Police Use Bulldozers to Break Up Occupy Richmond
Virginia State Police brought in bulldozers at about 1am Monday morning to clear out an encampment of Occupy Richmond protesters.
At least 15 protesters who choose not to leave Kanawha Plaza after a 45-minute warning were arrested, according to Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Demonstrators had been occupying the plaza since Oct. 15. Democratic Mayor Dwight C. Jones visited the site Thursday to warn protesters they were breaking a city ordinance that forbids camping on public property.
"We applied for permits from city council but, you know, they didn't accept or decline us getting a permit," one activist explained to WTVR. "At least them declining it would give us an idea what was to come, but we didn't get anything. So we started occupying with high hopes and unfortunately this is what it came down to."
Protesters have vowed to continue their occupation of Richmond even if they can't do it at Kanawha Plaza.
And which law would that be, intrepid reporter?
"...loading all their trash..."
How much of that was trash, how much of it was tents, supplies? I saw pallets there that I'm sure could be useful for other groups, as a minimum. Again, fine reporting...
Eric C#ntor must be proud. Maybe he coughed for the dozer bill?
Thanks, Occupy Richmond!
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Unlike Denver. Or Oakland last week. Or NYC time and again.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
Tents are not trash. The pictures I see suggest these are mostly backpacking tents that cost upwards of $200 each. Sleeping bags maybe a little less. Personal possessions? What gives the police the right to just destroy/confiscate this stuff especially before any araignment proceedings, much less finding of guilt. I've seen absolutely no discussion of this issue and am genuinely curious as to why.
Long live the police state?
what MLK was up against?
can you see it now?
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
Democratic black mayors?
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
He was a leader civil rights. Same struggle. Besides, this is Cantor's stomping ground.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Hmmm, Cantor stomping. Has a nice ring to it.
:^) :^) !!!
What, did they think there'd be tunnels leading to Palestine or something?
looks just like a scene out of the movie
"SOYLENT GREEN"
Tuesday is Soylent Geen day.
interesting that in states with democratic governors,
the governors are for and helping the #occupy groups,
but in gop governor controlled states and i do mean
"CONTROLLED", the governors/mayors are harrassing
and arresting the #occupy people.
Oakland has a Dem mayor, in a state with a Dem governor, and 2 Dem senators.
Richmond and Denver have a Dem mayors as well.
It seems both parties consider OWS a threat.
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
i did not know that. thanks
Oakland's mayor has apologized.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
She only apologized because a war vet was seriously injured. If that would not have happened I doubt she would have apologized for anything.
Houston Mayor, Annice Parker, A DEMOCRAT, re-elected Tuesday, told Protestors at OWS Houston that they can't sleep on the streets or in the city parks. GOOD GOING MISS PARKER!
BuffersT
We all know the founding fathers obtained all necessary pernits...............
But every state, county, city and town does make such laws ..
"No right of assembly in this park after 11 pm .."
".. or without a permit for groups larger than 10 .."
".. or without insurance .."
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
They will do everything possible to provoke you to violence. They will harass you, pull your beard, flick your face, anything to make you violent, because when you're violent they know how to deal with you. The only thing they don't know how to deal with is non-violence and a sense of humor.
Stay strong Occupy!
"No one ever said these people were logically consistent."
- watchdog -
They know exactly how to deal with the non-violent: beat the shit out of them. Or shoot them in the head with a tear gas cannister.
So, I think Lennon was overly optimistic about the capacity of authority to be moved by the plight of the little people. Lenin, on the other hand... Well, just kidding, but in all seriousness I consider this an act of war. The police and the political mechanism are at war with the people. All they have ever responded with to the Occupy movement is violence and obstructionist moving of the goalposts to foster an excuse for violence. They truly are trying to be provocative, in the hope they can crush this movement, but I worry they won't wait for a real excuse when they're already throwing explosive devices at people helping the wounded or rampaging through crowds on motorcycles and bulldozers.
support the occupation movement.
It is at the institutional level that law enforcement sees a problem.
