NATO Protests in Chicago, Some Officers refuse to arrest non-violent protesters

[Jello Biafra]

CHICAGO — Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Sunday in one of the city’s largest demonstrations in years, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit.

Within minutes of the march, live streams of the event began popping up all over the internet and anyone with a basic internet connection could witness numerous arrests of non-violent protestors and independent journalists, in what appeared to be the first large-scale implementation of the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011 (H.R. 347). Even before today’s protests began, federal agents are reported to have made arrests that thwarted supposed ‘terrorist plots’ targeted at the summit and President Obama, however in what is becoming a common trend these days, the plots involved undercover federal agents that supplied the explosive devices – leaving some to question whether or not these plans would have ever been carried out in the first place.

Perhaps one of the most shocking (amazing) details from today’s protest were the actions, or inaction’s, of some of Chicago’s finest. In a surprising turn of events, reports have emerged that numerous Chicago Police officers openly refused to arrest non-violent protesters – some officers even refusing to show up for work. I had the honor of speaking with one of these brave men, and although he wishes to remain anonymous (for obvious reasons), he wasn’t shy about how he and many other officers feel in regards to the ever-increasing police state.

It’s just not right, ya know? I mean… uh… a lot of people think that every guy with a badge and a gun has a thing for lockin’ people up. But that really ain’t the case most of the time… I became an officer to help people, ya know? I didn’t sign up to throw kids in jail for taking pictures on their phones.. and I certainly didn’t sign up to.. uh… arrest war veterans exercising their right to protest… I mean, this is still America right?

Before our conversation was cut short, I asked the officer if he agreed with some of the grievances held by the protesters to which he replied:

I don’t think that is the point, really. I mean, people are always going to disagree… but its whether or not they can go out there and be vocal about however they feel.

http://libertarianreview.us/2012/05/20/nato-protests-in-chicago-some-officers-refuse-to-arrest-non-violent-protesters/

I was flamed when I mentioned HR 347 when some of the folks on DU said that Obama would never act on it. Here's you're police state in action......

[mucifer]

1. Hard to believe anyone didn't show up to work

from what I saw at the protest.

[annabanana]

2. I have no doubt that some, maybe even many individual officers have no taste for this.

But I suspect that most "restraint" we may have seen on TV yesterday was more caused by the ocean of cameras trained on the scene. Where there was no restraint we saw thugs and happy fascists.

[Magoo48]

3. At some point we all must choose.

It's difficult for authoritarians to adopt restraint, especially when the rest of the Black and Blue Gang is on the riot.

[LeftishBrit]

4. While this is a serious problem, do we really need links to Libertarian Review?

They support Ron Paul; are against spending on public services, etc. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[Robb]

5. Libertarian Review?

Are you fucking kidding me?

[NNN0LHI]

6. I became an officer to help people, ya know?

[NeverEnuff]

7. I'll take a guess.

Is it the one's that have read the Constitution?

[frazzled]

8. Factual errors

Within minutes of the march, live streams of the event began popping up all over the internet and anyone with a basic internet connection could witness numerous arrests of non-violent protestors and independent journalists, in what appeared to be the first large-scale implementation of the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011 (H.R. 347).

That's simply not true. The march ended at about 4:45 pm, at which point the organizer of the march took a megaphone to tell people to go ahead and comply with the request to move west to State and Cermak, that months of effort had gone into making this a peaceful march and not to blow it. That's when the small group that didn't leave started shouting "NATO's east" and tried to move toward McCormick Place.

I watched for nearly one and a half hours the detailed local coverage from the front lines after this point. There were no "numerous arrests of non-violent protesters and independent journalists within minutes of the march." The standoff with the small group that chose to stay and taunt and throw things at the police in order to provoke a response lasted for the hour and a half, citizen journalists holding cameras high and pushing them into the cops' faces in the hopes of catching a grimace or baton. The cops did not use tear gas or pepper spray or even their poised sound machine. They were using a kind of fascinating herding technique to move the crowd inch by inch toward the west. It was only after an hour or so that a few people (I saw three, who happened to have been punching at police or otherwise trying to provoke a conflict) were "extracted" from the crowd over a period of 5 or 10 minutes in order to isolate and arrest them. The final arrests happened at the very end ... almost two hours after the march, and some who tried to get into the Art Institute that evening, where Michelle Obama was hosting a dinner for the spouses.

In all, only 45 people were arrested over the course of the day. Compare that to the 300 arrests (and 20 injuries) that were made in Montreal yesterday in the student tuition-hike protests.

I also don't believe that cops failed to show up to work. There is simply no evidence of that. It's true that for most of the day the cops were generally genial and even joined in chanting with the protesters about "medical care." I live here. I'm no fan of the Chicago police: many are racist and bullies, and the real problem is if you are a black teenager on the South Side; they even beat up some young white business workers in a bar behind my apartment because they wouldn't move when the cops wanted to commandeer the pool table. This was an elite group, however. And Garry McCarthy had trained this group to the nines (he was there on the front lines himself, which doesn't happen all that often). They went to extreme lengths not to have another 1968; they knew the cameras were on them. They endured a lot of shit in 90-degree heat for a long, long time. It went off far better than I expected. Flame away, but I'll believe what I saw over a period of time: not some isolated close-up shots and rigged up, out-of-context citizen-journalist photos. So flame away.

I respect the vast majority of the protesters who have been here: the Nurses on Friday, the Veterans and most Occupy people yesterday. I respected their messages, too. They came to protest and they did. The small number who got themselves arrested wanted to get arrested: they appeared to have no agenda other than that. I know many will try to martyr them; I'm not buying.

[coalition_unwilling]

9. Here's the exception to your report:

[nobodyspecial]

13. And here is what precipitated that event

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/70064061/Community/Anatomy-of-an-iconic-photograph

[crypticvalentine]

10. Weekend In Chicago

https://vimeo.com/42522561

[Marrah_G]

11. I'm glad some of them followed their gut and refused.

[fascisthunter]

12. I'm glad if this is true

[Fire Walk With Me]

14. Yes, it's beautiful if true. Time for themtto remember the Bill of Rights.