Baltimore police pepper spray and handcuff man for standing on street wearing a "Fuck the Police" t-shirt.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

In dramatic footage captured by the Associated Press, an unidentified Baltimore protester wearing a “F*ck the police” t-shirt is pepper sprayed before being dragged to the ground by his hair. 

As the man stands impassively in the street with his arms at his side, an officer walks up to him and, without provocation, sprays his face with pepper spray. As the man attempts to shake it off, not even reaching upwards to his face, the officer then grabs him by his hair and flings him to the ground as fellow officers swarm all over him. 

After being dragged to the sidewalk another officer pours water on his face as he lays moaning on the ground, his hands bound behind him.

Now I will probably get some blow back for saying this but I think it is clear that the man brought all of that on himself.  

I have watched the video a couple of times to be sure, but in my mind there is no denying that this man was standing in the street while being black.

You can argue with me all you want, but I know what I saw. The man is clearly being totally black right in front of the police officers.

At the end of the day really what choice did they have?

Wayne LaPierre was wrong. What it takes to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with some pepper spray.

Jon Meis, hero of Seattle Pacific University.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

On Thursday afternoon at half-past-three, a man walked into Otto Miller Hall at Seattle Pacific University, carrying a shotgun and a handgun. He opened fire, killing one person and injuring three more. 

When the shooter stopped to reload, according to police reports, an engineering student named Jon Meis sprayed him with pepper spray, incapacitating him, before grabbing him in a chokehold. Passers-by helped Meis hold the gunman until police arrived on the scene. 

"There are a number of heroes in this," assistant police chief Paul McDonagh said, according to the Associated Press. "The people around [the gunman] stepped up."

Now I am in no way attempting to suggest that a can of pepper spray is the best possible deterrent against a gunman. Every situation is different, and what works once, may not work the next time.

However it is worth noting that Mr. Meis did not accidentally shoot an innocent bystander while incapacitating this killer, nor did his efforts to stop him result in the shooter's death.

Years ago, during my initial training in martial arts, I asked my instructor why he would not teach me to use the Chinese sword that he wielded with such grace and power.

His answer in response was that weapons can malfunction, be stolen, or misplaced but a well trained body, fueled by courage, would never let you down.

I would say that in this case his words proved somewhat prophetic as they have multiple times during my own life.

This young man demonstrated something that many 2nd Amendment advocates seem to lack, the ability to overcome his fear.

Pepper spraying UC Davis officer no longer has a job. About damn time!

Hey remember this guy? Yeah, he is now among the ranks of the unemployed.

Courtesy of News 10:

The UC Davis officer accused of pepper spraying 11 student protesters in November no longer works on the police force. 

Spokesperson for the UC Davis Chancellor Barry Shiller said John Pike's employment ended on July 31, 2012. Shiller released the following statement: 

"Consistent with privacy guidelines established in state law and University policy, I can confirm that John Pike's employment with the University ended on July 31, 2012. I'm unable to comment further."

Nine months seems like an awfully long time to still be employed at a university after pepper spraying peaceful students, even though after the incident he was immediately put on leave.

I only hope he is not hired in any other law enforcement capacity. The guy simply does not have the proper temperament.

I mean the guy would pepper spray just about anybody, for just about anything.

Okay that last one I'm kind of okay with.

"Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, you have just been pepper sprayed!" Welcome to the 2011 version of Black Friday.

"Quit being such a baby! It's a food product, essentially."

Courtesy of the Guardian:

Shoppers in the US kicked off their annual "Black Friday" orgy of consumerism amid scenes of pushing, pulling, running and – in one case – pepper-spraying their way through the doors of the nation's shops and malls. 

The annual tradition, when many stores open early with cut-price sales on the day after Thanksgiving, has become a source of controversy amid frequent scenes of near-rioting and injuries as mobs of people crowd into big-name shops. 

But few can have expected even the most determined of bargain-hunters to adopt the brutal tactics of one female shopper in a Los Angeles suburb who attacked her rivals with pepper-spray: a substance more recently associated with police brutality against Occupy Wall Street protesters. 

At least 20 people, including several children, were injured as the woman deployed her weapon. "I heard screaming and I heard yelling. Moments later my throat stung. I was coughing really bad," said Matthew Lopez, a shopper who recounted his story to the Los Angeles Times. 

The woman, whom witnesses said appeared to be defending an X-Box games console, has not been found or yet identified. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the gigantic store remained open amid the mayhem and other shoppers continued to roam the aisles filling their trolleys with goods. 

The incident occurred late on Thanksgiving evening as the Walmart – like some other stores – had pushed back its Black Friday opening to begin late on Thursday.

You know it's stories like this that make me wonder what the hell is wrong with people?

