US Marine in critical condition after OccupyOakland

US Marine in critical condition after OccupyOakland

US Vet in Critical Condition

A U.S. Marine veteran is today in a critical condition in hospital after being injured by a police gas canister during last night's Occupy Oakland protests, which saw running battles break out between authorities and protesters as a crowd tried to reclaim an encampment.
Scott Olsen, 24, of Daly City, California, an Iraq veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, suffered a skull fracture and brain swelling after being hit in the head during the riots.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Alright. So where did it become okay to use tear gas as a first response? It matters not if they are blocking the way, they are peaceful protesters, and you can grab them and take them away. But you must resort to using tear gas? and rubber bullets? and sound cannons? I have lost even more respect for some of the police. There are pictures of the marine, and other people in the link, beware, some are bloody. One photographs a woman in a wheelchair coming out of a cloud of tear gas. The marine got smashed in the head with a tear gas canister (or perhaps a rubber bullet), he has a fractured skull, and brain swelling. God bless.

This is going to invoke more of a response from the marines and military, I am not military, but i have the understanding that they are like brothers, they fight side by side. And after this, i suspect an increased military presence at any Occupy encampment.

Military like this man, will always have a place in my heart for standing up for what they believe in. Peace.

These Cops sure know how to dig there own graves.

Good job for smoking out handcaps people in wheelchairs with tear gas and cracking skulls of veterens for PEACE! This will really gets the people on your side!

NOT

Originally posted by camaro68ss
These Cops sure know how to dig there own graves.

Good job for smoking out handcaps with tear gas and cracking skulls of veterens for peace.

Exactly. They went to the most extreme measures, and that is only going to make people more mad. And more people will come out in support. Especially veterans after this incident, and the one last month with the big man freaking out at NYPD.

And seriously, I'm glad i wasn't there. I would have been throwing the canisters back at police heads. I have no tolerance for that crap.

If this Marine dies, I'm fairly certain that WILL be the straw that breaks the camels back.

On a side note, can you imagine what things would be like if the OWS protesters brought their guns to the protests like the tea baggers did? Would we have seen this same kind of response from the police? Or would we have seen the same "tolerance" given to the tea baggers packing heat?

This video sent shivers down my spine....

I live in the bay area and close to Oakland. I know these cops and most of them think they are all above the law. They are going to have some major problems in the coming days if they keep this up!

Originally posted by Aggie Man
If this Marine dies, I'm fairly certain that WILL be the straw that breaks the camels back.

On a side note, can you imagine what things would be like if the OWS protesters brought their guns to the protests like the tea baggers did? Would we have seen this same kind of response from the police? Or would we have seen the same "tolerance" given to the tea baggers packing heat?

edit on 26-10-2011 by Aggie Man because: (no reason given)

Hey in california you have the right to open carrie, that ends jan 1, 2012, but you can still carrie right now. Not that im avacating people to start marching with side arms but its possible to do so legally right now.

First of All, I didn't want to post this. I decided to wait.

Why in case I was accused of being an outsider and all.

Now a War Vet has been injured, or could have been killed.

I want to hear, those of you who criticise and praise the Police to come in here.

And say to me the Police was justified in what they did. And also how do you feel now, one of those who fought for your country, has now been injured.

The pictures of the police in riot-gear is very.. eerie, it reminds me of something like Killzone..
They are like storm troopers, and yes. If this marine dies (i hope not), the stick will break. And you think tear gas and rubber bullets are going to stop people?

People are very resourceful, Make home-made smoke bombs.

How will the public react to a War Veteran being seriously injured , only I have my fingers crossed this individual survives. What is going to happen if he dies. That is my question.

Are we at an impass now? For the people of this world to unite and tell our governments to stop.

Originally posted by AzureSky
The pictures of the police in riot-gear is very.. eerie, it reminds me of something like Killzone..
They are like storm troopers, and yes. If this marine dies (i hope not), the stick will break. And you think tear gas and rubber bullets are going to stop people?

People are very resourceful, Make home-made smoke bombs.

more like buy gas masks for $20, get a street bike helmet and make your own shields to pretect yourself.

I only ask to use these as a defence in your protest when you have skull cracking cops on the other side.

Huh. I hold my Marines to a higher caliber.

Generally speaking, when stuff like this happens - you have a belligerent group of protesters who do require the use of intermediate weapons to bring into line - the effects of which often bleed over into other groups.

It's really pretty difficult to tell what, exactly, was going on from what videos I've seen of the incident.

Originally posted by camaro68ss
These Cops sure know how to dig there own graves.

But who's going to do anything?

This is the problem... there have been so many instances of police brutality and overreacting and so on in the last few weeks.... and what's happened?

Nothing.


Seriously, who is going to bring these assholes to account?

reply to post by blupblup


to do it in a peaceful way, find the idenity of the cops and expose them. That will get them to think twice.

Now I know why the protesters in Athens, Greece, were seen with full motorcycle helmets on, visors down.

This is a sad story, but not unexpected, considering the mentality of the men in blue. I hope the Marine pulls through with a full recovery. I also hope that this will be a clarion call for veterans to come out and show their solidarity. They, more than any other, know how dishonest and dishonorable our government has become. They, more than any other, know that they were nothing more than an invading force for Wall Street multinational interests, and once TPTB were done with them, they tossed them aside like garbage.

It has become time to bite the hand that pretends to feed us.

Originally posted by blupblup

Originally posted by camaro68ss
These Cops sure know how to dig there own graves.

But who's going to do anything?

This is the problem... there have been so many instances of police brutality and overreacting and so on in the last few weeks.... and what's happened?

Nothing.


Seriously, who is going to bring these assholes to account?

If there are any military in the audience, what is your view on it?
I believe that the military men/women have a bond, stronger than just any old bond. A war bond. They fought together in the war. It will incite anger among a lot of people i do believe. If this man dies, it will be the turning point i do believe. It just brings more military into the mix. And they are tougher than cops ever will be.

Veterans fought a war, and now they're fighting one at home against people sworn to protect the people.

heading to work now, ill be quick.

This boils my blood. They have always told us the perfect "Peaceful Protest ways" but now they dont even follow that #ing rule! When they tell us something, we follow it and then they create counter measures for what they told us to do, the system has failed.

I say burn it all #ing down, this ignorance here just goes to show their not following the rules so why the # should we. This is absolute filth on the governments face.

Oh poo, i do believe this has already been posted as well, damn..

reply to post by AnonymousFem

And say to me the Police was justified in what they did. And also how do you feel now, one of those who fought for your country, has now been injured.

He should have known better. We're trained to avoid such shenanigans for a reason. You end up being -the- 5-O'Clock news.

People love soldiers in their own way. To some, they are romantic, gallant figures; to others, they represent everything that they fear. The actions us military personnel take in the civilian world tend to carry immense weight because of our famous/infamous marginalization.

He shouldn't have been there, plain and simple. His status as a veteran should have been left out of the issue, entirely. His -individual- actions reflect upon the uniform he once wore.

He's now been injured and compromised. If "# hits the fan" and we do need armed citizens - he's out of commission and also labeled himself as a threat to various parties in the wings.

Hence why I don't ever show up at protests/demonstrations. I'll be there when it matters, voting on legislation or participating in open floor discussions; or stalking through the streets with an assault rifle in pursuit of enemies - there's not much need to draw more attention to myself or my affiliations than that.