BugsBBunny wrote:

"After all those cell phones can transmit video and pictures to home computers or friends."

This requires cellphone service to be available. The "authorities" can simply order the service providers to turn of the service in areas of interest. After that, they simply proceed to trash any cellphone in sight.

My point is, in short: Police are well aware of the bad PR and possible legal consequences in case any images or videos of abuse get out. Myanmar docet.
In Genoa they went as far as to raid a school building that was used by freelance journalists, planting false evidence (a couple of molotov cocktails) as an excuse. Eveyone inside was beaten up and taken in, and all equipment was destroyed.
Do a search for Genoa 2001 Diaz and see what comes up.

::"Strictly a business decision," Timoney said. Miami had a good legal case against the 21 protesters, the chief said, but the expense of drawn-out court battles made settling the preferred option.::

Was shooting people with rubber bullets a business decision as well?

Read Naomi Klein's latest book.

Shooting protesters, whether with metal bullets or metal bullets covered in rubber is definitely a business decision.

That Miami protest was the scariest one I've ever attended. Yes, some of the demonstrators were doing stupid things, but the police reaction was shocking. It's no exaggeration to say that the people in custody were tortured. The showstopper was when the cops pepper-sprayed the inside of the clinic where demonstrators were being treated.

It's really satisfying to see some compensation finally being delivered, but I wish it were being distributed to more than 21 people.

"Shooting protesters, whether with metal bullets or metal bullets covered in rubber is definitely a business decision."

Indeed.

They paid because they couldn't afford a public trial and the subsequent jury award. Don't worry they plan to get better at brutal crowd control.

The only answer is to shoot video of all these events and post the links on CD. I feel sites like CD, Youtube, etc will eventually be the ruin of mainstream media who choose to downplay or ignore these henious crimes against peacefull citizens excercising their first amendment constitutional rights.

I am boycotting all MSM to put more pressure on their already falling bottom line.

pac

pacplyer wrote:

"The only answer is to shoot video of all these events..."

The only way to accomplish this is by having experienced operators equipped with long lenses in strategic positions that the cops do not know about. And even done in such a way it would be risky. If the police spot you (sunlight reflecting off your lens or something) you risk getting shot at: Your equipment will be "mistaken for a rpg launcher" or something like that.

Anyone attempting to openly videotape or photograph police abuse will be beaten up, detained and have their equipment destroyed.
I am a photographer. Trust me: This is what happened to my colleagues in Genoa (G8) and Naples in 2001. Even national TV crews got beaten up.

Once again Tax monies being spent wisely? Mission Accomplished? Constitutional Rights?
No wrong doing, it's just cheaper and easier this way? Crowd control as business? Shooting can be fun? Us and them?
What law and who is above or beyond, below, under it?

What did these protestors expect? And I say that with no disrespect to them whatsoever, so don't flame! Here's the method to my madness: Miami is the defacto capital of a defacto Cuban/Venezuelan exile Republic run by a bunch of anti-Castro and anti-Chavez malcontents. Yes some of them have positions in their police department as well as other public and private entities. These people are right wing fascists and will ram their foolishness down peoples throats! In that kind of brutal environment it's hardly surprising to see such a response by Miami's Cuban exile "finest". If you are going to go to Miami to protest, you better be damn sure to know what kind of thugs and goons you'll be dealing with! The Viva Bush signs should have given people a clue!!

Wow, Democracy sells pretty cheap in Miami.

$500,000 for 21 is $23,809 each

At that rate, you could buy the entire country's democratic rights for a measly $7,142,857,142,857.

$7 trillion is a bargain..its less than the national debt!!

And if you buy now, they'll throw in a years supply of toilet paper made from genuine US Constitutions, and a backscratcher actually made from Geroge Washingtons dead armbones.

People have cell phones and some take 'video' besides stills. But if the police knew that everybody was 'filming' everything then they would act more appropiately. Imagine say a thousand protestors holding up cell phone cameras ... yeah the cops would think twice about misbehaving in front of a thousand cameras! After all those cell phones can transmit video and pictures to home computers or friends. Pictures tell the story.
Show them that what happens will be seen by others and they won't do what they might've ...when they figure they won't have to answer for it since it is their word against yours. A thousand or a 100,000 cell phone cameras in one hand...and a peace sign held up with the other. Defend yourselves...lol... send those pictres to your lawyer! Peace.

Cell phone cameras for peace! LOL.

