I was raised in the middle-class suburb of Beaverton, Oregon. For the majority of my life, with the exception of the time in the military, I've lived in Beaverton, and I am now living in Portland.
The Beaverton police have always been thugs. I've seen them beat teenagers at light-rail stops for not paying the $1.50 fare. Of course, they only beat Mexicans and the 3% of Blacks in Beaverton. Most minorities live in the low-income housing near the light-rail, so it’s their form of transportation, and they can’t afford the $60 monthly pass when their family is surviving off food-stamps. For the white kids, they get a $200 dollar ticket. As a teenager, I routinely saw the rights of my peers being violated for trivial infractions.
This year, citizens of Portland have been engaging in riots in the streets over police-brutality issues. There's been at least a riot each month, and about 30 people arrested in total. In the greater Portland area, almost a dozen civilians have been killed by the police, only one was armed. So, the citizens of Portland are fighting back, when they can, and to the best of their abilities. A African-American collation stormed the mayor's office in March - yet nothing in this city is changing.
Just to gauge how disgusting this is, Officer Flashour shot a black guy in the back (he "reached for his gun" even though his hands were above his head), no gun, nor shiny object, was found. This same SOB was involved in one of those civilian using a "Camera as a weapon incidences" - that guy was tasered and hit with a beanbag for recording the police as they illegally searched his property.
It appears that people are using the wrong type of equipment such as cell phones to record the actions of those involved. Telephoto lens equipped cameras with dish microphones such as those used at NFL games will record the action from a safer distance. Assign some photographers to film the photographers in action. Formation of a local press pool will offer credentials in exchange for footage to be made available to news outlets.
If a few law offices advertise the type of cash payout available for an unlawful arrest and offer to take cases on a contingency basis then more entrepreneurs will step forward to earn cash the hard way.
Here's an opportunity to turn the only ones' own rules of engagement back on them:
ReplyDeleteIf they're not doing anything wrong why should they object to being video taped?
[W3]
Self defense response would be appropriate, but I wouldn't expect a fair trial. Full blog post response to question:
ReplyDeletehttp://restoretheconstitution.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/restore-the-rule-of-law-self-defense-response/
I was raised in the middle-class suburb of Beaverton, Oregon. For the majority of my life, with the exception of the time in the military, I've lived in Beaverton, and I am now living in Portland.
ReplyDeleteThe Beaverton police have always been thugs. I've seen them beat teenagers at light-rail stops for not paying the $1.50 fare. Of course, they only beat Mexicans and the 3% of Blacks in Beaverton. Most minorities live in the low-income housing near the light-rail, so it’s their form of transportation, and they can’t afford the $60 monthly pass when their family is surviving off food-stamps. For the white kids, they get a $200 dollar ticket. As a teenager, I routinely saw the rights of my peers being violated for trivial infractions.
This year, citizens of Portland have been engaging in riots in the streets over police-brutality issues. There's been at least a riot each month, and about 30 people arrested in total. In the greater Portland area, almost a dozen civilians have been killed by the police, only one was armed. So, the citizens of Portland are fighting back, when they can, and to the best of their abilities. A African-American collation stormed the mayor's office in March - yet nothing in this city is changing.
Just to gauge how disgusting this is, Officer Flashour shot a black guy in the back (he "reached for his gun" even though his hands were above his head), no gun, nor shiny object, was found. This same SOB was involved in one of those civilian using a "Camera as a weapon incidences" - that guy was tasered and hit with a beanbag for recording the police as they illegally searched his property.
Those that act like petty tyrants, should be treated as such and given no quarter.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, the community will see these badge toting thugs for what they really are.
It appears that people are using the wrong type of equipment such as cell phones to record the actions of those involved. Telephoto lens equipped cameras with dish microphones such as those used at NFL games will record the action from a safer distance. Assign some photographers to film the photographers in action. Formation of a local press pool will offer credentials in exchange for footage to be made available to news outlets.
ReplyDeleteIf a few law offices advertise the type of cash payout available for an unlawful arrest and offer to take cases on a contingency basis then more entrepreneurs will step forward to earn cash the hard way.
Third World country.
ReplyDelete