Thanks for this post, Lisa.

Good, I'm glad. Good for the cops for showing some patriotizm. Damn protesters definately have it coming. They should stay off the street and stop trying to muck up america.

Thier protesting is not going to stop the war, its only encouraging Sadam. Damn hippies. Where were they when Clinton sent out his bombs? They were at home cheering him on. The only reason they are out there is because they hate Bush and want America to lose.

Hippie protesters suck and deserve to have some sense stomped into them.

jon, i don't exactly agree with that viewpoint. Although i support the war, i also support the right of free expression, which is a fundamental right outlined in the constitution. These cops should not have been acting in this way. Did these people really deserve this. I hope one day you have something worth protesting about and the same happens to you!

All politics aside, it looked to me like Pink was attacking the officer and he gave her a little thunk to get her to back off. Remember, these guys are under orders. Do you really think any of them went to cop school to learn how to hold back crowds of commies? No; they wanted to chase bad guys.

Your attention please: Jon is a troll. Do not feed the troll.

You are so important. Please be strong. There will be an aftermath, and then it will be good to remember, that there were actually people of courage.
It takes much more courage to protest to this sickening war than it does rallying up behind a warmonger-president and a Dick Cheney with a most dubious past - and future strategi. It is so comforting to know that Americans have not yet become Zombies. Yours, Helle Nyberg.

great to see some positive images of police violence
the law officers of america are the new age nazi's and George Bush is their Hitler.
America has become a fascist country and I see so many similarities between the stars and stripes and the nazi swastica. Both demand obligations of those who accept such nonsense.
America is a country run by evil men for the devil.

Phil, did you look at the footage at all? The girl is getting up from having been pushed into a rack of newspapers. She gets up slowly, staggers a little bit, and then the policeman hits her.

One thing that became very clear to me is that the police were scared too. What the hell are they telling the police in the ready rooms, I wonder. It looks as though that policeman was scared enough to hit this girl just to keep her away from him.

This is incredibly fucked up. I'm sad for America today.

She didn't get out of the street. He hit her in the leg. What's the big deal?

The real reason why all this is happening is because we all forgot about God, the proprietor of all things. One one realizes that they are not their body, but eternal spirit souls meant to do devotional service than the material sufferings and misconceptions come to a close. Everything that happens to someone be it good or bad is based on their previous activities and the due return. Look at yourself first and figure out how your a part of this. How many animals did you contribute to slaughtering?

Why do people think they can have an illegal protest in the street and the police won't do whatever is necessary to clear the street. If you blocked my driveway I'd beat the hell out of you. What do you expect the police to do? Besides this is just a game--the protestors are dying for a juicy confrontation with the police to make for a colorful protest. This is what happens when you think of the police as symbols for everything you hate and forget they are just civil servants who take orders. The street needs to be cleared--do whatever it takes to clear it. And if a police officer tells you to clear out what do you do? You fucking clear out! What do you think they are--some substitute teacher you can just blow off?

That poor Kelly Osbourne. Too bad it didn't stop her bloody swearing.

Listen to the interview:
"I saw [my boyfriend] across the street fucking with some cops, you know, wrestling with some cops, so I took off running, you know, 'cause he's my fucking boyfriend. I went to go get him. I took off running and this cop just ran by and slammed into me and knocked me into the fucking shit and hit me a fucking club and I'm a 17 year old fucking girl."

a) She doesn't have the smartest of boyfriends.
b) She's not the smartest herself if she takes off running toward a line of cops.

The police are outnumbered and holding back a crowd that is rowdy, and have already dealt with several other crowds that have gotten aggressive (hey, Lisa, where was your video camera when theywere throwing rocks and bottles at cops and attacking police cars?). They are scared. If someone starts running toward them they are going to perceive it as a threat, and not stop to ask "excuse me, how old are you?"

The girl got up, _turned_ toward the officer and headed towards him. He shouted "Get back!", she continued toward him, and he gave her a whack. If that cop had wanted to hurt her, she'd have collapsed from the pain. He hit her once and she got out of the street -- mission accomplished. It was a moderated, effective, and, in my opinion, justified use of force.

As for the rest (randomly attacking protesters), the video is to poor of quality to actually see it (I certainly didn't see anything that was conclusive, just a bunch of people running away from the cops from off-camera where anything could have happened).

I'm more upset at the harsh words the protesters had for the cops, even before the disturbance. These guys are dealing with the sewage of humanity, trying to maintain a civilized society, while a bunch of people are doing everything possible to incite anger and aggression, from police and non-police alike. If you ever boo a cop in my presence for doing his or her job you will get an earful from me because you are a fucking asshole.

