Two helicopters are currently circling outside . . . monitoring as the protest has traveled through the streets . . .
Post-Ferguson demonstration in Berkeley, businesses vandalized, police officer injured
December 6, 2014 6:39 pm by Lance Knobel
At the corner of Shattuck and Allston in downtown Berkeley, demonstrators staged a die-in on Saturday Dec. 6, 2014 to commemorate the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Photo: David Yee
Original story: Hundreds of protesters marched from the UC Berkeley campus down Telegraph and then to Shattuck, congregating in downtown Berkeley tonight, in protest against the shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY.
At the corner of Shattuck and Allston, demonstrators staged a die-in to commemorate the deaths of Brown and Garner.
Many of the marchers continued to gather in front of the Berkeley Police Department headquarters, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. A large number of police were staged in front of the police department. The demonstration, which had been largely peaceful until this point, started to turn more ugly at this point. According to witnesses, the police formed a barrier to try to contain the demonstrators, but the protesters pushed through and made their way towards University Avenue.
Update, 9:40pm: Police are letting small groups of protesters out of the enclosed group at Bancroft and Telegraph, according to protesters and reporters on the ground.
Update, 9:20 pm: Police have surrounded protesters at Bancroft and Telegraph. Calvin Lee reports via Twitter that “police have surrounded us and ordered everyone to leave, but won’t let anyone leave.” At 9:14pm Li, a student at UC Berkeley, tweeted to various media, asking for help: “…help we are surrounded by police at Bancroft/Telegraph in Berkeley. Help us please!” he posted. Subsequently Li reported his parents called 911 and were told he was “free to leave.” Li tweeted that was “a lie.”
Update, 9:15 pm: The protest has turned violent, according to Evan Sernoffsky a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. He reports via Twitter that police are surrounding protesters on all sides on Bancroft Avenue at Telegraph. “Sh-t hitting the fan at Telegraph & Bancroft crowd sandwiched in. Officers and protesters are clashing violently,” he posted at 9:08pm, and followed up with a report of an arrest.
Update, 9:05pm: The number of protesters has dwindled to a few dozen, according to reporters on the ground. Most are in downtown Berkeley. Some are headed up Bancroft heading east towards the UC Berkeley campus, where police have formed a cordon.
Update, 8.50 pm: Protesters are now back in downtown Berkeley in the area of Shattuck and Addison, according to reporters on the ground. At least two trash cans have been overturned. BART has re-closed the Downtown Berkeley station. It was closed earlier in the evening when the protest was nearby. KTVU has video showing what it says is tear gas being deployed by police to move a crowd of protesters earlier.
Update, 7:20pm: BPD spokesperson Officer Jennifer Coats said one Berkeley Police officer was injured when protesters were throwing rocks. He was treated at the Berkeley Police Station and the injuries are not considered life-threatening.
Officer Coats said at it’s height, the demonstration was estimated to number between 500 and 1,000 people.
MLK is back open after having been closed to traffic by police. Police are shutting down streets as the protest continues to move west on University. They are now at 6th at University. Berkeley Police are communicating with California Highway Patrol in case the protesters reach I-80.
Police are advising people to avoid many areas of Berkeley and AC Transit said its buses have been detoured away from the affected areas.
Two blocks from my apartment ... Damn, I may have to close the doors to my balcony ...
Update, 10.10pm: Police and a small number of protesters are at Durant and Bowditch. According to an citizen reporter, and many witnesses on the scene, the police are putting on gas masks.
MIke, for me this ties in to the things I said on another thread about fundamentalists, They all put the fictional narratives ahead of evidence, reason and common sense in order to push their ulterior agendas.
This is also what has happened with the Michael Brown / Eric Garner crap. All facts, reason and common sense have been shit canned in order to perpetuate a narrative based completely on the rules 6 through 12 of Alinsky's rules for radicals and that wonderful motto of Rahm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton from 2009....
"never let a good crisis a good crisis go to waste."
