Judges and Police Chiefs' Response to Occupy Movement

[FayeforCure]

Judge says Occupy protesters shouldn't be charged


Posted: Oct 28, 2011 4:54 AM EDT Updated: Oct 28, 2011 8:00 AM EDT

Posted by Kelsey Russell - email


NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -

A Nashville judge said that about 25 Occupy Nashville protesters that were arrested Friday morning should not be charged. 

The protesters will remain in custody until the judge speaks with Tennessee Highway Patrol officials.


Officers arrived at Legislative Plaza around 3 a.m. in buses filled with about 50-100 law enforcement officers.

They gave protesters 10 minutes to leave, a five-minute warning and then the demonstrators joined arms and refused.

Officers arrested around 25 protesters that refused to leave the area.  No one fought back and all of the protestors were pushed away by the troopers.

Demonstrators have been camping-out at Legislative Plaza for nearly three weeks.

The removal came just one day after the Department of General Services announced that the Capital grounds, the War Memorial Courtyard and the Legislative Plaza in Downtown Nashville will now be closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The curfew was imposed because of the protest.

Officials asked demonstrators to leave their post in front of the Capitol by Friday.

Demonstrators said they won't leave because they haven't broken any laws and would continue to peacefully practice their American right to free speech and protest.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/15897311/occupy-protest-arrests

[FayeforCure]

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts Resigns

Law Enforcement & CrimeEllen Cushing â€"  Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 2:07 PM


Whoa. Chief Anthony Batts has resigned, according to an internal OPD memo obtained by Harry Harris at the Trib. Per the Trib's report, Batts' e-mail attributed his resignation â€" which will become effective sometime next month â€" to mounting pressure and "limited control but full accountability" in his job:


"[When I was hired,] I answered the call for a reform-minded chief, a leader with a focus on community policing and high standards. I was told Oakland residents were looking for a strong visible leader to engage the community and reduce violent crime. My goal was to help rebuild a once proud, professional department geared toward crime reduction and community services....[Now,] rather than a chief managing a department of law enforcement professionals making the streets of Oakland safe, I found myself with limited control but full accountability...The landscape has changed radically over the past two years with new and different challenges."




it's been real, Chief Batts!
Batts, who came to Oakland in 2009 after a stint in Long Beach, was in the running for the San Jose Police Chief job earlier this year, though he was ultimately passed over in favor of acting San Jose police chief Chris Moore.

City Administrator Deanna Santana has confirmed Batts' departure, though there's no word yet on what the search for his replacement will look like, or who will run the department in the interim. We will, of course, keep you posted.

Update, 2:15: Here's the full text of the e-mail Batts just sent to the media:



It is with great regret that I tender this official notice of my intent to resign as Chief of Police for the City of Oakland.
In 2009, I answered the call for a reform-minded chief; a leader with a focus on community policing and high professional standards. I was told Oakland residents were looking for a strong, visible leader to engage the community and reduce violent crime. My goal was to help rebuild a once proud, professional department, geared toward crime reduction and community services.

With this goal in mind, rather than a chief managing a diverse department of law enforcement professionals making the streets of Oakland safe, I found myself with limited control, but full accountability. The landscape has changed radically over the past two years with new and different challenges.

I am pleased with the fact that over the past two years, we have implemented positive changes, endeavoring to make Oakland a safer place, including:
• Reducing violent crime by 27% in 2010;
• Ending the 25-year public safety problem of street racing and cruising (sideshow);
• Securing a 25 officer grant to enhance community policing, school safety and to offset officer layoffs;
• Establishing a lapel camera program to impact compliance with consent decree requirements;
• Improving department relations with our diverse community;
• Securing a $1 million grant from The Kaiser Foundation for the OK police mentoring program;
• Completing a major reorganization of the police department to reflect reduced staffing levels and better meet the policing needs of the Oakland community;
• Creating a five-year strategic plan;
• Re-establishing the Police Foundation and;
• Reducing some level of compliance on all 51 tasks of the NSA, with only 12 remaining to move into full compliance.