I can't believe people actually choose Sadam's side instead of our Presidents. I would love to send all of the war protesters over to Iraq after we liberate them. The Iraqi that have been repressed,raped and murdered since 1978 would kick your ass for protesting. Get a real life and help somebody, not just jumping on some pop culture band wagon because "mom and dad" protested for Vietnam. Vietnam was a whole different situation.

I agree with American. they should send all the protesters to Iraq, we'll see who will be protesting then. I met someone recently who lives in Kuwait and she wishes all the protestors would shut their mouth and had lived with her for the past 9 years, in fear that Saddam will send chemical agents to Kuwait just as he did to Northern Iraq (the Kurds). How many protestors can we stop and ask what Saddam has done to his own people....they have no clue! its a damn shame, we are out there acting like we know it all.

American, sazzy... This is not about choosing Saddam over Bush. This is about standing up to what we believe is an unjust war. Forget about who the leaders are for a moment, it's unimportant to us.

Also, read these:

http://www.msnbc.com/local/fdddov/m266224.asp
http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2003-02-05/bayview.html/1/index.html

Now, you're definitely going to find lots of opinions of Iraqis that back the war, that I won't dispute. But for you to suggest that the only reason we oppose this war is because we don't understand the plight of the Iraqis, or that we would feel differently if we *were* Iraqi, is complete nonsense. If you can't argue the topic on its merits, and resort to childish measures, then you really have nothing to say. Is that how you want to present yourself?

You pseudo-patriots a bunch of unamerican neofascist closet fags. Just listen to yourselves. If you hate freedom of speech so much, why don't *you* emigrate? There are plenty of countries in the world which share your views on dissent. You might be more comfortable in one of them. (I suggest North Korea.)

My grandfather fought the japanese to defend the world from right-wing nationalist scum like you. You're no patriots; you're a bunch of traitors.

May God protect our great nation from your corrosive hate and love of tyranny.

Disgusted,
Captain USA.

American, sazzy, and many others like you - I am for peace. I also am for America. The Kuwaiti you talk about, sazzy, is not an Iraqi. The Iraqi's do not want us there - do you not READ?? Or do you only pay attention to what the government - who has been caught in many lies the past several months - tells you? I also am most definitely not pro-Saddam. Why do people think that just because I believe in peace, I am pro-Saddam??? How dense are you people, anyway? Killing thousands of innocent Iraqi people, who have already been hurt by years of sanctions BY COUNTRIES LIKE THE U.S., as well as dealing with Saddam, is not going to solve the Saddam Hussein problem. Only getting Hussein will solve the Hussein problem. What is so wrong with wanting peace? What is so wrong with begging the world to find different ways than war to dealing with men like Saddam - and Hitler - and Napoleon - and so on down the list through history - than war? War has not ever solved the problem yet. Sure, it seems like it has temporarily each time. Hitler was taken care of. Then Korea became a problem. It was taken care of, and Viet Nam became a problem. War has continued on and on through the millenia, and no one seems to WANT to find a peaceful solution to these problems. WHY??? I will not support killing, and I cannot. And if you war supporters want to kill me for this, and you do, so be it. I will not be a party to it myself. I want peace - true peace.

This is so funny! I think we are going to see Extreme Protesting on MTV sooner than later. I love all the bandana face masks , it's so Seattle. And when that girl "pink" got knocked I almost pissed my pants!

I like what Sazzy posted, word! In fact a lot of you had great things to say. I don't even want to call these people/kids hippies, hippies had some purpose sort of, these knuckleheads are bed wetters. p.s. I can't spell and I'm an idiot .

i would just like to point out that in his attempt to insult the protesters, phil referred to them as "crowds of commies".

how sad and overtly ignorant is that.

or maybe i'm just not aware that the 'red threat' had returned. anyone have joe mccarthy's phone number?

I find this very sad. I am anti-war (and in Canada, quite happily) and I've yet to see any cogent, well-reasoned pro-war arguments. Most of them boil down to "anti-war protestors are not patriotic!", which is actually no argument at all. Whereas ati-war protestors generally have decent things to say about the sovereignty of other nations, the Iraqi people who are being bombed and killed, US imperialism, the long-standing US gulf policy of dominance, etc... And the pro-war people don't even see that they are exhibiting herd mentality. Sad.

I'm all against the war and everything. But that cop did nothing wrong. Gave the freak a love tap to make her stand back. Basic crowd control. I'm mostly sad that I wasted 4 minutes of my life for this crummy video to download. The "event" is in the last 30 seconds at the end. The rest is junk. Not even suitable as b-roll.

Hmm where are the damn water cannons filled with pepper spray when you need them?