Most people don't think about line to any depth. I have in trying to understand that type of thinking. What it does do is toss the solutions to crises on the very back burner ahead of ulterior objectives than actually resolving the crisis. Afterall, if the crisis is resolved the ulterior objective goes off the priority list where it never should have been in the first place in really dealing with crises.
I have no sympathy for these totally fictional causes. Brown was not a sweet innocent victim. He stole a handful of dope smoking material (cigarillos) assaulted a store employee, called a policeman a pussy, then reached in the car to hit him twice before fighting for the policeman's gun.
Garner had 30 prior arrests from assault to to grand larceny to several for the exact crime he was committing before his final altercation with police. He was out on bail for selling loosies, possession of marijuana and false impersonation at the time of his media sensationalized last encounter with law enforcement. Autopsy results ruled out asphyxiation as cause of death and cited previously diagnosed cardiac problems resulting from morbid obesity along with at least three more obesity related health issues. He lied to cops about his illegal activity and resisted arrest. No innocent victim here either.
Anyone who puts reason, evidence and common sense behind their ulterior agendas of a political or religious nature is no different from the others. They lie and mislead people to achieve their goals. They exploit crises and uncertainties as opportunities for their agendas and never solve problems. Truth means nothing to them... muslim, christian or political fundamentalists -- all radicals without true integrity.
I'll go to extremes to protest a truly innocent victim of criminals or police. But this crap? Forget it.
Oh God I always loved Bezerkly, all of those bright young minds coming up with new and improved ways to spark civil unrest and wage War on The Man....
Pity the police now respond to protesting with tanks, armor and science fiction type space weaponry as if they are the bloody storm troopers of the Empires Army.
Well, the helicopters continued to circle till around midnight. After that I heard groups of protesters (or hooligans or anarchists or whatever you want to call them) roaming the streets near me. I didn't go look but I assume there were accompanied by a phalanx of police as well.
This video -- not sure of the time -- was shot at the intersection where my office is located:
--- which, again, is about 5 blocks from where I live. I hope the kids didn't break any of the windows that wrap around the corner of the store front where I work. I'll go into work a bit later to check it out.
I see from the Berkeleyside page there are still groups wandering around this AM, so they've been at it in dispersed groups all night.
[MENTION=21084]Virge[/MENTION]: You remind me of Miss Velma who said:
Quote:“Let me tell you something, honey. Fifty percent of life is others trying to push their own agenda on you—their belief system, their views, their convictions. The other fifty percent is you deciding whether or not you’re going to let them. Or if you’re going to form your own opinions."
... although I'd argue she has the percentages all wrong. It's *far* from 50/50... more like 99.999 to .001 of the time.
Quote:White Night riots From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rioters outside San Francisco City Hall, May 21, 1979, reacting to the voluntary manslaughter verdict for Dan White
Time Evening
Date May 21, 1979
Location San Francisco, California
Casualties 140 injured
The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White, for the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and of Harvey Milk, a member of the city's Board of Supervisors who was the first openly gay elected official in the United States. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979 (the night before what would have been Milk's 49th birthday) in San Francisco. Earlier that day, White had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the lightest possible conviction for his actions. That White was not convicted of first-degree murder (of which he was originally charged) had so outraged the city's gay community that it set off the most violent reaction by gays since the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City (which is credited as the beginning of the modern gay-rights movement in the United States).
The gay community of San Francisco had a longstanding conflict with the San Francisco Police Department. White's status as a former police officer intensified the community's anger at the SFPD. Initial demonstrations took place as a peaceful march through the Castro district of San Francisco. After the crowd arrived at the San Francisco City Hall, violence began. The events caused hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of property damage to City Hall and the surrounding area, as well as injuries to police officers and rioters.
Several hours after the riot had been broken up, police made a retaliatory raid on a gay bar in San Francisco's Castro District. Many patrons were beaten by police in riot gear. Two dozen arrests were made during the course of the raid, and several people later sued the SFPD.
In the following days, gay leaders refused to apologize for the events of that night. This led to increased political power in the gay community, which culminated in the election of Mayor Dianne Feinstein to a full term, the following November. In response to a campaign promise, Feinstein appointed a pro-gay Chief of Police, which increased recruitment of gay people in the police force and eased tensions.