There are many lessons the individual cop can learn from Smedley Butler, But s/he is stuck in a closed, regimented society, with extreme peer pressure brought to bear.
The deciding factor here will be whether enough LEO's/current/former military personnel can see the truth and support the movement.
"No one ever said these people were logically consistent."
- watchdog -
Even if the Occupy protesters were successful, nothing would be gained except the right to camp in a public park, and the plutocrats who run the country aren't going to change public policy simply because a few people are camping in public parks. If these protesters were really serious about change, they would be looking for candidates to run against Republicans and Democrats.
I guess these block head cops believe they're part of the 1%.
Maannn, are they delusional or just plain stupid!
All they have to do is look at there savings account.
if it's under $100,000,000 you are part of the 99%!!!!!!
I guess we have become Israel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7xeX1YbiE8
That the didn't bring out the cavalry, before the tanks...........I mean bullydozers. They do love to repeat history....... shades of the bonus army, they were just cleaning out the filthy commies then too.
The first casualty of republicanism is the truth.
Party politics are not only undemocratic, they are antidemocratic.
I live in Richmond and passed them everyday. I noticed they weren't there today. Now I know why. Screw the mayor.
When judges dismiss the charges the taxpayers are going to be on the hook for the cost of the equipment that is being destroyed.
The various city officials have already started declaring that occupy is going to cost a lot of money because of damages to the parks. The wailing and gnashing of teeth will be even louder when they include the cost of reimbursement for illegally destroying property.
The question is who will the taxpayers blame.
lawsuits for wrongful imprisonment and assault, etc.
http://www.jafafahots.com
The occupiers are not destroying and damaging the parks - they have shown they are willing and able to clean up after themselves, repair and restore the parks. Obviously not while being arrested and having their possessions, and the parks, destroyed by bulldozers.
As for breaking the curfews ... curfews? Curfews are for schoolchildren, not adult citizens. You are going to be seeing a lot more judges throwing out charges, because the 1st amendment trumps lower laws, ordinances, and on the spot 'constable legislation' where authorities make up offenses to charge people with ... like lying down on public property, or sleeping in the night.
No lower law can trump constitutional rights. Freedom of expression, especially when it is political, even when there is a compelling public safety need to limit or redirect it, can only be limited by the very least restrictive means possible. Every single police action against peaceful demonstrators is illegal. There is no circumstance where attacking in the night with overwhelming force and bulldozers can possibly pass even the most rudimentary constitutional muster.
Any tea bagger Repuke and they'll tell you straight The Constitution is Unconstitutional !!
The first casualty of republicanism is the truth.
Party politics are not only undemocratic, they are antidemocratic.
Yeah, voting's going to fix everything.
Boycott Virginia
Boycott Virginia products
Boycott Virgina Beach
Boycott Virgina Sports Teams
Boycott Williamsburg
I think it will make them happy if you boycott, they want you to go home already.
BuffersT
"Regulation and the OWS Movement"
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archive...
The hypocrisy of the government is so disgusting, how can we vote for any of the two party creeps? 10 years of fighting the people who "hate us for our freedom", in the same year that a statue ( made in China?) to MLK, a secretary of state who supports the "Arab Spring" while a protestor is mugged in the middle of her speech, the cities are shooting at people with the right to peacefully assemble, in the head, with their vomit gas, tear gas, sonic cannons, tasers, flash grenades, and god knows what other technological crowd control weapons they have up their diabolical sleeves. If this government continues this path of alignment with the corporations, we will all soon be desaparecidos and thrown into the new American Gulag.
The silence from the "progressive" elected democratic senators and congresspersons is relatively deafening.
The 99% er's are more like 99 bottles of beer against the wall.
bys1955
People have the right to free assembly and free speech. The very act of mandating curfews and permits, especially in public places paid by our tax dollars is unconstitutional and frankly, absurd. Tax payer dollars should be used to help keep the areas clean and properly policed rather than utilizing the police force as a group of militaristic thugs in an oppressive third world country.
These "safety and health" regulations are a joke.
Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. -Woodrow Wilson
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." , " The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion- John F. Kennedy"
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