The First Amendment DOES NOT give people the right to block streets and creat dangerous situations. I fully support the right of Americans to dissent and protest. But let's be honest here. Some of these "protestors" want nothing more than to create havoc. Yeah, I am talking about the dildos in the "Black Blocs" and the asshats that follow their lead.

Again, I fully support the right to free speach. But the line must be drawn when protests become violent or obstruct public life. If my wife were about to give birth and I ran into this crowd blocking the street to the hospital, what do you think I should do?

I am a WW2 diabled veteran. Hitler's spirit is alive in the U.S. today. Our news media, owned by billionaires, is the modern Ministry of Propaganda; our police, storm troopers. Thinking people realize that "Shock & Awe" is a war crime killing huge numbers of mothers and children, old people and young women and men. Your critics, Lisa, represent the mindless minority who couldn't elect this appointed president.

I am incredibly disgusted, not only by the police behavior, but by the flood of ignorant and hateful comments that followed. What are the "freedoms" being preserved for us by slaughtering Iraqis, other than the freedom Bush has to line his own pockets with oil profits and control of the oil pipeline. He's already given out contracts to "rebuild" Iraq to wealthy companies. When we lose the right to protest, America has no more rights than any other country, especially Europe. Some of these people seem to resent the ability to speak out against the government, a guaranteed right of ours. Isn't this exactly what you are accusing the Iraq government of doing to it's people?

I'm amazed that there is such anger over our right to assemble and have our views heard. After all, this "president" was elected by 24% of the people, with 49% of the popular vote, thanks to a Florida voting scam starring brother Jeb.

I've never been more embarassed to be an American. If you think this sham of a war is about "freedom" or "liberating" Iraq's citizens, you need to pull your head out of the sand and do some reading... I recommend Gore Vidal's "Dreaming War", which exposes Bush for the liar he is. It also reveals how Bush was magically not notified for 1:20 after the planes hit the 3 buildings, even though these flights were on FAA radar the whole time.

I applaud Canada, France, Germany and Russia for having the courage to oppose this phony war. It's hilarious to hear Bush call the 3 countries taking part in this the "Coalition of the Willing: The whole thing reads like something from The Onion...

What disgusts me more than this footage is the response of the pro-war people to it. America is based around the principles of freedom. Is that not the stated purpose of the war in Iraq? Being against the war does NOT make me anti-American. I think excersizing my right to freedom of speech and protest makes me more patriotic that the person who is willing to bend to popular opinion.

I am not in favor of this war or the path we took to it, and very much value the freedoms to speak and congregrate that we've shown in the past several months. I am also quite strongly in favor of half-wits being baton-beaten.

Sounds like a great day to me!

I got a better idea...Why don't all you pro-war mongers enlist and get shipped to Iraq and prove how much you love this country. Maybe your friends in the army can kill more of you than the Iraqis like what happening now. Have fun.

I feel so sorry for you americans, is there a way the rest of world can bring democracy to your suffering country??? Perhaps the UN can bring freedom to your people? (ps: I live in a REAL democracy, not the usa!!!)

I want to thank Lisa for this video. It is both moving, and shaming.

For those of you who are prepared to bomb, who don't see that this young woman is a caught in chaos, I am also ashamed. I hope she is well, and has begun to recover.

The adrenalin runs when we get a traffic ticket, let alone get smacked by a police baton hit for trying to cross the road.

By the way, I'm Canadian. So you can pile on me, now.

The last time I read Jefferson, it seemed to me he felt disagreement was what made democracy strong. Guess he was wrong huh?

Well done Lisa, and my heart is with Sonja, who is an innocent.

There's another clip on SF Indymedia by someone who must have been standing right next to Lisa (I think its the guy w/ the vx2000). Its a bit clearer in that it shows someone being roughly arrested (I presume Sonja's boyfriend) and then a smoothish transition to Sonja getting clubbed.

Thank you so much for posting this footage. It seems the press is downplaying the peace movement and the harsh treatment of peaceful protests by the police. (specifically in CA)

Peace is patriotic.... Support our Troops, BRING THEM HOME!

Thank you Joe for taking the time to transcribe and point out the scenario. Being one who commuted over an hour and a half to and through San Francisco I can say that blocking the streets in an already impossible city is harmful and dangerous to the hundreds of thousands of drivers that can't take time off to demonstrate their opposition or support for the war.

As for Sonja, she's just a 17 year old girl. Was she saying that she didn't know any better? Does she pull over when a policeman turns on his sirens behind her? Why would an armed policeman in a high-alert situation be given any less respect than the policeman in the car?

Mob mentality is disgusting. Peace activists inciting violence should be ashamed of themselves. However the police officers who show any less than perfect restraint under this sort of pressure should be ashamed of themselves to. My hat goes off though to the thousands of demonstrators who DID demonstrate peacefully...and for the police that kept order and allowed the city to keep functioning.