More at link...
One of my many mottos, gained from a long life, at times lived in the midst of such social upheaval, is: "The best way to thwart a revolution is to lead it." It is akin to Chomsky's view that...
Quote:"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate. "
This is why I reject the whole 'right/left' paradigm. It's a well crafted political and intellectual trap that keeps everybody arguing with everybody else -- allowing the true crooks of our illustrious 'civilization' to get away with murder and worse (quite literally).
You're right Mike, I do sound like Velma. It's pretty certain that is people on one side are arguing to outlaw goldfish and people on the other side are arguing to let goldfish breed freely neither side is arguing about facts but simply arguing to win a friggin debate like they are going to get some sort of friggin trophy. I see this ALL THE TIME when I start digging into things they are debating about. All they are doing is trying to convince the most people to be on their side in the debate... and "Fuck the truth and the facts if they get in the way."
I didn't know all that much about the riots in SF after the trial of Dan White. Unlike Ferguson, those riots were not only completely justified but would have been justified if they'd gone further. There was an undeniable abuse of the court system in favor of Dan White -- who'd ASSASSINATED two government figures and got off with "voluntary manslaughter' with the lame ass excuse that he'd consumed too much sugar.
A friend who emailed the link about the 12 yr old boy's suicide after being bullied so bad sent this link just to give me a case of red ass. I'd like to find the guy who wrote this and have my own act of civil disobedience on his head. It's a great example of what Velma was talking about. Read the comments of the mad readers. They restore my faith in gay people. http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/12/the-g...-with-one/
EDIT
and as far as the people doing these protests about the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner -- all they are doing is being "useful idiots" in the games of the race profiteers. Standing up for such a lame and fake issue as this only cheapens and insults the protests that were really about injustices... and casts a dark shadow over all future justifiable protests. On the bright side --- If a few of them get shot it would help raise the collective IQ of the American population.
Not so much tanks tonight, and not "new and improved ways" tonight. They broke windows in a Radio Shack and looted it as well as a Trader Joe's. Gotta love looters. Makes a real statement.
As long as protestors insist on gathering and letting tempers escalate, they are partially responsible for organizing gatherings that are bent to violence EVEN if the majority are not. One cannot continue to argue "we're not at fault" when the rallies keep turning into riots.
We didn't see this in the Civil Rights movement of the 60's. Peaceful rallies were just that. Riots were riots. They weren't hybrid affairs sending mixed messages. These are.
Virge Wrote:You're right Mike, I do sound like Velma. It's pretty certain that is people on one side are arguing to outlaw goldfish and people on the other side are arguing to let goldfish breed freely neither side is arguing about facts but simply arguing to win a friggin debate like they are going to get some sort of friggin trophy. I see this ALL THE TIME when I start digging into things they are debating about. All they are doing is trying to convince the most people to be on their side in the debate... and "Fuck the truth and the facts if they get in the way."
Yes, but what you're talking about has become a SOCIAL CONTROL mechanism (strategic). This is what I'm not sure you understand. Our culture has become awash in a sea of information/disinformation, much of it strategically structured in a way to *prevent unity.*
Quote:I didn't know all that much about the riots in SF after the trial of Dan White. Unlike Ferguson, those riots were not only completely justified but would have been justified if they'd gone further. There was an undeniable abuse of the court system in favor of Dan White -- who'd ASSASSINATED two government figures and got off with "voluntary manslaughter' with the lame ass excuse that he'd consumed too much sugar.
What do you mean "an undeniable abuse of the court system"? He was tried and a jury of his peers determined his level of guilt, based upon the evidence presented:
Quote:At the trial, White's defense team argued that his mental state at the time of the killings was one of diminished capacity due to depression. They argued, therefore, he was not capable of premeditating the killings, and thus was not legally guilty of first-degree murder. Forensic psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White was suffering from depression and pointed to several behavioral symptoms of that depression, including the fact that White had gone from being highly health-conscious to consuming sugary foods and drinks. When the prosecution played a recording of White's confession, several jurors wept as they listened to what was described as "a man pushed beyond his endurance." Many people familiar with City Hall claimed that it was common to enter through the window to save time. A police officer friend of White claimed to reporters that several officials carried weapons at this time and speculated that White carried the extra ammunition as a habit that police officers had. The jury found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder.
