Re: Dead Protester

On Sun, Jul 22, 2001 at 08:02:50PM -0700, Scott Forbes wheezed something about:
... Hello again Mr. Clark,
... 
...     I appreciated your thoughtful comments. I have a few
... responses. You are correct that I have never been to a mass
... protest. 

Fair enough. But it means you don't have experience with police
provocation, police brutality, aggression, stupidity, etc. 

That doesn't in itself make you a bad person, but it does mean that you
aren't in full possession of all the relevant facts. Yes?

It is, therefore, at least possible, I'm sure you'll grant, that the cops
had attacked some of the protesters that were subsequently pounding on the
car? There are reports, none of which have been denied, of cops in Genoa
trying to ram protesters w/ their vehicles. Again, surely you don't think
*that's* justified.

Finally, while I agree and concede that cops have a right of self-defense,
*so do citizens in the act of protesting*. Plus, cops are supposed to be
trained professionals and are not supposed to react to every provocation
with deadly force. I heard earlier today that the Italian govt has
apologized for the death and is launching an investigation. So even the
Italians seem less sure about the matter than you are.

    That is because I have seen no injustice that
... stirred my emotions to the point where I felt I needed to
... take to the streets. Like you, I look at the world and see
... things I abhor. But I've never been driven to protest. 

Well, bully for you. I don't know how this is relevant, but there you go.

    My
... way of protesting is to write email messages, not smash
... windows and taunt police. (It's less bloody)  :-)

This is stupid and just shows your ignorance, both of what antiglobalization
protests have been about so far and what happened in Genoa this weekend. The
overwhelming majority at *every* protest is nonviolent; the protesters give
intense trainings and workshops in *nonviolent civil disobedience*. Doesn't
that fact matter to you at all when you try to describe the protest movement?

...     I suspect you and I would agree that the Italian police
... can be brutal. 

*All* police can be brutal, especially to protesters.

    That is what I meant when I said no one in
... their right mind would challenge them head on. 

Hmm, so does htis "not in their right mind" extend to folks like Martin
Luther King and Gandhi and the rest of the brave people who protested
nonviolently and often were met with extreme brutality as a response?

Now *that's* a claim you can be proud of, Mr. Forbes: you called Gandhi and
King *crazy*!

    You and I
... might also agree that the police in the jeep were trying to
... flee. They were caught on a side street and were facing the
... wall of a building. The only way to flee was to back up.

I don't know *what* they were doing, nor what they were doing that led them
to that position.

... Sadly, the slain protester was in the way. I doubt that they
... said, "Hey, let's run over the dead guy."

That's a distinction w/out a difference. The point is they ran over the dead
body of someone they'd just shot; someone who might have been, after all,
able to survive his wounds *before* being crushed by a vehicle.

...     You are correct to say that I am biased in favor of the
... authorities. I admitted as much in my email and I admit it
... again. 

Why is that? Because they protect your property?

    Will you now admit that you are biased in favor of
... the protesters? 

I don't know if I'm biased in their favor; I certainly agree with their
politics and often find myself in their midst, both as an activist and
journalist.

    The difference is that you say my bias
... prevents me from seeing clearly, when in fact I see both
... sides well. I just happen to be against the destruction of
... property by hooligans and thugs.

And if you think that's what was happening in Genoa, you don't see clearly
at all.

...     I believe that people get what they ask for. Some of
... these protesters were legitimate and peaceful. The ones that
... weren't peaceful came to town with the goal of picking a
... fight. 

Please provide one piece of evidence to substantiate this claim.

Kendall Clark