To American and Sazzy and all who think like you. Do you really understand the concept behind the founding of this nation, the idea that this war is supposed to be defending...it's democracy stupid (o.k., so this war is about U.S. economic and political dominence in reality, but back to the basic tenents of democracy). To suggest that protesters need to leave the country says to me that you are followers of vitriolic hyperbolie, and not real defenders of democracy. America is predicated on the idea that we not only tolerate dissent and diverse thoughts, but that we are strengthened by that chorus of voices. Does the phrase "e pluribus unum" sound familiar? Check the coins in your pocket. What undermines our Nation is the ignorant bleating of citizens who don't understand America's founding principles. Perhaps you were sleeping in American History.

Glad there are some people who show courage in the U.S.! The whole world is against the war- OPEN YOUR EYES AMERICA!
Your puppet president is a criminal and should be persecuted for what he is doing! Wish there was more American Anti War footage in the news. For some reason there is hardly any, just CNN reporters somewhere in Southern Iraq and bombs destroying houses. But there are innocent people dieing, having their limbs ripped out of there boddies!!

Hazzar, some of the media in the U.S. ARE reporting the truth about this unjust war, and the illegal maneuverings of the Bush regime. I'm a managing editor at a small daily in Oklahoma, and we seem to be among the few willing to do this. Ironically, my parents staunchly oppose my stand, and are apparently beginning to denounce me for my anti-war views. The same is true for my husband, whose parents are in California. This is particularly odd in light of the fact that my husband and I are Catholics (albeit liberal ones), and his parents are devout Catholics. Despite the pope's pleadings, my husband's parents prefer the philosophies of Rush Limbaugh to those of their religious leader. It's sad when families choose to give their loyalty to the evil Bush regime over their own children. But I keep remember what Christ said about fathers and sons turning against one another, along with mothers and daughters, etc... The way things are going, my husband might just claim his Italian citizenship and move us there.

To all of you who think protesting is unamerican...and democracy as opposed to ASHCROFTS new AMERICA AND BUSH'S CORPORATE LANDLORDS are hero's: I hope you don't have to work for a living because hell has arrived and we will be working for peanuts without any rights or protections and you won't have any say about it because you back an administration who runs our country like the mafia. This administration is owned by corporate America.....Iraq is about oil and money at the expense of innocents. They have no conscience. If these reasons are so honorable then maybe the tables should be turned! We used to be a great country untill the American people stopped reading books and started watching too much TV wrestling. We used to be united in our democratic thinking until we became republican/democrat along with the media and stopped looking at issues. We deserved what happened at Enron and that sleazy Cheney because we needed to wake up. Working people who did not stand up against corporate crime and this administration continuing to vote for this administration just because they are REPUBLICAN are the dumbest of all and deserve what happens in the future. I hope you or your family doesn't work for a living because there are not many in this administration who are for the working people, republicans are blinded by their brainwashing corporate news! Thank you Lisa for promoting democracy and more power to the protesters who can hopefully save America from corporate raiders/lobbyists hell bent on destruction for profits!

Protesting isn't un-American, but rioting is.

Before the invasion of Saddam's torture factory started, dissidents claimed that one reason for leaving him in power was to avoid inflaming terrorists, who would attack Americans and do all sorts of damage, etc. Now that our troops, and the Brits, Aussies, Poles, and others are liberating the Iraqi people, the protests have ratcheted up a notch, to the point that police have to work overtime to contain them, protect property, and make it possible for people to go to work, take their children to school, get to the hospitals, etc. If the terrorist threat were real, this constant state of riot and confusion would provide them with excellent cover.

This leads to only two conclusions: (A) the protesters don't really believe that removing Saddam from power by force will inflame terrorists, or (B) the protesters are working hand-in-glove with the terrorists. I don't know which is correct, but I do know that wartime rioting is un-American.

I am against this war. I attended the first protest in Washington in October, which was entirely peaceful, and there were very few police officers there surpisingly. We marched down the streets with no problems, everything was sealed off. This was thanks to the group A.N.S.W.E.R. who organize protests, among other things, very well. What I want to add to this dialogue is about how emotions run. That protest in October was hardly covered. The following protests did not initiate much of anything in our two daily papers either. The protesters have a feeling of helplessness, and the feeling that they aren't reaching anyone. The cops are there to contain peoples emotions, but they just set them off. I'm willing to bet the protest would have gone much more smoothly if the protests in the past were covered more effectively. The cops are seen as holding the protesters back, which sets them off. They are being ignored by everyone, and they don't want to be ignored. Anyway, that girl shouldn't have tried valiantly to save her boyfriend. Sure, she was scared, so was the cop. He did his job, she let her emotions get ahold of her. Slamming her into the paper box seemed excessive to me, but I don't know how she was acting.

