POLICE ATTACK CROWD in SW Baltimore Sunday May 29th 2004

[diamond14]

http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/98502/index.php

Welcome to bush* Amerikkka...where a pregnant woman and an elderly woman, holding a child in her arms, were brutally attacked AND ARRESTED by police....


PRESS RELEASE

Contact: J.L. Ghaffir J’s FX @ Nowchild Voice Jlynn_jfx (at) hotmail.com 410.984.3778 Nowchild Voice
For Immediate Release

Bring the Violence - Bring the Noise?
Baltimore Cops End Peaceful Festival with Batons and Stun Guns

Baltimore, MD May 30, 2004: Baltimore City Officers’ use of extreme force with festival goers at the close of the annual “SoWeBo Festival,” was the only incident of violence that occurred throughout the yearly cultural arts festival held in the southwest area of Baltimore City.

It was during the performance of the socially conscious, Reggae/Rock band “Living Proof” that the commotion began. There was some misunderstanding between festival organizers and city officers about the time the festival was scheduled to end. Without warning, officers are said to have physically shut off sound and told the crowd to “get ready for the real show.”

Officers walked toward the stage, through the crowd of fifty or more people, with police batons in hand. The walked up onto the stage, apparently prepared for a confrontation with the band. There was none. Members of “Living Proof” obliged the officers and shut down the show.

..........While the man was clearly down on the ground and not moving, other officers reportedly used his taser stun gun on the man more than five times. Witnesses claim the man’s body was visibly shaking in response. Unfortunately, this is only the first of four violent incidents incited by Baltimore City Officers.....his wife - who remains in police custody - was reportedly taken to a local emergency room due to pregnancy related bleeding that began after she was arrested.... Family and friends are concerned for her and the health of her child as a result of the suspicious injuries. ....the elderly woman, Mother Saray, has also been released and is currently receiving medical treatment for a busted lip and injuries to both of her sides and her back.....

[redqueen]

1. This is news

Demand your local stations & newspapers carry details tomorrow or tonight!

[Q]

2. Not only Bush's* America...

...it's his Stormtroopers. (AKA fascists)

[PaDUer]

3. These cops should be jailed!

The people will go to protests prepared now due to how they're treating the peaceful protestors..Just like the prisons in Iraq, WHO gave the orders?--right to the TOP.

[Warpy]

5. This wasn't even a protest

It was a legal gathering, with all the permits given. The cops were a bunch of scumbags who just wanted to go home early. There will be a serious investigation of them.

The problem is that, given Posse Comitatus, the government has compensated by encouraging the militarization of local police departments, using the war on drugs as the pretext. Expect the outrages to become more frequent and more severe, as all that military training cries out to be used.

[diamond14]

8. most protests are also "legal gatherings with all the permits given"

but, you are right that this nasty violent police action was taken on a group of Festival attendees....a Festival that has been held peacefully in that area of Baltimore for MANY years, and that brings families with children and the elderly outside for entertainment...

it's sad that we have gotten to this stage AGAIN...just like Vietnam, where police brutality and economic downturn created riots in cities all across America....could happen this summers, as you read from this police brutality and violence against peaceful citizens at a FESTIVAL...

[The Blue Flower]

4. Legislation that calls a fetus a person with rights

I wonder if the new legislation that makes it a federal crime to endanger the life of an unborn child would apply to this case of police abuse.

[jukes]

7. chap

very good point!




:toast:

[Alerter_]

6. the SoWeBo Festival is a very White event

It's a sad statement about the country, but if this was a majority African-American festival, I wouldn't be surprised about the violence. But Sowebo is very white with lots of college kids and middle class people. I'm surprised the police rioted in this case. I've been to SoWeBo a bunch of times, and have never heard of anything like this.

[diamond14]

9. things have changed now....don't be surprised about increased

police brutality/violence toward American citizens as the bush* cabal tightens control....

[demnan]

10. See what happens

when Maryland gets a Republican governor?

[lebkuchen]

11. I'll skip Baltimore in my travel plans

Heard they had a nice aquarium.

I'll take a pass.

[keithyboy]

12. "celebrating while black"

They know better than that!

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. But the Baltimore police don't report to Bush, the mayor is a Democrat

What does this have to do with Bush? He doens't control the local police, the city does. :shrug:

[diamond14]

14. violence comes from bush* policies, statements, and actions....

all the others are simply following the leader...

there has been a HUGE increase in police violence since bush* took office....all over America....and now, police brutality and arrest of a pregnant woman and an elder woman holding a child....

the tone comes from the top...torture, brutality, KILLING is the acceptable standard according to the bush* cabal...and the Federal standards affect police all across America....remember, asscroft runs the Justice Department....just like the Iraq torture...it's police gone wild in America, and there is likely directives right from asscrofts office....

you seem to argue the same arguments made about Iraq POW torture...that it's just the fault of a few low-level detention officers...and doesn't rise up any higher....police departments ultimately report to asscroft's Department of Justice, which issues directives to control their conduct...



John Kerry receives the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
May 14, 2004, Washington, DC

[Karenina]

16. Heads up, all!

And do check this thread while you're at it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1697698&mesg_id=1697698

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Local police departments do not report to the Justice Department

The report to their local municipality (mayor, city council).

Your analogy with what happened in Iraq is faulty. Although there is a chain of command between every soldier and Bush as the Commander-in-Chief, their is no chain of command between police officers and Bush.

[oasis]

15. The Bushistas have given their blessing for police precincts to create

a tense civil climate for Summer '04. A nationally televised "riot" in August will set middle America firmly in the GOP column.