The stormtroopers in Baton Rouge have been particularly scary the past few days, and their more than questionable behaviour continues. Cops everywhere have been making up little Catch 22s that will see people arrested no matter what. Prior to DeRay McKesson being arrested, people were told to get on the sidewalk. When Protesters pointed out they were on the shoulder, because there wasn’t a sidewalk, they were arrested. In Baltimore, bus service to the protest area had been stopped by cops. Cops told people to disperse, but many of them had no way to do that because there were no buses. So, arrested for not dispersing. Ieshia Evans was arrested for impeding traffic, while that massive line of armored stormtroopers blocking the street was somehow just dandy for traffic. Now, when a homeowner offered her property as a safe place for protesters, the cops twisted about and came up with excuses to roust and arrest people anyway, saying there is no safe space, because you know, you just fucking might break the law at some point.
Hundreds of people in Baton Rouge who were peacefully protesting on private property Sunday evening were thrown into the street by police—and then several were arrested for being on the street.
Approximately 500 people had gathered at France and East in downtown Baton Rouge after first coming together at a nearby Methodist church to protest the police killing of Alton Sterling. Meeting the protesters were about 100 officers in riot gear. A homeowner gave the protesters safe refuge on her front lawn so they would not be arrested for being in the street.
“No justice, no peace!” they yelled.
After 90 minutes of peaceful assembly, police charged the crowd for no apparent reason. Protesters scattered, many running down a side street. Those protesters were then arrested for obstruction of a highway.
A wall of riot police then pushed the scattered protesters further away, block by block, and arrested some at the front of the crowd. “Clear the streets and leave the area!” one officer shouted through a bullhorn. “This is an unlawful assembly!”
The homeowner told CBS News she was “stunned” by police behavior.
“I kept telling them: ‘This is my property, please do not do that, I live here,’” she said. “They just looked at me and ignored the things I was saying.”
Lt. Jonny Dunham of the Baton Rouge Police Department said the protesters were arrested for previously breaking the law by obstructing a public passage by trying to get on an interstate on-ramp. “Once you’ve broken the law, there is no safe space.”
Throughout the confrontation, police threatened to arrest all journalists without credentials.
They "had already broken the law" Baton Rouge police explain why protesters were arrested on private property pic.twitter.com/I7pBpHPAsS
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 11, 2016
Allow me to emphasize that statement: “Once you’ve broken the law, there is no safe space.” We are fucked. All of us. If there’s no reason to arrest, they will make one up. Arrests will be justified on the basis of possible intent. Welcome to the dystopian nightmare.
this is currently going on in baton rouge, this is terrifying. #BatonRouge #BlackLivesMatter #AltonSterling pic.twitter.com/sYvrQzSteW
— greg (@n9viv) July 11, 2016
Baton Rouge home owner "very upset" after police storm her yard arresting protesters who had permission to be there pic.twitter.com/gwE8aRGKfL
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 11, 2016
Via Daily Beast and Raw Story.
Baton Rouge, or in English “red stick”. And those cops are not just willing to cover their batons with civilian blood, they are looking forward to doing it.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing in that second video clip. I had chills going down my spine while watching. Harrowing.
Saad @ 2:
Me too. How in the hell can anyone feel safe anymore? You should be able to feel safe on your own property, but not anymore.
I think they should just be called ‘stormtroopers’ from now on. Not police, not cops, just stormtroopers.
Can’t access the twitter links right now, but I will once I get home.
“Creating a disturbance” or “interfering with a law officer” -- like get-into-jail cards that cops use all the time against people for convenience.
Your title is 5 words too long, starting from the beginning.
Let’s criminalize overdue book fees at the library, while we’re at it.
Marcus @ 6:
‘There is no safe space’ was the first title. I changed it, because I wanted full weight of that emphasised. I’ve had run ins with cops. I’ve been arrested, more than once. I’ve had very scary times with cops. I don’t have any particular love for them, but it used to be I didn’t overly fear them, either. That’s changed.
Shiv @ 7:
Sure, why not? It’s not as though we’re all burdened down with a million broken window laws already.
That cordon of police, some of them holding their guns at ready are scary as hell.
Honestly, I think I would have pissed myself if I’d been there. Or started crying or something.
And then tackling people on the floor… someone dying during an arrest again is just something waiting to happen.
Beatrice:
My first thought would be ‘run!’, but that’s not a healthy option around stormtroopers anymore.
Caine,
Yeah, at one point it crossed my mind Why don’t they run away? but then I envisioned the police opening fire. Just like that. *shudder*
This picture (from this article) is so striking (to me): down, but not defeated. If the
policestormtroopers are trying to eradicate the unrest, they’re doing a poor job of it.rq @ 13:
Oh fuck yes, I have that photo bookmarked from a BBC article. Says it all.
Picture description says the man was “detained”.
Surely they should use some stronger words like “forcibly restrained” or something, because this looks to me like a police officer pushing his head into the concrete with their knee. Sure, maybe it looks more painful than it really is, but all the arrests shown in photos are so horribly violent. People getting pushed and pulled and dragged, even when it doesn’t look like they are resisting.
In 1915, “Birth Of A Nation” portrayed the KKK in white robes as “heroes”, and black people as the threat.
In 2016, it’s the death of a nation as cops in black body armour are portrayed as “heroes”, and black people as the threat.
left0ver1under @ 16:
Yep. Here we are in the 21st century. It’s beyond depressing.
I have been at protests.
I have been at protests that went sour.
I’ve been arrested at a protest*.
Never in my life have I seen something like this.
It reminds me of something someone once said about the tyrannies in the Middle East: You’re always breaking the law. There’s no way not to do it. That way the police always have power over you.
*All charges dropped because the police were overreacting.
Giliell @ 18:
Welcome to Middle Amerikkka. We are literally being policed to death.
The woman in the flowing dress standing alone in front of two dozen cops in body armour reminds me of “Tank Man” from Tiananmen Square, the same level of courage and grace, knowing the oppressors could murder each with impunity at any moment.
left0ver1under @ 20:
That woman is Ieshia Evans, and she was arrested for impeding traffic. Magically, that line of stormtroopers wasn’t impeding traffic. She was released a day or two after, I’m not clear on that time line.
Very Old Testament.
It’s a religious statement not a legal one.
Chigau @ 22:
A religious statement that comes at the end of a gun, with handcuffs and jail.
..and the police are going to be surprised the next time (sadly, at this point, it’s just a matter of time) someone decides they’ve had enough and lashes out. =(
Like Dallas?
Chigau @ 25:
There have already been more incidences of people shooting at cops. Not a sniper like in Dallas, but yeah, more of this is going to happen, because we’re past the tipping point here. The cops are showing no interest in actual, system wide change, and neither is the so-called justice system. The feds are closing ranks, and the government is being eaten alive by assholes and evangelists.
It is actually very
sadhorrifying to live in interesting times.@12, Beatrice:
It happens. And when it happens, the usual suspects all crow that it’s their fault for running.
That’s how it works. Anything other than perfect obedience with the cops’ demands makes everything your fault. That the cops’ demands are literally impossible to obey is your problem, not theirs.