DIE JON!!!

Seems like the riot police all come from the same gene pool. Here is a link to a "brave" policeman in Madrid ensuring the public safety in the aftermath of one of the numerous protests in Madrid Saturday night by smacking a defenseless woman in the head with his baton.

The good news is that the Madrileños keep protesting: over 1 million, AGAIN and another 750.000 in Barcelona.

Prime Minister Aznar's days are numbered, municipal elecions are in 8 weeks and his Partido Popular is collapsing under the weight of it's own fascist history. The general elections are in about 12 months and the pueblo is very very angry.

Paz.

The good news is that Saddam Hussein's days are numbered, despite the efforts of the ignorant, the misguided and, in the case of ANSWER, the downright malicious around the world to keep him in power.

for those of you still convinced by bush, see the results of your hightech war here... http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2003/3/3-22-26.htm

MR. Bennett,
You obviously don't believe in a countries' right to self-determination and choose to be blinded by all other motivations of this administration. Open your eyes, noone says Saddam is a good guy, but neither is this administrations motives. Wake up, the world is not just America anymore.

Richard Bennett said, above, that "rioting during wartime is un-American."
Well if unprovoked police violence *is* American, then we can kiss this country goodbye. If this is what our country stands for, then what we pledged allegiance to is just a story in a book.

Whatever you think about the war, wake up and do homage to what has made our nation both great and good; honor our Constitution.

Before being an American comes to mean something unrecognizably ugly.

I think these trouble makers got what they deserve. As you can see be the red haired hippy, she was not where she should have been. Stay behind barricades and away from police. I wish they would drop some gas on these protesters just like the Iraqis did!

One loon cites Al Jazeera, and another speaks of Iraq's right to self-determination under the reign of a genocidal dictator. The left is surely mad.

Go cops! Kill Pinky!

I think that the cop was only practicing his rights to free speech.

I hope when Pinky takes a trip to Planned Parenthood (you know she and Cop Rassler the Boyfriend aren't smart enough to use a condom correctly and wouldn't take responsibility for their actions, anyway), anti-abortion protesters really let her have it. Would she ask for a police escort into the clinic?

Also, for all you who claim to be experts on American history and how American democracy works, I don't know why you have no concept of how the electoral college works. Bush won Florida (the recounts even after he was named winner showed this; otherwise Al Gore certainly would've pursued it), and thus he had enough electoral votes to win the Presidency. May I remind you that Bill Clinton never received a majority of the popular vote, either. I didn't see any of you 'democracy warriors' taking to the streets to protest the 'Clinton regime' in 1992 or 1996...
I can't wait for the 2004 election when Bush beats the Democratic ticket of Ralph Nader/Michael Moore. Someone better go found a think tank now to come up with the most creative excuses.

Also, if you care so much about civilians dying in Iraq, why don't you mind that Saddam puts them through plastic shredders? Oh, I forgot, that's peaceful.

Nothing would feel better than to put my fist through the back of any liberal's head right now. Evil regime? Puppet president? Life is easy when your wet noodle Clinton rides the economic waves to public approval success. And what the hell do you rainbow huggers know about 'regimes'? You live in America you freakin' crybabies. Not all people of the world are lucky enough to eat tofu and drink Frappacinos.

And last time I checked, cops are supposed to supress riots. It's their job. So, like zay said, if you are ready to protest against war, you'd better be ready to get a club in the face.

Right on Abe. I agree with you 100%...pussy liberals...fuck you.

Having had wasted about 20 mins reading through the immaturity of you whining, spoiled brats that actually believe 1. Your crying about something beyond your control will actually do something, 2. Your vehement violation of the law is unpunishable ...would mention more, but, why bother? I have plenty more to bitch about -

I have learned that I cannot be wrong in my political beliefs if I determine what today's college students and the French support...I opt for the opposite and seem to be right thus far.

Protesting is fine but why protest? So you can see yourself on CNN? I haven't seen you, because I watch FOX.. If you are currently protesting against our mission, you're wrong. Do some research. Learn to think for yourselves. WMD or not. What's the problem with invading Iraq?

We, as a country, are a world dominating power. It is about time we conquer what we need to survive. Iraq for oil. Canada and South America for lumber. France for its wine. Cuba for its vacationland (Revitalized by our newly found oil surplus revenues). Rome did it for a 1000 years. Its time we do the same, because we can.

Spend your time looking for a job to pay for a haircut and shave. Its about time you learn to wipe your own ass rather than expecting someone to do it for you.

Regardless of how you feel, remember our troops. Some may be on the line and not agree with what they are doing. However, they took the vow and commitment to obey orders. Pray for them and their safe return, no matter the outcome nor your beliefs.

