Iraq War veteran critically injured after being hit with a grenade by Oakland Police

[MikeK]

At the 10 second mark in the OP video link, you can see the protestor drop like a stone. However, there is no one and nothing near him. No trails of smoke leading to him, which you can clearly see for all the other smoke grenades in the background of the video.

Now, the cop that tossed a smoke grenade into the group trying to help the injured man... he should be disciplined.

Rubber shotgun projectiles produce no smoke trail. But they do have lethal potential and can crack a skull at close range.

(Excerpt)

Meanwhile, Oakland Police spokeswoman Cynthia Perkins told CNN that the department is investigating how protester Scott Olsen, a former Marine and two-time Iraq war veteran, suffered a skull fracture in Tuesday evening's clashes.

A vigil was scheduled Wednesday for Olsen, 24, outside Oakland City Hall, organizers said.

Olsen, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was in serious but stable condition Wednesday afternoon at Highland General Hospital in Oakland, said Dottie Guy, a member of the veterans group who told CNN by phone that she was visiting Olsen at the hospital.

He sustained a skull fracture after allegedly being struck in the head with a police projectile, according to the veterans group. Among a growing number of war vets participating in the Occupy movement, Olsen was marching from a downtown library toward City Hall in an effort to reclaim an encampment that had been cleared out by police, the veterans group said.

(Close)

Read more here: Latest round of Occupy Oakland protests to be closely watched - CNN

 

[Lakhota]

Praise Gawd, where's my checkbook...

Occupy Wall Street Has Raised $450,000, Spent Just Over $50,000

 

[MikeK]

Uh, when the Mayor ordered the police to remove the bums, the police had the authority to remove them.

The only argument the bums have is the police used illegal force on them but even in that case you cannot fight back unless they are killing you.....you would have to rely on the media and other video to take down the police in court.

You fight the police that have the right to remove and arrest you, they can use non-lethal force on you with no recourse.

Force which is suffficient to fracture a skull is indisputably lethal. The use of lethal force is justifiable only in defense against equally lethal force.

 

[MikeK]

As a veteran, it does to me.

I feel it's particularly upsetting that someone should survive two tours in Iraq, only to be critically injured by police for exercising their constitutional rights after returning home.

It's the irony of "fighting for our freedom" against a country that didn't threaten them to come back and have your freedom squashed by the country you were fighting for..

Hope he comes out of it okay.

There is some strangely poetic injustice about it.

 

[earlycuyler]

As a veteran, it does to me.

I feel it's particularly upsetting that someone should survive two tours in Iraq, only to be critically injured by police for exercising their constitutional rights after returning home.

It's the irony of "fighting for our freedom" against a country that didn't threaten them to come back and have your freedom squashed by the country you were fighting for..

Hope he comes out of it okay.

There is some strangely poetic injustice about it.

So now it has changed from a tear gas canister to rubber bullets. Well, At least the protesters are not taking as much artistic liberty with the storey as there supporters here are.

 

[Lakhota]

 

[Lakhota]

Police Brutality Corruption in America - YouTube

 

[ScienceRocks]

Police Brutality Corruption in America - YouTube

Compared to most of the nations of the world this is pretty tame. Wouldn't you agree that is so compared to China, Lybia, Iran, USSR, Ottoman empire, most of Africa, Roman empire, ect.

 

[Lakhota]

Police Brutality Corruption in America - YouTube

Compared to most of the nations of the world this is pretty tame. Wouldn't you agree that is so compared to China, Lybia, Iran, USSR, Ottoman empire, most of Africa, Roman empire, ect.

Pretty tame? Fuck no! Cops are getting out of hand here in America. Their corporate masters had better rein them in. Why do you righties always want to compare America to other countries?

 

[Lakhota]

The Police are the Biggest Street Gang in America » Street Gang Life -

 

[Lakhota]

Oakland, California: POLICE FATALLY SHOOT UNARMED MAN - Laying Face Down and Shot in The Back! CAUGHT ON VIDEO! - YouTube

 

[Lakhota]

NYC Police admit to 8 cops planting evidence on innocent people to meet arrest quotas VIDEO

 

[Ravi]

Go head and post where they are required to go into hazardous situations like riots.

They aren't required to put themselves in danger for the most part. Though on occasion they are forced to stay on duty during hurricanes. Nor are they given permission by the police to perform their jobs as you keep implying.

Notice that there was no EMT personnel in evidence to begin with. The protestors ended out driving the guy to the hospital themselves.

You can bet your ass there was a fire rescue and an ambulance behind the police lines..... And if those idiots would have stayed back the young fool would have got better medical care faster.........

No, I can't bet my ass on that at all. There was no evidence that fire rescue was standing by....probably because the city's planning was poor when they decided to crack down on the protestors.

 

[Ravi]

And you take the scums side without listening to what the police say. They said the protesters were throwing bottles and rocks, we have here in this thread a protester admitting this was being done, even though they thought that tear gas was to much of a reaction from the police..........

