Originally posted by GeniusSage
"A group of protesters against Bush were recently dealt with by the police, who used brute force against them, even though they were not violating
any laws in their protests."
err.... link?
i doubt very much brutal force was used against them if it wasnt neccessary.
I don't have a link for you, but I do have first hand experience with getting beat down by cops at a protest. We were protesting 98% peacefully
*someone would occasionally get nudged or pushed around a bit when we were unfolding our signs*, and the cops decided to watch us. About 10 of them
walked over towards our group and we continued to stand there, holding our signs. A guy that was 2 or 3 people behind me dropped his sign *at least
that's what the people who were in his row said*, and when he bent down to get it, he knocked someone into me and I fell into a cop. They decided
that was assaulting an officer, and suddenly there were boots and batons all over the freaking place. Some dude a few people down from me got maced,
the guy next to me caught a baton in his gut then hit the ground, I continued falling to the ground after falling into the cop and was promptly
greeted by a boot in my ribs followed by one in my back.
I can see use of force if someone intentionally attempts to injure an officer or is otherwise violence at a protest. However, if a person gets
knocked over due to someone else's slippery hands and takes a beating from the cops, it tends to sour their opinion of the law enforcement community.