Having had wasted about 20 mins reading through the immaturity of you whining, spoiled brats that actually believe 1. Your crying about something beyond your control will actually do something, 2. Your vehement violation of the law is unpunishable ...would mention more, but, why bother? I have plenty more to bitch about -

I have learned that I cannot be wrong in my political beliefs if I determine what today's college students and the French support...I opt for the opposite and seem to be right thus far.

Protesting is fine but why protest? So you can see yourself on CNN? I haven't seen you, because I watch FOX.. If you are currently protesting against our mission, you're wrong. Do some research. Learn to think for yourselves. WMD or not. What's the problem with invading Iraq?

We, as a country, are a world dominating power. It is about time we conquer what we need to survive. Iraq for oil. Canada and South America for lumber. France for its wine. Cuba for its vacationland (Revitalized by our newly found oil surplus revenues). Rome did it for a 1000 years. Its time we do the same, because we can.

Spend your time looking for a job to pay for a haircut and shave. Its about time you learn to wipe your own ass rather than expecting someone to do it for you.

Regardless of how you feel, remember our troops. Some may be on the line and not agree with what they are doing. However, they took the vow and commitment to obey orders. Pray for them and their safe return, no matter the outcome nor your beliefs.

Get the bigger picture: Bush has set into motion the events that will mark the end of any sort of a civil society. Internationally, the U.S. has become the new threat to world peace. In case anyone wasn't paying attention, there was no war until we started it. That we've set a precedent for invading a country without it making any aggressive actions first is a calamity. Just wait till someone comes knocking on our door. Locally, we're beginning to really feel the oppressive nature of a police state. The fact that we were attacked while we were assembling peacefully (check the 1st Amendment) and that there was no coverage of those events in the mainstream media shows a lot about how much influence the Bush administration has over us all. We don't have politicians in office, we have business men, set up in the classic "Old Boys Network", running one of the biggest scams the world has ever seen. And you thought Enron was a bad deal! And to those who support this war of self-interest, you'll be kicking yourself in the ass when things fall apart.
Don't let them do this to us and to the world!

Interesting situation.

While I find reports of police brutality worthy of investigation, it didn't seem clear from the videos here that excessive force was used. I watched the main (longest) video and the interview with Sonja. I couldn't get the video of just the part where the police officer clubbed her to work in my video player (xine), but I'm assuming it was clipped from the large piece.

I'll all for free speech (I have much stronger opinions on this issue than most), but I don't think that gives protesters the right to block the streets. The protests can take place on the sidewalk. Of course, the idea is to intentionally disrupt traffic to draw more attention to the protest. In that situation, I think it's legitimate for the police to start arresting people and to hit them with sticks if they do not leave the street. Really, what do they expect? That everyone is just going to let that portion of the city be shut down?

From the interview, it sounds like Sonja's boyfriend was fighting with some police officers and she rushed over to help him. That gives some important context to the reaction of the police officer. Even so, that clubbing may have been unfair. It didn't look like she was hit at all hard, but it's really hard to tell.

I've only seen one other video of the protest that alleged police brutality, and I couldn't find anything questionable in it. It appeared to be nothing more than a video of a girl lying face down on the street as a couple police officers knelt beside her and handcuffed her with those plastic strips. It was hard to see, but I didn't see anything to suggest she was being hit or otherwise mistreated.

It's good that people are filming these scuffles. It keeps both sides accountable and provides a little bit of sanity in such chaotic, confusing situations.

Some notes on my political views:

I somewhat dislike the Bush administration. I really dislike Ashcroft. I find some aspects of the war disturbing, but I'm not wholly opposed to it.

I tried to refrain from replying, however I couldn't help myself. "Sadly Smiling", which is a name that proves my point of you and your peers taking a self-pitying notion upon yourselves. Most importantly, you've proved my point that you are oblivious to the laws governed by our society.

I respect Bethencourt's remarks, as his statements are unbiased and lack a finite opinion, allowing others to believe what they wish and he understands that they are entitled to such.

SS, you may want to get the Entire Picture: We are the strongest member of the UN. Saddam has had more than a decade to come into alignment with the referendums imposed. As we have been attacked on our own soil, it is time we as a nation take an offensive stance rather than rolling over whenever someone cries foul. Saddam HIMSELF, not Bush, has set into motion the actions that can eliminate the world as a civil society. If we haven't done what we've done so far and waited another ten years, it would have allowed him time to develop a full-blown nuclear weapon regime and probably sooner would have attacked us with his chemical/biological weapons (He doesn't have any, but we've discovered his troops with protective equipment...You figure that one out)

Do we need to wait for 1000s more of our innocent citizens to perish before we do anything?

