Breaking News: Cops Caught On Video Beating Berkeley Students

[Galraedia]

Source: Addicting Info

In something that might have been reminiscent of the 60s, Berkeley police in riot gear beat several protesters with their night sticks. The video shows the protesters keeping their arms at their sides or locking them, in a show of passive resistance, while chanting, “Stop beating students!”

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/09/breaking-news-cops-caught-on-video-beating-berkeley-students/

[Marrah_G]

1. As the parent of a college student that horrifies me

That video needs to go viral.

[Ash_F]

2. One of the officers seemed to be recording too.

I wonder if he was expecting to record that.

[Bozita]

3. Fucking sadists!

[Peregrine Took]

4. "The whole world is watching" is a much more powerful chant, imo.

I always wonder when I hear someone say that the police are "nice" and "on our side" - don't they know anything about history?

The cops are never on your side.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

8. Cops are agents of the state, not the people.

And following that logic, they are going to protect the state against the people - each and every time.

[crunch60]

61. Yes, just like they did at Kent State, nt

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. The student in the gray hoodie is one tough dude...

"Reminiscent of the 60s" ? Gonna see a lot more of that. Only now the police forces have been given billions in post 9/11 riot suppression 'goodies', MUCH more that the police of the 60s.

[freshwest]

6. Same mentality created both. I'll pass this one on.

[zalinda]

10. All the cops have numbers on their helmets

they should be easily identified.

zalinda

[FreeBillClinton]

20. #14 should be arrested. That's assault.

[No Elephants]

81. +1 Homeland Security, indeed.

[RufusTFirefly]

7. Derrick Jensen's "Endgame": Premise 13

Premise Thirteen: Those in power rule by force, and the sooner we break ourselves of illusions to the contrary, the sooner we can at least begin to make reasonable decisions about whether, when, and how we are going to resist.

Premise 12 is also relevant

Premise Twelve: There are no rich people in the world, and there are no poor people. There are just people. The rich may have lots of pieces of green paper that many pretend are worth something—or their presumed riches may be even more abstract: numbers on hard drives at banks—and the poor may not. These “rich” claim they own land, and the “poor” are often denied the right to make that same claim. A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of pieces of green paper. Those without the green papers generally buy into these delusions almost as quickly and completely as those with. These delusions carry with them extreme consequences in the real world.

The 20 Premises of Endgame

[drokhole]

13. Interesting. Thanks for the link! nt

[Raksha]

22. Thanks for the link - very enlightening!

I've heard of the book Endgame before but knew nothing about it except the name, not even the author's name. This is the first time I've ever read the 20 Premises. I can tell right now that this is required reading!

[Myrina]

28. I have often thought about # 12 ...

... what, really, IS money/wealth? At this point, it's primarily just data and what we, as a society have agreed that data stands for. $10 is only > than $0 if you buy into the values assigned to each data point.

:shrug:

[drokhole]

58. I particularly enjoy Alan Watts' take on the matter...

Alan Watts - Money

[defendandprotect]

68. Thank you --

Wasn't familiar with Watts but did watch the video --

Watts makes a great point in that many think the wealth of US is based in what

citizens earn, but actually it's based in the nation itself -- it's nature, animal-life,

natural resources, people -- power to tax -- that's why elites seek to BUY government to

control it all.


Dollar bills are an artificial entity which we can uninvent --

Simply tools to convert artificial wealth into power --


Dollar bills can jump borders quite easily now -- especially since the overturning

of the Bretton Woods Accords by Nixon -- !!


Labor is based in societies -- homes/relationships -- not as easy to move on even

if one wanted to.

[defendandprotect]

67. Also like #9 -- "Needs of the natural world are more important than needs of the economic system" --

Premise Eight: The needs of the natural world are more important than the needs of the economic system.

Another way to put premise Eight: Any economic or social system that does not benefit the natural communities on which it is based is unsustainable, immoral, and stupid. Sustainability, morality, and intelligence (as well as justice) requires the dismantling of any such economic or social system, or at the very least disallowing it from damaging your landbase.


But just want to comment on #12 that we should be uninventing the dollar bill --

it's simply an instrument to move power from the many to the few -- a Monopoly game.

It is people who create an economy and it is banks and financial institutions/corporations

which manipulate it. The dollar bill makes that possible.

Was watching a very old movie today with Marie Dressler -- 1932 -- called "Prosperity" --

based on the hard times. And essentially that's what she does within her community --

uninvents the dollar bill.



Also highly agree with this one --

Premise Ten: The culture as a whole and most of its members are insane. The culture is driven by a death urge, an urge to destroy life.


Indeed, capitalism is suicidal -- as all exploitation of nature and animal-life and natural

resources is insane.