I have great respect for the citizens of Oakland and the good men and women of the Oakland Police Department. However, with a heavy heart, I have recognized that the conditions, under which I was hired as Chief, have changed and do not allow me to fulfill the primary mission â€" to provide an environment where one can live, work, play, and thrive free from crime and the fear of crime. To the men and women of the Oakland Police Department, and the residents of this city, it has been an honor and privilege to serve with you.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2011/10/11/breaking-news-oakland-police-chief-batts-resigns

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Wall Street Protesters Hold Vigils for Injured Vet



Published October 28, 2011

| Associated Press

 
Oct. 27, 2011: Zachary Greer holds a photo of Scott Olsen during a candlelight vigil.


OAKLAND, Calif.- Anti-Wall Street demonstrators held vigils for an Iraq War veteran seriously injured during a protest clash with police in California as some occupy encampments held out against orders from authorities to abandon sites in parks and plazas.

A crowd of at least 1,000 people, many holding candles, gathered Thursday night in Oakland in honor of 24-year-old Scott Olsen who is hospitalized with a fractured skull.

Protesters also held a vigil in In Las Vegas, which drew a handful of police officers. Afterward, protesters invited them back for a potluck dinner.




"We renewed our vow of nonviolence," organizer Sebring Frehner said.

The Marine veteran, who won medals in Iraq, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the nation, with Twitter users and protest websites declaring, "We are all Scott Olsen."

Joshua Shepherd, 27, a Navy veteran who was standing nearby when Olsen got struck, called it a cruel irony that Olsen is fighting an injury in the country that he fought to protect.

Despite the financial underpinnings of the protests, Olsen himself wasn't taking part out of economic need.

His friends say he makes a good living as a network engineer and has a nice apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay. Still, he felt so strongly about economic inequality in the United States that he fought for overseas that he slept at a protest camp after work.

"He felt you shouldn't wait until something is affecting you to get out and do something about it," said friend and roommate Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq.

It was that feeling that drew him to Oakland on Tuesday night, when the clashes broke out and Olsen's skull was fractured. Fellow veterans said Olsen was struck in the head by a projectile fired by police, although the exact object and who might have been responsible for the injury have not been definitively established. Officials are investigating exactly where the projectile came from.

Elsewhere across the United States, officials took steps to close some of the protest camps that have sprung up in opposition to growing economic inequality.

Even as the vigil was held in Oakland, protest organizers prepared to defy Oakland's prohibition on overnight camping at a plaz near City Hall.

Shake Anderson, an organizer with Occupy Oakland, said half a dozen tents were erected on the plaza Thursday evening where police armed with tear gas and bean bag rounds disbanded a 15-day-old encampment Tuesday. More tents, food and supplies arrived during the meeting and vigil for Scott Olsen, with about 25 tents erected late Thursday.

"We believe in what we're doing," Anderson said. "No one is afraid. If anything, we're going to show there's strength in numbers."

Few police were seen in the area during late Thursday night, though Oakland Mayor Jean Quan issued a statement asking protesters not to camp at the plaza.

In Nashville, Tenn., officials imposed a curfew, saying conditions at a camp at the state Capitol were worsening.

Protesters at San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza braced for a police raid early Thursday that never came. Still, police have warned the protesters that they could be arrested on a variety of sanitation or illegal camping violations.

Officials told protesters in Providence, R.I., that they were violating multiple city laws by camping overnight at a park.

Anti-Wall Street protesters camped out in downtown Los Angeles said they're planning to continue their demonstration indefinitely, although both they and the mayor's office were eyeing alternate sites.

Meanwhile, Olsen has been improving. Doctors transferred him from the emergency room to an intensive care unit and upgrading his condition to fair.

Dr. Alden Harken, chief surgeon at Alameda County Medical Center, said Olsen was still unable to speak but had improved dramatically since he was hospitalized unconscious with a fractured skull and bruised brain that caused seizures.

By Thursday afternoon, Harken said, Olsen was interacting with his parents, who flew in from Wisconsin in the morning, doing math equations and otherwise showing signs of "high-level cognitive functioning." The doctor said he may require surgery, but that's unlikely.

"He's got a relatively small area of injury and he's got his youth going for him. So both of those are very favorable," Harken said.

Olsen smiled when Mayor Jean Quan stopped by to visit and expressed surprise at all the attention his injury has generated, hospital spokesman Vintage Foster said. The mayor apologized and promised an investigation, according to Foster.

