I think this is probably the first many in our class will have heard of this, but the behavior of Denver and Minneapolis police in dealing with DNC and RNC protesters this past week has been quite frightening. One first-hand witness account of the behavior of the Denver police can be found in here: http://m.denverpost.com/topic/379-Denver%20&%20The%20West/articles/155750558 A local report on one DNC protest scene can be found here with pictures: http://cbs4denver.com/local/arrests.clash.protest.2.803008.html And Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald (arguably the most astute and thorough of all political bloggers) has compiled an overview of the pre-emptive raids by Minneapolis police here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?source=rss&aim=/opinion/greenwald/ The only issue that can be raised on these accounts of police behavior is credibility. One can wonder if these accounts are made up for subversive political reasons, but it becomes increasingly clear watching the videos and pictures Greenwald provides in his links that, at the very least, raids did occur on Minneapolis college students. Not to mention that the Denver Post saw fit to print one first hand account, so either they found the submission credible, or they are "in on it too". If, then, we can conclude that these raids and detainments did occur in both cities for both elections as they have been described, we have to ask ourselves where the Constitution currently stands in this nation. The First Amendment guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, and the Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unjust search and seizure. Are these actions by both police forces not extremely egregious and outrageous? I can not imagine any Founding Father, whether Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison or anyone else, being ok with the behaviors exhibited to people who are essentially our direct peers, 20-something college students. If we lived in Minneapolis instead of Salt Lake City, this could have very well happened to someone in our class. There was some discussion last week on what constituted a growing threat of tyranny in this country, that the behavior of our Supreme Court is something we need to look out for. If our Supreme Court should ever side on behalf of these two police forces in any related cases brought before them, then I think the point may have been correct.
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Benjamin, Thank you for this post and the addressess to go to! I am outraged that our police officers who are supposed to keep law and order are acting in this tryannical fashion. I will pose a question. Why did this kind of police action not take place when the Mexican poeple protested down state street with the mexican flag raised high? Why was police restraint not practiced there? There were so many illegal immigrants in that group!
I have noticed since 9-11 that our nation is becoming a police state. Our police force is out of hand. Remember that guy who was pulled over by a policeman, asked to get out of the car, and the driver asked repeatedly for what he had done. The policeman did not give him any answers, the man got out of the car, and he was shot with that tazer gun. The policeman then searched his car without permission, or AUTHORITY to do so, and took him to jail because the man did not obey his orders. This makes me sick. What ever happened to the role model of Andy Griffith as a police role model? I'll read you a scripture out of Doctrine and Covenants section 121:39. "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." This is what we are seeing with the police force. Martin painted a picture, the picture I see painted was a concentration camp in WWII days. Jews detained in fences with no explanation of what was going on, the difference here is, those who were detained in Denver were given some sandwiches, some pepper spray, some lies, and very little water. I am Fuming inside that this would happen. This makes me think about what could happen to any one of us in the comfort of our homes. This is extreme, but it also paints a picture of what is happening. Visualize Police storming into my house without a warning, taking me out of bed, detaining me without a warrant, without explanation while seizing my firearms, as I resist, being pepper sprayed or tazered,while leaving my wife left to wonder what in the hell is going on. This is the same thing that has happened in The protests. Peoples rights being taken from those who seek to exercise unrighteous dominion with their "POWER". Please note that this is Extreme, but what happened in that protest is Extreme.
I don’t think it is right to just side with the victims/citizens. For one, we weren’t there to witness it, nor do we know the whole correct story of what was happening on both sides.
It sounds like there was a lot of confusion going on and it would be hard for everyone, victims and police alike, to decipher what all was going on. I do think that the police should’ve handled the situation a lot better then they did, like having some sort of identification if they really didn’t have it, but then you should look at it from their perspective…Would you want to wear identification if you were going to break up a riot? What was also said was that the victims did not hear the police tell them to disperse…Did the police use something to amplify their voice? If so, were there citizens that were doing the same thing that made it difficult to hear?
There is plenty more that could be pointed out, but I’m not trying to say that either group was right in how things were handled; it definitely could have been handled better. What I am trying to say is that we need to have the whole correct story from both sides to be able to truly put things in the correct perspective.
There is much to learn from this event that happened. I hope that all those people involved, in one way or another, reflected upon what took place that day and considered what they, themselves, could have done to handle the situation better.
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