Patriarchy -- "the bird with one wing" --





Patriarchy -- and its underpinning =

Organized patriarchal religion -- and its economic invention =

capitalism =

The Unholy Trinity



Thank you -- very interesting! :hi:

[SoapBox]

9. More of the out of control Police Militia...

Arrogance.

They think they can do anything they want.

Time for the 99% to ask for a refund on OUR tax dollars, that pay for these Goons.

[greiner3]

11. The first couple of students who were beaten;

Seemed to be females who were smacked in the stomach. One way to cut down on the population explosion.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Not the stomach.

The Ribs. Much more painful.

A jab in the ribs with the end of a nightstick can bring tears to my eyes, and I'm a big-assed 'tough' dude.

Those kids did great. For a lot of people, that would have been a full-on pants shitting experience, and they stood their ground marvelously. Good job.

[zeemike]

18. And that was intentional

The idea was to provoke the male students into violent to protect them...it was clearly premeditated.

[No Elephants]

82. It usually is intentional. And they are professionals at provocation, whereas

demonstrators are typically amateurs at resisting provocation.

[RufusTFirefly]

12. Soviet tanks and Prague Spring

My guess is that the police reaction in Berkeley is similar to the Soviet decision in August of 1968 to roll tanks into downtown Prague.

There's probably a very real fear that the empire is crumbling and that if the Berkeley occupation is allowed to continue that it will quickly spread throughout the rest of the country's college campuses. Keep in mind that student loans may be the next bubble.

It worked for the Soviets -- at least for 20 years or so. The display of force in Prague probably drove similar movements further underground. But they didn't go away. And of course the empire ultimately crumbled.

The irony is that these conspicuous displays of police violence have had the opposite effect so far. Instead of discouraging resistance, they seem to be encouraging it. Witness the fallout from the pepper-spray incident, for example. I can see how the PTB would find this so troubling. People are stepping outside the System to fight the System. It's like living in Flatland and having a three-dimensional figure invade. It's probably too difficult for them to even comprehend.

[Raksha]

15. That's a very good analogy.

Re "It's like living in Flatland and having a three-dimensional figure invade. It's probably too difficult for them to even comprehend."

[Fantastic Anarchist]

17. It is the Soviet's use of force ...

It is precisely the Soviet's use of force that eventually did them in. All empires, in their last throes, tend to act more and more violently as they wither. The irony being, that the more force they use, the weaker they get.

These protesters stood tall, looked power in the face, and castrated that very same power by forcing it to look in the mirror and see only an empty shell full of cowardice.

[tblue37]

56. As Princess Leia said to Darth Vader, the more tightly they

squeeze, the more worlds will slip through their fingers.

[defendandprotect]

65. Interesting --

[jwirr]

32. The students in London are in the streets again about the same

issue. I suspect this was another poor decision on the part of whoever ordered the police in because I would guess that colleges are on the tipping point.

[Kaleko]

41. Judging by those last several sentences of yours,

you'll probably enjoy my babblings about Matrix analogies here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2277953&mesg_id=2280902

Major Matrix meltdown in progress, if you ask me.

:hi:

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. The Cops' MO is To Provoke a Violent Response ...

So that it will have two purposes:

Discredit the movement
Give reason to smash the movement

I'm glad to see that the protester remained peaceful, and did not give the authoritarians the excuses they need to squash the movement.

[jerseyjack]

19. Thugs !!!

[RainDog]

21. power in action n/t

[Uncle Joe]

23. That was just atrocious, police thuggery, at least one officer should be reprimanded if not

dismissed, there was no call for him to strike out.

Thanks for the thread, Galraedia.

[Downtown Hound]

24. Piece of shit domestic terrorist pigs

Every last one of 'em.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

70. Please don't insult terrorist pigs.

;)

[blackspade]

25. Completely uncalled for.

This is unprovoked battery of peaceful protesters by the corporate militia.
One student even points out to one of the thugs that they are being filmed!

[KansDem]

26. Little men with big badges...

After they realized their violent tactics weren't working, they stood there like confused morons trying to figure out if it was time to pick their noses and scratch their butts, or vice-versa...

[Plucketeer]

35. The mistake is in thinking these cops are taking it upon themselves to do this

Now - tell them there's no paychecks or bennies from here on out - they'll abandon their "tools" and leave. They're only doing what they're TOLD to do from on high. They're just simple pawns here. Of course...... it takes a special sort to want to carry a badge and gun. And when we're being threatened or treated unjustly, who doesn't want someone to represent the law to come to the rescue?

I'm not saying they're all beyond reproach. They are, after all, homo sapiens like the rest of us. But they're also the first line of defense for the upper echelons, and lots of money's been spent in trying to certain that they'll act like pit bulls when told to.

