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pepper sprayed for "walking too close"

If you are concerned about tax dollars going to victims of abuses of power, take it up with the cops bosses.
 
Short video, so hard to tell what the circumstances were. Seems pretty clear that police shouldn't pepper spray a non-threatening dude on the phone though. We're all riders, we know how hard the adrenaline tunnel vision can hit when you go into fight or flight mode. Target fixation and all that shit. Militarized police with inadequate rules of engagement training and inadequate stress response training = bad day for all concerned. Thankfully this one is kind of funny, instead of just sad and terrible.
 
Human Ills said:
If you are concerned about tax dollars going to victims of abuses of power, take it up with the cops bosses.
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This is just as much about bureaucracy as it is about police. A level of misconduct is inherent in any civil service job, and eliminating it is simply not possible.

The police union protects the officer, and the only outcome will be to spend more money training. This will in turn lead to higher expenses per officer, which will lead to finding technical efficiencies (e.g. militarization) to make officers more effective.
 
Your 'inevitable ' conclusion is simply unacceptable. If what it takes is to completely bankrupt an oppressive system, so be it. And as more people have absolutely no financial stake in the current system (the direction we are headed) than not, fewer people will concern themselves with the tax dollars spent. The system is unsustainable from so many angles:party
 
Killroy1999 said:
The dude that got pepper sprayed should be able to pepper spray the cop back and then they can call it even and everyone can get over the mistake.

Think of it like a penalty kick in soccer.

He gets to use the same pepper spray cannon the cop used, though. :twofinger
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Totally agree, as long as the next rapist convicted gets gang raped, the next person who commits assault gets the shit beat out of them, the next arsonist gets lit on fire, the next murderer gets murdered, and so on. Sound good?
 
Human Ills said:
I would also say we only have freedom of speech up until the point that the guardians of the status quo decide that you are going to begin to influence the broader population, then you get silenced.
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The fact that you think these protesters are in any way influencing the broader population is comedy gold. They're influencing it in the same way ISIS is influencing it. Meaning, they're doing nothing but strengthening its resolve against all this nonsense.
 
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Human Ills said:
Your 'inevitable ' conclusion is simply unacceptable. If what it takes is to completely bankrupt an oppressive system, so be it. And as more people have absolutely no financial stake in the current system (the direction we are headed) than not, fewer people will concern themselves with the tax dollars spent. The system is unsustainable from so many angles:party
Click to expand...

And why are you so confident the system replacing it would be any better, if not much worse?
 
Archimedes said:
The fact that you think these protesters are in any way influencing the broader population is comedy gold. They're influencing it in the same was ISIS is influencing it. Meaning, they're doing nothing but strengthening its resolve against all this nonsense.
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Yes! The people will prevail! :party
 
Archimedes said:
The fact that you think these protesters are in any way influencing the broader population is comedy gold. They're influencing it in the same way ISIS is influencing it. Meaning, they're doing nothing but strengthening its resolve against all this nonsense.
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You think that cop was protecting the broader population:rofl
 
bikeama said:
You think that cop was protecting the broader population:rofl
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Sorry, not sure where you think I said that.

My only comments in this thread have been:

1. That was funny;

2. The Liquid Fecal Matter Cannon is superior to pepper spray when attempting to disperse protesters who've become unruly; and

3. Human Ills' contention that these idiots yelling in the streets are influencing the broader population is laughable.
 
When you're too stupid to offer a feasible solution, just bitch about things LOUDER! Sooner or later the grown up will HAVE to do something about it.
 
Archimedes said:
The fact that you think these protesters are in any way influencing the broader population is comedy gold. They're influencing it in the same way ISIS is influencing it. Meaning, they're doing nothing but strengthening its resolve against all this nonsense.
Click to expand...
Try reading that again, this time for comprehension.
 
Archimedes said:
The fact that you think these protesters are in any way influencing the broader population is comedy gold. They're influencing it in the same way ISIS is influencing it. Meaning, they're doing nothing but strengthening its resolve against all this nonsense.
Click to expand...

Human Ills said:
Try reading that again, this time for comprehension.
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Archimedes is absolutely clear, and absolutely correct.
 
So why is the guy on the phone ("minding his own bidness/talking to his momma") wearing the same yellow armband the protesters are? Look at .03.
 
so I guess no one read the article.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/01/30/video-seattle-cop-pepper-sprays-man-cell-phone

"It is unclear from the video why the pepper spray was used against the man, who was walking by while on his cell phone.

Police had deployed to a Martin Luther King Day rally that was described as peaceful.

The officer can he heard on the tape, yelling "Get back!" before she sprays the man and a few people next to him.

The man is a high school history teacher and activist named Jesse Hagopian who had just spoken at the rally.

He said he was on the phone with his mother when the incident occurred."

this is why people were in the street, seems they were people leaving a peaceful MLK day rally.
 
We (BARF, society, the short bus) can debate this shit all we want. People can protest until the cows come home. DA's can pursue excessive force cases here and there. People can even win multimillion dollar civil judgements once in a while (it's just a redistribution of tax money.)

The simple fact is this. The cops aren't losing this fight. Law enforcement, the system, the institutions behind it, the broader population relying on the institutions, the system and law enforcement aren't losing this fight. Protesters can protest until the cows come home, until they're old and grey, and then stepping into their grave. And they will lose the fight.

Doesn't matter which side you're on or what you believe is right or wrong. What matters is practical reality. If people want to waste their time/lives in the streets protesting rather than getting on with their lives, I wish them the best of luck. But it isn't going to make a lick of difference. This isn't Rosa Parks on the bus or MLK on a bridge in Selma. The issues are vastly different and the outcome will be as well. These protests are just noise. Which will eventually fade.
 
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