"chalking is not a crime."
"it all started with some sidewalk chalk"
occupy los angeles reports an aggressive, militarized police response to protesters chalking on sidewalks during a popular monthly artwalk, with more people joining in when they saw the crackdown on civil liberties.
ustream reporter and blogger liz savage says the police may have even tried to jam her ustream signal, recordings available for viewers here. she reports at the group's website that "it all started with some sidewalk chalk," and estimates 1200-1500 people at the scene.
Prior to artwalk we had has 11 arrests in two weeks for chalking, and near 20 in the past month. Last night there were 11 arrests for chalking. The only person arrested from occupy was the first person who was arrested for chalking.
LAPD responded to the chalk with 60+ officers. Some people who were arrested for chalking last night did it in spite of watching others get grabbed around them. They were not occupiers, but they could see the tyranny and were not going to stand for it.
As the arrests grew, so did the police presence. As the police presence grew so did the crowd around them of angry bystanders who had seen people being arrested for chalking on the sidewalk, or who had themselves been shoved by the very aggressive police.
"non-lethal" projectiles?
twitter photo,
on the scene at occupy los angeles, july 12 2012
police response to chalk artists
the l.a. times reports with video 19 persons arrested and that police used batons and "non-lethal" projectiles .. isn't that what the projectiles were supposed to be when they shot scott olsen in the head?
liz savage at the scene (echos of villaraigosa strategy):
Shots were fired, 40mm foam grenades, pepperspray rounds, and teargas, as they split the crowd in 3 to drive us away. Most of the people dispersed. Quite a few were injured by batons, and less lethal rounds. When I left there were maybe 20 people standing off with police, and about 100-200 in the bars, or watching from windows and balconies.
The entire scene was surreal. And it all started over washable sidewalk chalk. The most ironic part is there was light rain, and the chalk was washing away before the arrestees were even booked.
l.a. times photostream vieweable here.
twitter photo
on the scene at occupy los angeles, july 12 2012
"prisons are overpopulated and chalking is harmless!"
7.17.2012 update
the following youtube has been released by occupylamedia - an on-the-scene interview with the person shot by lapd with a rubber bullet - and apparently the same person whose photo was tweeted. charlie shepherd reports being merely an artwalk visitor. other youtubes have been uploaded showing the irrational and violent police response to sidewalk chalking, including another man who was shot, some presently viewable when the tape runs through. rubber bullets permanently took the eyesight of several montreal students who were peacefully demonstrating.
No comments:
Post a Comment