The funding for training and arming the Miami police for this event came from federal Homeland Security, close to eight million dollars of it. The result is that the officials think they have "god" on their side as they attack and arrested innocent citizens such as elderly union retirees trying to find their way back to their bus. One can only wonder if the method of attack on the young Florida student asking a question of Senator Kerry might have reflected such training and mindset. How widespread is this training that turns the police from public protectors into combatants so remeniscent of Nazi Germany? It was certainly seen in Seattle. The demonstrators were very angry because they took the police attacks for the relative handful of black-clad, masked hit and run individuals who were the perpetrators of the property damage much as was later seen in Montreal and Genoa.

QUOTE:

With little discussion and no formal admission of wrongdoing, Miami city commissioners on Thursday approved City Hall's share of the largest legal settlement to date stemming from police conduct during 2003's Free Trade Area of the Americas summit.1012 06

The half-million-plus payout, to be funded by Miami, Miami-Dade County, Hialeah and the Broward Sheriff's Office, will be split among 21 FTAA protesters who alleged that heavy-handed police violated their constitutional rights.

END QUOTE.

Once upon a time, several years ago, in the 1990s I believe it was, or shortly enough after 2000, a woman went to a McDonald's with her boyfriend or husband, she bought coffee, they got back in the car, from what I recall, she was seat in the middle, or just behind the floor stick shift, her mate shifted into gear, she spilled her coffee on her lap, and they sued McD's for something like either $1mn or $2mn; because [she] spilled the coffee on herself, and must've earned a living from showing off her thighs, I guess.

Okay, so McD's is not a govt and is very, very, very ... rich. Still, around half a million to 21 people treated like the demonstrators were in Miami, people not responsible for brutalising themselves, and not forcing the brutalisers to commit their acts, now this is a drop in the bucket, coinage, for Miami, Miami Dade County, etc. They are very, very, very rich too, and 500,000 divied up 21 times equally amounts to less than $25,000 per compensated victim of police, law, govt brutality and criminality.

Drop in the bucket, so it's of course very easy for the city to go with this settlement. Besides, the victims might have been able to get a lot more, if there was or had been enough push behind the effort to get more.

Miami, the city, ..., are likely laughing over having gotten away with paying this amount, little.

But, of course the plaintiffs accepted the settlement for this amount of compensation, so the city can't be wholly faulted. Must still feel like it was dealing with 21 softies, though the cons of politics would more likely think of the term 'suckers'.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but the above is my initial impression.

"The demonstrators were very angry because they took the police attacks for the relative handful of black-clad, masked hit and run individuals who were the perpetrators of the property damage much as was later seen in Montreal and Genoa."

Hate to tell you, but said black-clad individuals were just a convenient excuse.

My wife and I were there as observers; arrived two days early; stayed one day late. We decided that a lot of folks were observing in the center of things, so we hung out behind the police lines; walked back and forth across 22 blocks several times a day; cops seemed to mostly think we were some brand of undercover I suppose.
Don't let them fool you with the quote of 2,500 officers. Those were only the riot cops -- and maybe that figure is low. There were another 10 to 15 thousand in the city.
One morning we observed from the arena area overlooking a closed fun-park (with kiddie rides or something). Turned out to be their staging area. Got to see "homeless" folks carrying police bags back to the bus. Later we saw the water truck pull up and all sorts of homeless, black-bloc, and plain-cloths came over for a drink and to do some back-slapping. This was all before any protesters were in that area. OPSEC sucked. Back in the day I'd have been reaming their butts for their casual and cavalier attitude. Too bad we didn't have some covert video.
There was a sure way to tell the real black-bloc from the undercover-bblock -- the undercovers ran in pairs and could have picked up a real black-bloc in each hand. They were also a bit bulkier than that because they had tasers.
You could always tell the "embedded" media too. Just before the tear gassing started (after everybody was penned in on four sides, couldn't leave at the command to disperse) the "cockroaches", as we called them, would stream out through the police lines. We saw it a couple times up close -- the undercover and embedded media got out, some signal given, the tear gas and beating began.
Worse were the bike cops -- thirty pair at a time. We got to overhear some of their conversations. Not good people.
You could tell the cops were real proud americans by how many wore identifying badges, name tapes, etc. (Hint: none did.)
Timony is a thug. I hope he lives a very long time -- in a nursing home with half-trained kids taking care of him that have his same understanding of professionalism and service.

I remember watching INDY MEDIA ( independent photographers and journalists ) on FREE SPEECH TV on the DISH NETWORK, film the barbaric police brutality against innocent people that day of the protest march. I recorded it, passing the tape around for others to see. Many were shocked as well.

Major Tom: Thanks for sharing the story with us.

peterw: I believe you, my friend. One can only imagine how you and the others felt at the time. It was horrible to watch sitting comfortably in my living room. The government can't pay enough for the crimes they commited against its citizenry.

When will we ever learn?