Of course, my hats off to the students. Amazing what they can rise to when inspired. Same for ALL the "occupiers". They're REAL Heros in my eyes.

[midnight]

27. What was the reason for the police inciting violence?

[Myrina]

29. ... to incite counter-violence ...

... so authorities will be justified in shutting this, and other Occupy's down and the media decrying the Occupiers as 'domestic terrrorist radical anti-socials' ....

[julian09]

30. If they done this in Iraq or Afghanistan their barracks and stations

would be visited by suicide bombers.

[Fire Walk With Me]

31. Ground-level hires video reveals the names of some involved further down the line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSat-nRefXY&feature=youtu.be












Kneeing a teenager's face into the ground:

[onestepforward]

34. Here are a list of Police Officer names that beat US Berkeley students

http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet/comments/m7m68/here_are_a_list_of_police_officer_names_that_beat/

Here's what I've got so far based on whats been uploaded to youtube.
G. Chavez
F. Buschhueter
S. Miller
C. Medeiros
T. Rodrigues
A. Williams
L. Monahan
R. Florendo (#45)
H. Bennigson (#53)
N. Miller (#32)
S. Lachler (#38)
L. Wong (#88)
A. Tucker (#13, Sargent)
Unknown Name (#89)
Unknown Name (#95)
Unknown Name (#73)
Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/SCUtQ
If you identify any officers not listed here, please take a screenshot and let me know in this thread, and I'll update the list. I suggest you download the highest quality videos you can (use www.keepvid.com or something similar) and go through them frame by frame until we have all names and badge numbers. If you have any video or photos of yesterdays brutality, please upload them immediately, even if you don't think it's much. You'll be surprised what a single frame can show the world. As always, stay peaceful.

[Fire Walk With Me]

46. ...

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

:hi:

They removed all names and pics, saying they don't want a witch hunt. I'll go my own route on this one...

[Fire Walk With Me]

69. That reddit member continues to seek names and numbers. Thanks for the post.

:hi:

[Fantastic Anarchist]

73. Fantastic work, onestepforward. n/t

[Kaleko]

47. Damn, those stills and the video are hard to watch

without losing the last shreds of detachment.

F. Buschhueter, the cop in the first pic, has an anglicized German name that is eerily fitting. It means "Guardian of Bush" - coincidentally enough.

[Fire Walk With Me]

54. "Guardian of Bush"

Oh dear...

[quakerboy]

59. interesting

They appear to be Alameda county sheriffs. And I seem to recall that this is the same LE group most implicated in excessive force in Oakland.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

71. "Do you do this to your wife at home?"

The answer is quite obviously "yes."

The guy that looks like Officer Rod Farva really looks creepy - I never understood those thug mustaches some cops wear.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

72. I'd call them goddamned fascist pigs, but I don't feel like insulting fascist pigs today.

That's infuriating.

[neoconn]

33. OMG!

What the F@&! is going on? This brutality needs to end. All this police thuggery is making me sick.....

[unionworks]

36. I couldn't finish watching

Positively disgusting. I can't say what I feel, I would be banned.

[county worker]

37. Where do they train police to be so violent? I amazes me that the police act like the army of the

1%.

University of California use to be free to state residents. Now you pay a tuition that is constantly raised on you. You have to borrow thousands to go to school and graduate in debt up to your ears and no chance for a job.

What do they expect young people to do? "When you have nothing you have nothing to lose." "Freedom is an other word for nothing left to lose."

[Hulk]

38. Makes me sick that we haven't evolved from the same thuggish tactics

Shame on these thugs in blue shirts. They give ALL police a bad name, and they certainly make us see just how much of a police state we really do live in. How tragic. I'm really sorry for all my friends who died in wars "protecting our freedom". What a pathetic joke.

[KamaAina]

39. It was my understanding that the pigs in question were UC Berkeley campus police

not City of Berkeley police. Also, I have heard that they were egged on and abetted by the same Alameda County sheriff's department that played such a prominent role in escalating the violence at Occupy Oakland. :eyes:

[Blacksheep214]

40. They want violence

That makes it easy for them to bring in the scoopers.

The 1% would like nothing better.

Can we get a little Federal intervention against the violence and abuse of authority?

[No Elephants]

83. Your tongue is in your cheek, I assume.

[graywarrior]

42. It's the 60's again

Hats off to those kids. Braver than brave for standing up.

[lovuian]

43. Police state right for everyone to see

and our GOVERNMENT sits back and watches it

the students are learning a lesson
and the police will learn another lesson

You will get the blame and lose your jobs while the elite you protect just turns their head

[Fantastic Anarchist]

74. Notice that these instances of police violence haven't made their way to the MSM?

Odd, that.

