For those of you who were waiting for the Occupy Movement to get violent, the wait is over.
A protest identified as part of the Occupy Movement at UC Berkeley resulted in policemen beating students with batons-- in this video, you can watch the police battering the students scream in the background. I don't know if anyone has ever heard of the documentary "Two Days in October," but the movie features video and first-hand accounts from the 1967 student protests against Dow Chemicals at the University of Wisconsin. I was surprised at how much I was reminded of that movie watching the video of UC Berkeley.
The police captain at UC cited that the attack was justified because the students linked arms when asked to step down: "The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act of violence," UC police Capt. Margo Bennett said. "I understand that many students may not think that, but linking arms in a human chain when ordered to step aside is not a nonviolent protest."
Regardless of your opinion of the Occupy movement or even the justification behind the violence, it's hard to watch that video and not cringe. Imagine that scene playing out on the quad at CMC.
So now the question: will this incident encourage or discourage the Occupy movement? Will authorities be more keen on crushing it?
1 comment:
Have you seen any of the video or photos from the Occupy Oakland protests? There was some violence and vandalism in Oakland the past few weeks. There was also police brutality. Although I think the violence and vandalism undermines the protests, I think the intensity of the protests in Oakland are interesting. There was also the General Strike which resulted in the closure of the Port of Oakland which is a top 5 or top 10 port in the US. I think there was a carry over of attitude, maybe not for the protestors but for the police, at the UCB protests. The intensity of both and the videos afterwards may bring sustainable energy to the protests on the West Coast.
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