I firmly believe that if 9-11 hadn't happened, we wouldn't be doing this today. However, if Bush and his 'Hawks' have an underlying motive and would be doing this anyway, unprovoked, I would feel very differently about what's going on.

Anyhow, SS, someday you'll come to an epiphany and realize that the world isn't nor should it be fair.

And, a note on your video - I never saw anything that solidifies wrong-doing on eithers part. However, when you interfere with the sovergn rights that our society was based on (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), you impose a physical risk upon yourself. ...Illegally blocking of the streets (did you ever say you had a permit for legal protest?)..How would you feel if someone died on the way to the hospital because the lack of your sensibility resulted in the lack of a throughfare??

A sidenote on my political beliefs:
When a police officer tells you to do something, whether or not you feel it's wrong, you do it, otherwise he has the right to use lethal force - He doesn't know who you are, he's there to protect my life along with his.

I am in the army and in Iraq. So are my brother and cousin. The majority of the Iraqi people want our help. We are doing more good than bad. Sure we are doing it for all the wrong reasons. We should have ended all this shit years ago with Saddam. I know just like every one else that some innocent Iraqi’s are getting killed. But you have to crack a few eggs to make and omelet. War is not pretty. Innocent people have to die. If it was up to me, I say drop the big one and let it be done, kill them all. One less person in the world to bitch. I don’t want to waist my time killing Iraqi’s when there are plenty of Americans that need it worse. Like that pink haired bitch, I wish I had been that cop. I would have hit her once more just to make sure she got the message. If you rush the police line, beat them till they are unconscious and drag them off. I’m sick and tired of people shitting on the cops and the solders here in America for doing their job. When your wife, or your daughter, your son and your self gets in to predicaments, whom do you call? When shit hits the fan you call on us, and we are glad to help. People in America sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf. Stop bitching about stuff and live your happy stupid lives we try so hard to maintain and defend. Damn!

I am in the army and in Iraq. So are my brother and cousin. The majority of the Iraqi people want our help. We are doing more good than bad. Sure we are doing it for all the wrong reasons. We should have ended all this shit years ago with Saddam. I know just like every one else that some innocent Iraqi’s are getting killed. But you have to crack a few eggs to make and omelet. War is not pretty. Innocent people have to die. If it was up to me, I say drop the big one and let it be done, kill them all. One less person in the world to bitch. I don’t want to waist my time killing Iraqi’s when there are plenty of Americans that need it worse. Like that pink haired bitch, I wish I had been that cop. I would have hit her once more just to make sure she got the message. If you rush the police line, beat them till they are unconscious and drag them off. I’m sick and tired of people shitting on the cops and the solders here in America for doing their job. When your wife, or your daughter, your son and your self gets in to predicaments, whom do you call? When shit hits the fan you call on us, and we are glad to help. People in America sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf. Stop bitching about stuff and live your happy stupid lives we try so hard to maintain and defend. Damn!

You have so very little information of global policies and political infrastructure. You can't make gut decisions because a Threatened President choses to act on confidential information he recieves from reliable sources. Maybe, just maybe you should protest the lack of controll you have over government decisions. That way you'll be responsible for military actions or the lack there of, and realize the consequenses of your actions.
Think About It!

Mishka rules !

Boris rules !

Looking at those cops...I got a really bad feeling that they weren't "normal". They seem to be like "zombies" or "controlled". As far as I am concerned, they were thugs in uniform.

The whole point here is that the Iraq war is a farce. The stated purpose for the war was finding WMD's. None found. Then the purpose became to get Saddam because of ties to 9/11. No ties. Now the purpose is to "liberate" the people of Iraq. For the first year after 9/11 all you "patriots" wanted to kill every "towel-head" and "Camel Jockey" you saw on the streets. Now you want to be their savior? Whey the sudden change of heart. Each and every step of this war on terror has been a complete failure. The majority of the perpetrators of 9/11 were from Saudia Arabia; but we attacked Afganistan. We blew up a bunch of caves going after Osama Bin Laden and he's still out there. As is Saddam Hussein. In the mean time, we've got soldiers dying every day in post war conflict while Halliburton (read: more money in the pockets of Cheney et.al.)is awarded a no bid contract worth $2 billon for the reconstruction. Tell me, how do we define success in Iraq? Patriotism is not blindly accepting what ever half truths the government puts out there. Patriotism is the people keeping the government in check, not the other way around. There are some post here that compare Bush to Hitler. If you read history, and understand it, you'll know that Hitler created a common enemy to galvanized the nation. With enough propaganda you can get a nation of people to do and believe almost anything. Once the cold war was over, this nation was in search of a common enemy. At first it was Osa Bin Laden. Couldn't find him so out of nowhere it became Saddam Hussien. G.W. Bush is out to finish the job for dear old dad. Tying Hussein to 9/11 is like the game that ties every actor out there to Kevin Bacon. If you use enough bridges you can make the connection.

