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June 21, 2005
NEWSFLASH
I was going to try to ignore these stupid, anti-democratic demonstrators, but now that a police officer has died, I can't. PHILADELPHIA-June 21, 2005 — A Philadelphia police officer who was hurt trying to make arrests during protests in Philadelphia has died. Protestors are demonstrating against a major bio-tech conference in Center City. Sources tell Action News that some of the radical organizations were threatening violence today.How very democratic! They got the attention they wanted, and made their case against evil "biotech." Silly fools. They claim to believe in democracy, but they're anything but democratic. They only support democracy if it means they get their way, and if the majority disagree with them, why, that's the primary reason they demonstrate. MORE: Here's a photo of the multitudes I missed. Obviously, the majority of Philadelphians hate biotech! And that's democracy! MORE: Unless I'm mistaken, there also seems to be an attempt to politicize skateboarding today: Hordes of skateboarders are expected to jam city streets and public spaces on Tuesday for "Wild in the Streets," which could live up to its name if the organizer's estimate of 2,000 to 5,000 participants is on the mark. MORE: According to this report, the skateboarders appear uninterested in the biotech issue: about 250 biotechnology protestors of all ages marched around City Hall before holding a short rally at the nearby JFK Plaza, where they were joined by more than 100 skateboarders staging their own unrelated "Wild in the Streets" skateboarding rally. The skateboarders were more interested in Love Park, the city park that was once a mecca for skateboarders before the city made it illegal to skateboard there, than biotechnology issues.I hope the cops don't overreact, because there's nothing more irritating that the new converted -- to whatever "cause." MORE: According to this report, Police Commissioner Johnson has stated that Officer Williams was not involved in the scuffle, and that he died of a heart attack: Authorities closed the street in front of the Pennsylvania Convention Center to traffic as hundreds of protesters chanted and pounded on drums. A small number of demonstrators scuffled with police. MORE (05:53 p.m.): Video footage I just saw on local ABC television is blurry, but it shows the officer in the middle of the melee, which started after a demonstrator threw liquid on another officer. The report states that "fists were flying." I couldn't tell whether Officer Williams was struck, and I'd say it's too early to know exactly what happened. (However, if a blow from a fist causes the heart attack, legal liability can result.) UPDATE (06/23/05): CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED in the officer's death: Four men and a woman were charged yesterday in the melee between demonstrators and police Tuesday in Center City that left a veteran Philadelphia police officer dead of a heart attack.In Berkeley, the protesters would most likely have gone straight to the Police Review Commission, filed charges against the officer, then attempted to intimidate the Commissioners into doing their bidding. These people are career activists who travel around the country planning and instigating precisely such events. (They're professionals at what they do -- a point often missed.) The only thing that surprises me is to see that one of them (Green Party activist Sherrouse) lives in Philadelphia. posted by Eric on 06.21.05 at 02:58 PM
Comments
They have every right to demonstrate as much as they want, but not attack officers. The problem is, the reports are in conflict, and I think it's too early to know exactly what happened. Eric Scheie · June 21, 2005 05:22 PM Tragic. Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · June 22, 2005 10:17 AM Ah, yes. "Peace" protestors. How typical. John · June 22, 2005 02:51 PM He died of a heart attack, not from being attacked. He got kicked in a scuffle that ensued, which supposedly was started by other police officers after 'water' was thrown at an officer. It's tragic he died, but don't blame the protestors that the officer was in bad physical shape. Michael Schurman · June 22, 2005 10:47 PM As the legal expression (known as the "eggshell skull rule") goes, "you take the plaintiff as you find him." If you unlawfully strike a fragile person, that person's fragility -- and resultant harm, even if unusual or out-of-the-ordinary -- is no defense. I'm having trouble with the logic that the scuffle was "started" by the officers themselves. If you throw water on an officer and (not knowing what it is) he responds by chasing you, I fail to see how he "started" it. The right to protest doesn't include a right to throw water on officers -- or on anyone. Eric Scheie · June 23, 2005 08:25 AM The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: I don't see anything in there about a "right to riot". I support the police. Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · June 23, 2005 11:37 AM Throwing liquid (or just about anything else) at an officer is "assault." Maybe the officers overreacted, but then again, the protesters should not have "assaulted" the officers. Raging Bee · June 23, 2005 03:18 PM |
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No cause justifies that. I guess no one will be listening now to whatever their grievances against "biotech" were...