Believe me, I understand your feelings. But, above, you're talking about "the truth" and in a court of law, truth is determined by the evidence presented as evaluated by a jury.
If all we're talking about is social outrage at abuses of power, then I don't see a huge difference between the White Night riot and what's going on currently. Of course there are"mitigating circumstances" that can be put forward to "explain" why what happened happened, and why, despite the deaths of two men at the hands of police officers, there was no criminal conduct (and, equally, therefore, is *not* an "abuse of power").
What I'm trying to point toward is this question of "truth" you brought up and my opinion that we, as a society, are being "handled." I'm using that word in the intelligence/counterintelligence sense.
One of my primary mottos: "Who ever controls your perception of reality, controls you." That is, whatever you believe to be true, will be the POV upon which you base your decisions and actions. This is always the case, whether what you believe IS true or not.
Intelligence/counterintelligence is all about information/disinformation and how to disambiguate them. I'm sure as a military man you understand the strategic importance of reliable intelligence. But that's just it -- INFORMATION -- without the ability to disambiguate it from DISINFORMATION leaves one vulnerable (to manipulation and many other things). One could argue, therefore, that "power" is (vetted) "intelligence.". Whoever has it is going to be in a better position to defend themselves, preserve their power and advance their aims, right?
But as is obvious, "truth" may have NOTHING to do with *belief*. Those of us who live in this technological age are swimming in seas of "information" -- but what people seldom ask themselves is, how much of it is actually "disinformation". How do any of us know that what we're told is "the truth".
Right now, for example, I'm having a high old time watching as contemporary science -- fortified as it is in its academic ivory towers -- plays slight-of-hand tricks with *facts* that a) it can not deny but which, b) it can not explain. Facts that c) undercut what was *believed to be* an established, scientific fact (to wit): That comets are "dirty snowballs" of frozen gasses and interstellar dust that originated with the formation of our solar system.
Rosetta has put another nail in the coffin of that theory (that had been shown to be false from previous comet encounters):
But are the scientists saying, "oh, wow, I guess we were wrong about that"? No, actually, they're not. They're saying the icy comet is just covered with a thin crust of rock. Has to be, don't cha know. ... Because, if not -- if comets aren't dirty snow balls of icy gasses and dust -- then it calls into question most all the *accepted* hypotheses regarding the evolution of our solar system. It's a slam dunk that THEY have it all wrong, despite what they've been telling us for decades.
Frankly, I think the truth is something most of us just aren't ready for. Moreover, I think our *betters* know this. They fully realize that humanity lives in a dream world -- being the goose that lays the golden egg for them and all -- and has very little interest or curiosity about "the truth." So, they manufacture fantasies and fancy toys, and weapons of local and mass destruction -- along with politics and religion and all the rest of it -- too keep the rabble entertained and delightfully distracted. -- The Matrix, being a metaphor and all that.
Quote:A friend who emailed the link about the 12 yr old boy's suicide after being bullied so bad sent this link just to give me a case of red ass. I'd like to find the guy who wrote this and have my own act of civil disobedience on his head. It's a great example of what Velma was talking about. Read the comments of the mad readers. They restore my faith in gay people. http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/12/the-g...-with-one/
So, you want to beat this guy to a pulp for stating an opinion that differes from your own?
Quote:EDIT
and as far as the people doing these protests about the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner -- all they are doing is being "useful idiots" in the games of the race profiteers. Standing up for such a lame and fake issue as this only cheapens and insults the protests that were really about injustices... and casts a dark shadow over all future justifiable protests. On the bright side --- If a few of them get shot it would help raise the collective IQ of the American population.
And you think protesters -- er, ehm, sorry, correction, "useful idiots" -- should be shot and police officers need not be held accountable for deaths at their hands? Meanwhile, a trial by jury is, "an undeniable abuse of the court system"?
Capricorn
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