The USofA: slowly but surely out-third-worlding the "third world".

edit: heck, I'm making a playlist out of that.

The statist says, "I'm sure he didn't do that on purpose. But either way, he's just doing his job. And what she's doing is breaking the law. If you want freedom of speech or a right to assemble, you should write your representative and tell him you want to change the law. Until then, follow the fucking law and stop putting cops' lives in danger!"

Ok before we start taking sides on this I'd like to point out a few things.

-She was not "dragged to the ground". He was pulling her laterally and she didn't move her feet... she fell over, and not even violently. I was expecting a takedown from the description.

-Unless there is a news story not linked here, we don't know why she was being arrested.

-We can't see what the second detained person did since she wasn't in view of the camera before Tubby went after her.

I'm sure I'll catch shit for pointing these things out, but it amazes me that so many people on this site upvote videos criticizing unsupported religious beliefs and then proceed to accept unknown factors in police videos as fact.

Maybe the cop was abusing his power... or maybe not. I'd rather know more about the situation that waste time getting pissed off over assumptions.

I've just about had it with "journalists."

Either they're not doing their job, or they're pretending to be journalists.

The first lady arrested was asked the best question: "Where are your credentials?" The next words out of her mouth should have been the location of them. Usually, for big events like that, you get a lanyard and your credentials in a big colourful attachment, so there's a visual cue. I didn't see that on the lady, and she should have been wearing it around her neck if she did have it.

I have no idea what the second lady did, but man oh man. If you have credentials in a giant crowd like that, you better believe you should have it clear and visual.

This has nothing to do with them being journalists or not. The Governor has the police locking down the Wisconsin capitol building illegally, as a judge has given a court order that the public's access to the capitol to be restored as it was prior to the big protests against the recent anti-union legislation passed recently. These assembled people are exercising their lawful rights, and experiencing the oppression of "law enforcement officers" typical obedience to authority. And when their bosses are corrupt, what can you expect from police but this sort of behavior?

>> ^mtadd:

This has nothing to do with them being journalists or not. The Governor has the police locking down the Wisconsin capitol building illegally, as a judge has given a court order that the public's access to the capitol to be restored as it was prior to the big protests against the recent anti-union legislation passed recently. These assembled people are exercising their lawful rights, and experiencing the oppression of "law enforcement officers" typical obedience to authority. And when their bosses are corrupt, what can you expect from police but this sort of behavior?


You're right, I went off on a tangent about something that is one of my pet peeves. You're right the Governor shouldn't be shutting down the capitol building illegally, people should have the right to protest, the right to gather, and the press should be there to report it. You can see her stop for a second when someone asks her for her credentials though, she doesn't have them, and she knows it.

I went off on something else. I saw a ton of it in Toronto during the G20. Bloggers or people just there to take pictures trying to claim the rights of freedom of press, when they have no idea how to get press passes or credentials, or claiming their blog is a viable news source. (That's another rant, on news off blogs, and the lack of research done into them. Eg. Pat Burns being reported dead before he actually had passed away.)

This isn't the place for those debates, this should be about the cops handling of the people there. Questions for this video are: What are the charges against her, and why was she arrested. What did the second girl do to get arrested as well? If they were shutting down the building, why is there still a crowd audible in the background?

*controversy

Invocations (controversy) cannot be called by JenniferBurger because JenniferBurger is not privileged - sorry.

Oops, the girlfriend was logged on... *controversy.

Adding video to channels (Controversy) - requested by MrFisk.

This kinds of pigs better beware... iCloud is just the beginning. Soon people will be uploading video live to some cloud or another and confiscating/smashing cameras and phones will no longer be way to prevent people from filming this kind of abuse.

The reporter's side of the story can be found here (this video shows her assistant being arrested first, then the reporter herself).

I simply can't see this video as evidence of the U.S. becoming a police state. There are literally cameras everywhere filming what is happening and no one is arresting the cameramen/women. The officer making the arrest lets the press get incredibly close and he is amazingly calm despite the people all shouting at him and getting in his face. He doesn't yell at the reporter who gets on the elevator with him, he just tells her to get out twice (in a calm but commanding manner) and tries to push her out firmly, but not violently.

All hell breaks loose at 1:42 because the reporter who wrote the post I linked to above grabs a camera away from the assistant who is being arrested and tries to walk away. The cop tries to stop the reporter, but doesn't want to let go of the assistant either, causing the assistant to fall down (looks like an accident to me).

It seems to me it was stupid of the reporter to try to take the camera from the assistant. If I were a cop making an arrest I would probably have the same reaction: I'd be concerned that the suspect just passed off something illegal (possibly drugs or a weapon) to a friend before I'd had a chance to do a proper search. The reporter walked briskly away after getting the camera too, and wouldn't give it back when the cop demanded it, making her behavior seem even more suspicious.

How was the cop supposed to know it was a camera that got passed off? He was busy trying to get the other woman out of the elevator when the hand-off got made and probably didn't even see what was passed. And then the reporter resisted handing over the camera, which is essentially the same as interfering with the arrest since that camera is potentially evidence (until the cop examines it, he doesn't know if it's a real camera or is stuffed with drugs).

So what can we conclude form all this? Mistakes were made all around. Not having credentials on you and visible would be the first mistake made. Not sure what the initial arrest was for, but it seems like that was probably a mistake too. Taking the camera and then trying to leave the scene? Yeah, that was a big mistake. All the reporters getting in the cops face about the arrest was a mistake too--you're there to report the news, not make it. This isn't Syria; these reporters are not going to be tortured for months and "disappeared" afterward. Lots of mistakes here, but I see very little evidence in this video of police overstepping their authority.

I don't have enough info to comment on the first reporter, but that 2nd reporter was obstructing the officer

>> ^marbles:




Arrested for 'disorderly conduct'. The statist catch all offense.