but as long as our system is corrupted by money, we'll never be able to get ahead.

[Unchainme]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/watc...y-wall-street/

Linking this because it's important to show more than just 1 side of the discussion. Not sure how to embed that video, but it's worth a watch.

I do believe, however, that the issue of taxes (like that of jobs) is a distraction from the real issues that needs to be addressed:

1) Removing the influence of money from politics (nationally funded election system, no corporations as people)
2) Holding the people that destroyed our economy accountable
3) Level the playing field for everyone involved -- if a business or individual makes a risky investment and it fails, they should reap the consequences. No bailouts, no 0% loans, etc. If something is "too big to fail", it's too big to exist.

Jobs are important, taxes are important, but as long as our system is corrupted by money, we'll never be able to get ahead.

There. Simple. Done.

Want to have more people get behind OWS, and not mock it? Those are your three main points. Something so damn simple and so easy to present to people, and it would be difficult for one person in the country to argue against it.

All these other inclusions of other things that this protest has tried to slip in are pointless. Keep It Simple.

Kick the hippies out and let the average joe tell how things should be done.

great post doctor .

[Kristy]

Kick the hippies out and let the average joe tell how things should be done.

Explain to me who the "average Joe" is. Most of the shit stirrers in the OWS are not hippies but rather bored college kids with all sorts of gadgets who feel if they can sponge the internet for free by hanging out all day in coffee shops and public libraries. So they bring their uber-expensive Mac Books and HP's to a public sidewalk believing they have the same sort of entitlement. What I find ironic if not downright comical is how they use their "sidewalk networks" to claim police brutality and fascism but are the first ones to run to a cop when their $4,500 iBook is stolen (What? No redistribution of wealth?) And since when do you need a Blackberry to protest?

To me, that is the type of shit that has to go. Everything. The digital cameras, the constant YouTube postings, the endless blogs, rants and yes, even fashion tips on what to wear to a protest. I went to a protest here in Denver last Saturday and it was fucking freak fest - there was no unity. Just techno-geeks taking photos with $3,000 Nikons hoping to catch a picture of someone making an ass out of themselves, drug dealers and other shit heads trying to sell you carmel apples of all things. People with megaphones saying cops are fascist while not having a single clue of economics 101. And really, how can this mindset change anything? You know the baking fat cats look at this shit and laugh their cocks off.

[Nitro Express]

I guess they want us to be like North Korea since everyone has a job there. Actually I don't think these people could find North Korea on a map.

[Satan]

Apparently Pat Robertson's reasonably sane statement about the Repuke Candidates was his limit for the week. He's back to normal now....or at least his fucked up idea of "normal".......

uhhh Pat.... ironic that a Devil should be the one who has to bring this up, but didn't JC "occupy" the Temple and kick the moneychangers out???

[Nitro Express]

So they bring their uber-expensive Mac Books and HP's to a public sidewalk believing they have the same sort of entitlement.

I will be impressed if they are out there in the Denver winter still protesting their cause. Real revolutions are led by people who are willing to sacrifice for the cause. As soon as it gets cold and the trend gets old, these people will be off back where they came from.

Also redistribution of wealth means nobody can have a nicer smart phone, tablet or laptop than anyone else. So maybe that $4,500 iBook should be confiscated because it's unfair. I don't care that it's your private property, it's not fair and capitalism is evil.

You know the baking fat cats look at this shit and laugh their cocks off.

I think they organized the thing. With a real protest you hear about it after it happens. Some pissed off people show up and people hear about it and it grows from there. I was hearing about this thing before it even happened and it's all over in every city and it's too organized. It doesn't pass the smell test to me.

[Satan]

[Satan]

[Nitro Express]

Malloy has to be the most unprofessional idiot I have ever heard. This guy is a piece of trash. It's why Rachel Maddow has the big gig and this loser doesn't. She at least has class and sticks with the issues instead of acting like some sewer mouth.

[Satan]

[Satan]

I guess they want us to be like North Korea since everyone has a job there. Actually I don't think these people could find North Korea on a map.

And if you believe that asshat in that video was a real Russian, then I have a beachfront condo at the Lake of Fire for sale.

That's the worst fake Russian accent I've heard in millenia!