Police attacked this person because:

[Riot]

Police attacked this citizen, grabbing him from behind, and hauling him off for arrest, because:

A. Livestreaming police abuse makes the police nervous.
B. Eliminating freedom of the press enables the state to have more control over citizens.
C. Hipster glasses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=rcprvmc4WoI#

the NYPD aggressively targets people holding cameras, arresting five OWS photographers and videographers, and one New York Times reporter.

[MaTH716]

Is the World Financial Center private property?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Is the World Financial Center private property?

Yes, and everyone there was being moved out. The police were pushing them back to the doors by making a line and just telling people to move back to the doors. The people were moving.

Do you not find it very disturbing that an American citizen, who was there to livestream and not protest, was being pushed back by police from the front, and following those instructions by moving backwards, yet was grabbed from behind, thrown to the floor, aggressively restrained, and hauled off arrested?

Why was this passive, non-violent person picked out of the crowd? He was complying, right? What was he doing that required a policeman grabbing him - and nobody else - from behind and throwing him violently to the floor?

Would you like it if it happened to you? Do you think your rights give you freedom of the press? And freedom from excessive police force when you are complying with their commands?

Do you think the police have the right to command you to do things not enshrined in law? Can the police be violent goons? Thugs? Do citizens still have any rights, protections, or are the police departments indeed "Bloomberg's army", as he brags?

Glad the US government comes out to defend the peaceful protesters in the middle east from government violence.

It seems that more and more in the United States, citizens can only protest where and when the government decides to allow it.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes, and everyone there was being moved out. The police were pushing them back to the doors.

Do you not find it very disturbing that an American citizen, who was there to livestream and not protest, was being pushed back by police from the front, and following those instructions by moving backwards, yet was grabbed from behind, thrown to the floor, aggressively restrained, and hauled off arrested?

Glad the US government comes out to defend the peaceful protesters in the middle east from government violence.

But if he was there to livestream, isn't he in essence with the group protesting?

If that video is the 100% true story of what happened, yes then it's a bit disturbing. But how do any of us really know that? Maybe that guy is one of the key figures of the movement and is wanted for organizing the whole thing. I just think that there is more to these videos than what's posted.

I find it funny how quickly someone grabbed his computer and phone away from him. I'm guessing that there was some good stuff on it.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

But if he was there to livestream, isn't he in essence with the group protesting?

No. There are laws, federal, international, and even within NYC, protecting the free press's right to be immediate to police action. In NYC press are allowed to be no closer than 3 feet to arrests, police action, etc.

That is why the press has protested to Mayor Bloomberg, as so many reporters and legal advisers on scenes have been arrested, and the press has been shoved back blocks from any police actions.

A NY Times reporter, with press credentials displayed, was also targeted and arrested here.

If that video is the 100% true story of what happened, yes then it's a bit disturbing. But how do any of us really know that? Maybe that guy is one of the key figures of the movement and is wanted for organizing the whole thing. I just think that there is more to these videos than what's posted.

It is scary to think that what you just witnessed is true in the US. So scary that we hope and think there must be a different explaination or mitigating circumstances.

[Riot]

Can't post the whole article here, of course, but please click and read the entire thing, it's about a page long:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/ny...and-fists.html

New York Times - Gotham
Reporters Meet the Fists of the Law
By MICHAEL POWELL
Published: November 21, 2011

In the aftermath of the Occupy Wall Street eviction from Zuccotti Park, a mayoral aide e-mailed reporters.

The aide, Stu Loeser, said that he had heard of journalists “supposedly” wearing police press badges who “allegedly encountered problems on the streets of New York.”

As I sling nouns and verbs for a living, I almost admired his artful euphemisms. A less refined sort might phrase it this way:

Over several days, New York cops have arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground and tossed a barrier at reporters and photographers.

... snip ...

Reporters with The Associated Press and The Daily News were arrested while taking notes. A radio reporter was arrested as she recorded several blocks from the park.

... snip ...

Another truth co-exists. At least since the Republican National Convention of 2004, our police have grown accustomed to forcibly penning, arresting, and sometimes spraying and whacking protesters and reporters.

.. snip ...

Their letter offered five examples. I’ll mention one: As the police carried off a young protester whose head was covered in a crown of blood, a photographer stood behind a metal barricade and raised his camera. Two officers ran at him, grabbed the barrier and struck him in the chest, knees and shins. You are not permitted, the police yelled, to photograph on the sidewalk.

... snip ...

There is another problem: a police pass has become a ticket for a quick removal. My Times colleague Colin Moynihan stood on that darkened square last Tuesday morning when a police spokesman shouted, “Who has press credentials?”

Many reporters and photographers dutifully raised their hands. With that, the police removed the “credentialed” reporters, under threat of arrest, to a press pen, out of sight of the square. Only shouts and yells could be heard.

E-mail: powellm@nytimes.com

[MaTH716]

The guy that was streaming from OWS, he's considered free press? I would think that if he's covering a protest/event for the group who's protesting illegally, then he would fall in to that category as well.

Is there a video of the Times reporter being arrested?

Were all the protesters arrested or did they just let them go free?

I actually saw them marching towards the Finacial Center yesterday, the cops just pretty much escorted them and let them do their buisness.

It's unfortunate, but I'm guessing at a certain point some things have to been done forcefully. The OWS protesters probably don't respond very well with all the singing and dancing going on, to police asking them to vacate the premises, even if they say "pretty please with sugar on top". I guess at some point force is needed and sometimes innocent people get caught up in the mess.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes, and everyone there was being moved out. The police were pushing them back to the doors by making a line and just telling people to move back to the doors. The people were moving.

Do you not find it very disturbing that an American citizen, who was there to livestream and not protest, was being pushed back by police from the front, and following those instructions by moving backwards, yet was grabbed from behind, thrown to the floor, aggressively restrained, and hauled off arrested?

Why was this passive, non-violent person picked out of the crowd? He was complying, right? What was he doing that required a policeman grabbing him - and nobody else - from behind and throwing him violently to the floor?

Would you like it if it happened to you? Do you think your rights give you freedom of the press? And freedom from excessive police force when you are complying with their commands?

Do you think the police have the right to command you to do things not enshrined in law? Can the police be violent goons? Thugs? Do citizens still have any rights, protections, or are the police departments indeed "Bloomberg's army", as he brags?

Glad the US government comes out to defend the peaceful protesters in the middle east from government violence.

It seems that more and more in the United States, citizens can only protest where and when the government decides to allow it.

thats YOUR big govt for you!!

[Riot]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

thats YOUR big govt for you!!

That's YOUR government, too.

Stop pretending politics is like cheering on a sports team.