[DaveJ]

44. Sickening

Are these cops even Americans? Do they have any clue? I think these cops are treasonous for beating not only innocent Americans, but the most righteous upstanding patriots of our era. These cops and their superiors are the type of characters this country revolted against in the first place.

[bertman]

45. The fact that the University President stood AGAINST the Occupy movement says volumes.

The University should be encouraging protest and protecting the Occupy movement.

Kinda makes you wonder what they are interested in teaching, doesn't it?

REC. Those kids are heroes in my eyes.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

48. Just like in the peace movement. nt

[sulphurdunn]

49. Lots of these riot cops

and SWAT guys are steroid abusers who like to pump iron and hit the sauce pretty hard. That, when combined with upbringing and temperament, contributes to making them violent tools of authoritarian power.

[unionworks]

52. not all of them

I know swat team members who are decent people who don't think twice about putting their life on the line to save lives. My local police have been just great with the Occupy folks. I have dropped off pizza and doughnuts to the occupiers, and marched around the city park with picket sign and got waves from passing police cruisers. The reaction of the campus cops shows a lack of training and discipline, not the opposite. I believe a previous poster who said these rent-a-cops were egged on by members of the sheriffs department. And I hope they both get their ass sued off.

[sulphurdunn]

77. Not even most of them,

but too many of them. The greatest failure of most police departments is their failure to adequately police themselves.

[fascisthunter]

50. looks like the police state wasn't expecting things to happen this way

too fucking bad.

[madrchsod]

51. reagan gassed the students in 1969....i wonder if that is next?

http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/08_reagan.shtml




http://vimeo.com/15357272

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~katster/Hist98p.htm

[Fawkes]

55. Berkeley 1969

I was one of the students Reagan had gassed in 1969. Watching the video from yesterday made me very angry. The University Police and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department were fascists then and they are fascists now. One of my strongest memories of those days was seeing then-Sheriff Madigan marching through the center of Sproul Plaza protected by cops and national guard on all sides and the students chanted Seig Heil. (btw, we called them RayGun and MadGun.) I am proud of the students and ashamed of the University administration.

[rhett o rick]

53. Ghandi would be proud. nm

[unionworks]

57. the kid in the grey hoodie

Got to me. You could see his legs were about to go out from under him from pain, and yet he stood up to them. I hope the fuckers have nightmares for the rest of their lives.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

75. Sociopaths do not have nightmares.

It's a fool's errand to think that those cops have normal human emotions. They don't. Appealing to their humanity is a lost cause.

[RKP5637]

60. Police State USA in action, the coming decades if left unchecked, unlimited

funding for violence by the 1% as it progresses. Suppress the peasant masses, buy the cops, buy political power, own the gov. We've seen this in history before.

[Historic NY]

62. So has anyone contact the sheriff? I thought it was campus cops apparently not.

[red dog 1]

85. It Was U.C. Berkeley Police & Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies..

"The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act of violence", U.C. Police Captain Margo Bennett said, "I understand that many students may not think that, but linking arms in a human chain when ordered to step aside is not a nonviolent protest."

SF Chronicle

[Historic NY]

86. I guess "Ring around the rosy" is criminal too using that logic.

the view I've seen is most never got the chance when they were getting sticked.

[defendandprotect]

63. My new cell phone doesn't have VIDEO which I only noticed quite some time after getting it !!

This is a good thing to have -- check cell phone before you buy them for this

feature.

My phone's a Samsung from Verizon -- !!

[defendandprotect]

64. K/R -- Terrible ---

They really seem to have a stomach for it those cops!! Who the hell are they?

Killing innocent students at Kent State wasn't too much to do, either -- !!

Pigs? Not nearly descriptive enough of this mind set and brutality from our

"public servants" --!!

[marasinghe]

66. these Kids doing this country proud.

and, as always, getting the shit beaten out of them for their idealism & courage.

rich assholes & their tame pigs - long overdue for a barbecue.

[druidity33]

76. it sounds like

they are chanting:

"Stop Eating Students!"

but hey, it's still a good chant.

[James48]

78. Stand up for what is right.

Do not be afraid to stand up for what is right.
It only takes ONE to make a difference.

[liberalhistorian]

79. Isn't it fascinating how we haven't heard

about any such thing happening at Penn, even though over ten thousand students rioted (over something really stupid) and caused real damage and mayhem? (Not that I would have wanted anything to happen to them, either). Could it be that the state and police agreed more with PSU?

I looked at video Wed. night of both PSU and Berkeley and the Berkeley kids were doing nothing whatsoever, were peaceful. In contrast to the car-flipping mayhem of PSU, and all over anger at a pedophile-protector being fired so that their precious football team was affected.

[No Elephants]

80. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[sarcasmo]

84. They should loose their jobs, but that will not happen.