The whole point here is that the Iraq war is a farce. The stated purpose for the war was finding WMD's. None found. Then the purpose became to get Saddam because of ties to 9/11. No ties. Now the purpose is to "liberate" the people of Iraq. For the first year after 9/11 all you "patriots" wanted to kill every "towel-head" and "Camel Jockey" you saw on the streets. Now you want to be their savior? Whey the sudden change of heart. Each and every step of this war on terror has been a complete failure. The majority of the perpetrators of 9/11 were from Saudia Arabia; but we attacked Afganistan. We blew up a bunch of caves going after Osama Bin Laden and he's still out there. As is Saddam Hussein. In the mean time, we've got soldiers dying every day in post war conflict while Halliburton (read: more money in the pockets of Cheney et.al.)is awarded a no bid contract worth $2 billon for the reconstruction. Tell me, how do we define success in Iraq? Patriotism is not blindly accepting what ever half truths the government puts out there. Patriotism is the people keeping the government in check, not the other way around. There are some post here that compare Bush to Hitler. If you read history, and understand it, you'll know that Hitler created a common enemy to galvanized the nation. With enough propaganda you can get a nation of people to do and believe almost anything. Once the cold war was over, this nation was in search of a common enemy. At first it was Osa Bin Laden. Couldn't find him so out of nowhere it became Saddam Hussien. G.W. Bush is out to finish the job for dear old dad. Tying Hussein to 9/11 is like the game that ties every actor out there to Kevin Bacon. If you use enough bridges you can make the connection.

The San Fran rioting is a sign of people frustrated with what their government etc have done and most likely insulted their own morlas and beliefs. If a gathering is non violent, then police have no right to intervene or in my eyes even be present to provoke. If they assemble, then to are the rights of teh people to assemble. Plain clothes officers can monitor and easily sway public support for stopping straglers from getting out of line. The easier answer to this is to keep the government from creating matters that tyhe people feel the need to retalitate or protest against. Now months later, we all learned of the lies and deaths of ours and theirs who never should have been attacked. In 2004, make your vote clear for Bush.. if he receives 1 human vote, it is 2 too many.

The San Fran rioting is a sign of people frustrated with what their government etc have done and most likely insulted their own morlas and beliefs. If a gathering is non violent, then police have no right to intervene or in my eyes even be present to provoke. If they assemble, then to are the rights of teh people to assemble. Plain clothes officers can monitor and easily sway public support for stopping straglers from getting out of line. The easier answer to this is to keep the government from creating matters that tyhe people feel the need to retalitate or protest against. Now months later, we all learned of the lies and deaths of ours and theirs who never should have been attacked. In 2004, make your vote clear for Bush.. if he receives 1 human vote, it is 2 too many.

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Heimarbeit

what the fuck is goin on with these people in power who are supposed to protect the common people and represent us.But instead they want our money and dont want to give it back, well i guess the only good thing about domocracy is that we have freedom, but only to a certain extent.We speak our mind on a issue and they try to shut us up, or not listen to the people at all.but it doesnt matter what i say or the person next door says,the only thing that changes the world as we know it are the rich greedy motherfuckers in goverments and corporations. All I have to say to you Bitchs is that the greedier you are the harder you will fall.

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The protesters deserved what they asked for. The protesters DISOBEYED laws and commands of police officers continuously. They were blocking roadways, etc. Chemical agents should have been fired upon them, maybe next time they will learn how to protest peacefully.

I see nothing wrong in that video. I only see cops doing their job. These blue collar working men didn't ask for you to be idiots. Why don't you look at Kent State. This was class warfare. Rich upity lilly white kids who were going to college on their parents dime decided they knew better than despite zero education. Blue collar working men had to spend theor weekends baby sitting these college pussies. I'd shoot them to for taking me away from my family. Another thing, if you haven't been to Iraq and shed blood for this country then shut your mouth. I can't stand pussies who talk, but don't back it up. Pick up a gun and do something.

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For the people who defended the police officers: There is a revolution coming. The hippy era of the 60's is about to play out in 2005-2008. Stop getting your news spoon fed to you and wake up. Go out and read up on the Project for a New American Century, and then you will realize why people are standing in the streets. The United States could easily pass as a Facist Empire. Why else would all of our powerful allies refuse to help us invade Iraq. When Bush has the draft bill reinstated, I hope these pro-war and pro-bush people are the first to go. Then they will finally see the horrific things that happens in war, and maybe then they will have some sympathy for the protesters in the video.