His uncle in Wisconsin told The Associated Press that Olsen's mother was trying to understand what had happened.

"This is obviously a heartbreaker to her," George Nygaard said. "I don't think she understands why he was doing this."

The group Iraq Veterans Against the War blamed police for Olsen's injury. Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said officials will investigate whether officers used excessive force. He did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.

Police have said they responded with tear gas and bean bag rounds only when protesters began throwing bottles and other items at them.

On Tuesday night, Olsen had planned to be at the San Francisco protest, but he changed course after his veterans' group decided to support protesters in Oakland after police cleared an encampment outside City Hall.

"I think it was a last-minute thing," Shannon said.

A video posted on YouTube showed Olsen being carried by other protesters through the tear gas, his face bloodied. People shout at him: "What's your name? What's your name?" Olsen just stares back.

People at OPSWAT, the San Francisco security software company where Olsen works, were devastated after learning of his injuries. They described him as a humble, quiet man.

Olsen had been helping to develop security applications for U.S. defense agencies, building on expertise gained while on active duty in Iraq, said Jeff Garon, the company's director of marketing.

Olsen was awarded seven medals while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, which he left as a lance corporal in November 2009 after serving for four years. One of them was the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Olsen moved to the Bay Area in July, and quickly found friends in the veterans against the war group.

His tours of duty in Iraq made him more serious, Shannon said.

"He wasn't active in politics before he went in the military, but he became active once he was out ... the experience in the military definitely shaped him," Shannon said.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/28/wall-street-protesters-hold-vigils-for-injured-vet/#ixzz1c51z6yqi

[FayeforCure]

Tangled Web, Underlying Rights

Marines Storm Reddit After Occupy Oakland Shooting of Scott Olsen

By Matthew Fleischer on October 27, 2011 1:22 PM




Marines have been flocking to the social networking/aggregator site Reddit to voice their anger at the life-threatening injury inflicted on 24-year-old Iraqi war veteran Scott Olsen by Oakland police during the recent Occupy protests. Video showed Olsen go down after taking a tear gas canister to the head. As fellow protesters tried to assist him, police lobbed a flash grenade into their midstâ€"right next to Olsen’s already fractured skull.

Video: http://vimeo.com/31187119

(Don't know how to embed)



The picture above, submitted by Reddit user aburger, has generated well over 1,000 comments on the siteâ€"many from fellow Marines who are absolutely livid at the injury to one of their own by police.

Here’s one from Reddit user 0311kilo33:


As God is my witness. I will fight tooth and nail to restore the decency this country was founded upon. The politicians, banks and large corporations have ruined this country. I find it difficult to notice any sense of politeness on the streets anymore. But it goes farther. As a Marine and a citizen I am outraged. I am sick to death of the world my children are being raised in.

So I ask all of you, can you too sense the tipping point? When will enough be enough? If not now, when? I feel the problem is that the average Joe citizen is ignorant and comfortable. These, in addition to selfishness have become the standard for the majority of the population. As long as people are comfortable they remain silent. Well, I’m really fucking uncomfortable and I’m sick of seeing this sort of shit happening. The Occupy protests that are going on are our first glimmer of hope. If we can take this and move it further, get every lazy ass off their rocker and open their eyes; then maybe, just maybe we have a chance.

Semper Fi brothers, and remember who you are. Protectors of a great nation, not politicians or wealthy money grubbing bankers and the like. When it comes time, I know we’ll stand strong.

If online reaction is any indication, it’s not a stretch to think Olsen’s injury could be the start of something very big. We have a lot of military combat veterans in this country who haven’t been treated very well since they left the service. No job prospects. Inadequate medical coverage. If they take their anger offline and into the streets, the OWS movement will become an extremely potent, and WELL TRAINED force.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/marines-storm-reddit-after-occupy-oakland-shooting-of-scott-olson_b43369

[wsansewjs]

the OWS movement will become an extremely potent, and WELL TRAINED force.

Basically the United States of America would wage into a second massive civil war in its own history.

It is not the slaves, cotton, disagreement among business owners during the Antebellum Era, but this civil war will be the battles between the Rich and the poor. 

A struggle in the social class.

-Josh