So yes I believe the police were under attack. Fuck you, take a load of rocks to the assholes they may need them.....

Now if you want to see about me, my uniform, and being bloated you can come on by anytime, I'm not difficult to find.

Uh huh. In this thread there is video of a random person "admitting this was being done". There is no proof that she was actually on the scene at the time of the incident, or that she was actually a protester.

Where's the video?

And the fact that you refer to anyone who is a member of the OWA Protests as "Scum" certainly doesn't show much in the way of rational, impartial judgement on your part, now does it?

As for the rest of your post: You shouldn't drink and post Ollie.

In the video posted in the op, the bottle being thrown was being thrown from behind the police line toward the protestors.

I have also heard that bottles were thrown in reaction to being tear gassed.

 

[Ravi]

I'm trying to put together everything that happened and get a timeline on the actions. It appears the rock and bottle throwing, (and possibly some blue paint?) happened earlier and the Police fired rubber bullets, hitting several of the protesters. (One of whom isn't even an American?) There is no doubt that the police ordered the protesters to disperse before they used the CS and flash bangs..... The crowd refused, they were wrong................

The police said they didn't fire rubber bullets. So in this instance they are lying but not about the rock throwing?

 

[editec]

Yeah that's right, you go you cops.

Every populist movement need martyrs.

 

[Divine Wind]

No, I can't bet my ass on that at all. There was no evidence that fire rescue was standing by....probably because the city's planning was poor when they decided to crack down on the protestors.

I don't know whether the EMTs were standing by or not, but certainly agree the city's planning was poor. This goes right to the Mayor's office. When the police are in the position to having to use tear gas to quell a mob, then they'll already lost control and trying to get it back.

The 6P's are Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The performance of the city here was piss poor and I am sure the investigation will become a good example for other cities of what not to do.

 

[SAT]

Police Brutality Corruption in America - YouTube

Compared to most of the nations of the world this is pretty tame. Wouldn't you agree that is so compared to China, Lybia, Iran, USSR, Ottoman empire, most of Africa, Roman empire, ect.

Is that your standard? If people aren't beaten to death, then we're doing OK?

 

[Intense]

OAKLAND -- Scott Olsen, the 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who suffered a head injury during Tuesday night's Occupy Oakland protest, was paid a visit by interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan on Friday.

Olsen is in fair condition at Highland Hospital in Oakland and continues to improve, friends said. The Daly City resident is breathing on his own and is able to write notes to doctors and loved ones, but has trouble articulating words.

On Friday, Jordan said he had visited with Olsen and his parents.

"I expressed my sorrow for what happened to their son," Jordan said at a City Hall news conference. "They were very receptive. ... I also expressed to them the process that's involved in terms of this incident, in terms of a full review and internal investigation."

Olsen's skull was fractured when he was hit by a projectile that apparently came from police lines. Olsen, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was standing at the front of the crowd at 14th Street and Broadway when he fell to the ground.

As other protesters came to Olsen's aid, an officer tossed another canister at the group, video of the incident shows.

One of the protesters seen in the video, Claire Chadwick, 20, said she had been pleading with the officers to help Olsen when the device exploded at her feet.

"They wouldn't help him," Chadwick said. "I'm still in shock by their response."

Fellow protesters rushed Olsen to Highland, where he was unconscious for 12 hours. His brain was bruised, doctors said, and swelling continues to be a problem.

Read more: Police chief visits Scott Olsen in hospital

 

[Intense]

Meanwhile, a protest encampment at a plaza near the City Hall grew to about 50 tents, with organizers saying up to a thousand people were in the area late Friday night with very few police in sight.

The Oakland protesters announced a general strike on Nov. 2 where they will be urging banks and corporations to close for the day.

Farther south, police in San Diego descended early Friday on the encampment that housed demonstrators at the Civic Center Plaza and Children’s Park for three weeks.

San Diego protester Chuck Stemke, a 32-year-old mechanical designer, said he awoke to a loud noise and looked out of his tent to see hundreds of police marching toward him in the darkness.

“It was very intimidating,” he said. “There was a huge show of force.”

Authorities arrested 51 people who faced charges including illegal lodging, illegal drug use, unlawful assembly and other charges. Twenty-four people were arrested on charges of blocking officers from performing their duties, police said.

San Diego police Chief William Lansdowne said negotiations with demonstrators had broken down and officers received no cooperation.

In the Central Valley, officials planned to evict a group of about 30 demonstrators from next to a Fresno County courthouse. The group agreed to officials’ request not to pitch tents at the site during their 20-day stay, and the county had so far been lenient with the encampment, said protest spokesman Ruben Verdugo.

But officials on Friday gave notice that the protesters’ permit would expire midnight Monday, and that demonstrators faced jail time and $500 fines if they remained.

Oakland police chief: Officers used what they thought was least amount of force on protesters - The Washington Post