I mean here we are in the year 2011, so intellectually evolved that we have created a virtual Utopian society (For those that can afford it), and yet under the correct circumstances were are still capable of such incredibly primitive responses we might just as well still be in the back of a cave fighting over a Mastodon leg.

Personally this whole Black Friday thing is something that I avoid like the plague. I like to save money as much as anybody else but will not sacrifice my dignity by standing in the freezing cold for hours outside of a big box store, nor sacrifice my humanity by trampling my fellow human beings just to save a couple of dollars.

On Christmas day I would like to proudly stand up and tell my family members, "I may have spent more than I should have, and perhaps I did not get you the top of line gift that you asked for, but I can assure you that none of your fellow human beings were sucker punched, pepper sprayed, or tasered in the purchase of these items. "

Of course that kind of thinking may place me in the minority. But oh well, when I have I NOT been in the minority?

Perhaps this would finally convince the conservatives that using pepper spray against non-violent protesters is inhumane.

"Take that you squatters! Vacate the premises and take that glowing baby with you."

Don't worry Christians. Remember, pepper spray is essentially a food product.

UC Davis Chancellor blames pepper spray incident on police. Wait, what?

Courtesy of CS Monitor:

The chancellor of a US university who has faced widespread criticism following the pepper spraying of peaceful demonstrators has told an assembly of 1,000 students that she had instructed campus police not to use force in breaking up the protest. 

"I explicitly directed the chief of police that violence should be avoided at all costs," she said. "It was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to happen." She stressed that students have a right to demonstrate peacefully. 

"Because encampments have long been prohibited by UC policy, I directed police only to take down the tents," she said. "My instructions were for no arrests and no police force." 

This is a NEW explanation coming from the Chancellor, who certainly did not mention a break down in communication between herself and the police earlier.  Bringing it up after all of this time certainly does nothing for her credibility.

So are the students buying it?

Doesn't look that way.

Yet not all students who attended the town hall in a performing arts complex were satisfied with the response from Katehi. 

Puneet Kamal, 22, an environmental science and policy major, was among those lined up to ask questions Tuesday. 

"She didn't say 'I'm sorry that I did this, or I'm sorry I made this call,'" Kamal said. "She said 'I'm sorry that this situation had to happen.' Where's the blame going to?" 

Natalie Poulton, 20, a communications major, said Katehi has not fully explained what she knew in advance about the police plans for clearing out protesters.

"I want more answers," said Poulton. "She totally didn't explain if there was a miscommunication with the cops and what exactly happened in terms of the higher-ups."

In a further effort at damage control the university itself has offered to pay for the medical expenses of the students sprayed by police, AND launch an independent investigation:

University of California officials said Tuesday they will pay the medical expenses of students who were pepper sprayed during an Occupy Davis protest last week. 

Authorities have also decided to drop charges against 10 people who were arrested during the Friday protest on the campus of UC Davis. The university system has also created an advisory panel to look into the incident, University of California President Mark Yudof said. 

Bill Bratton, who has led police departments in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, will head the panel, Yudof said. 

"My intent," Yudof said, "is to provide the chancellor and the entire University of California community with an independent, unvarnished report about what happened at Davis."

In my personal opinion the Chancellor has lost all credibility and until she is removed from her job, or resigns willingly, there will be no opportunity to the university to start earning back the student's trust, and to allow the healing process to begin.

 I will predict right now that Chancellor Katehi will be out of a job before the Christmas break.

The new face of the Occupy movement? Update.

Courtesy of The Star:

Photos of 84-year-old Dorli Rainey being helped by fellow activists after Seattle police blasted a crowd of Occupy protesters with pepper spray Tuesday have popped up on news websites and blogs around the world. 

Occupy Seattle condemned the force, posting a statement on its website shortly after the incident saying “we offer our sympathies to the many protesting patriots that were indiscriminately pepper sprayed including a 4’10” 84 year old woman, a priest and a pregnant woman who as of this writing is still in the hospital.”

Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel told the Associated Press he didn't have the details on the Rainey confrontation, but he said pepper spray is “is not age specific. No more dangerous to someone who is 10 or someone who is 80.” 

It is images like this which are going to inspire more and more people to support this movement, and to start believing that the police of this nation are nothing more than jack booted thugs doing the bidding of the 1% instead of fighting alongside their fellow 99% for a better future for them and for their children.

And it is incidents like this that which me wonder if the police are actually getting the proper training they need to understand how dangerous pepper spray can be to certain individuals, such as the elderly, the sickly, or pregnant women?

This device was created to be a non-lethal alternative to drawing a gun in response to a dangerous altercation, it was NOT designed to be indiscriminately sprayed into a crowd of peaceful protesters.

And on that topic here is a statement from the priest who was also sprayed during this incident.

Update: Keith Olbermann interviews Dorli Rainey. This is a MUST SEE! Could the police have chosen a sweeter person to abuse? Like I said, this is going to really bite them in the ass.