NYTimes Almost Ignores Anti-Cop Violence at Occupy Oakland
The thrust of the New York Times’s coverage of the violence in Oakland begs the question: When even the left-wing magazine Mother Jones reports of police in Oakland being assaulted with eggs, glass, and vinegar, what is the “objective” Times excuse for virtually ignoring the protester violence?
Yet Jesse McKinley and Malia Wollan’s report from the “Occupy Oakland” protests Friday focused not on the anti-cop violence, but on a military veteran hit in the head by a projectile and the outpouring of sympathy from all the suddenly staunch pro-military people at the Oakland encampment: “Outrage Over Veteran Injured at ‘Occupy’ Protest.”
For supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, whose diffuse anger has been a defining and sometimes distracting characteristic, the wounding of an Iraq war veteran here has provided a powerful central rallying point.
The veteran, Scott Olsen, 24, was critically injured on Tuesday night when he was hit in the head with a projectile thrown or shot by law enforcement officers combating protesters trying to re-enter a downtown plaza that had been cleared of an encampment earlier in the day. Mr. Olsen, who served two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine, suffered a fractured skull.
And while Mr. Olsen’s condition has since improved, his injury -- and the oddity of a Marine who faced enemy fire only to be attacked at home -- has prompted an outpouring of sympathy, as well as calls for solidarity among the scores of Occupy encampments around the nation. On Thursday night, camps in several major cities -- including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia -- were expected to participate in a vigil for Mr. Olsen, according to Iraq Veterans Against the War, of which he is a member.
In sharp contrast, James West of Mother Jones concluded his Wednesday dispatch:
As the protesters filtered away, I spoke with a group of tired cops covered in blue and orange paint – and that wasn't all, said one sergeant who wouldn't give his name. He said they'd also been pelted with glass and vinegar, and one officer claimed to have tasted urine in the mix. So how did tonight compare with others he's seen? He laughed and said, "Well, it's not quite a homicide."
Thursday’s National section story from Oakland by Jesse McKinley and Abby Goodnough, “Some Cities Begin Cracking Down on ‘Occupy’ Protests,” relegated a vague claim of anti-police violence by protesters to paragraph 18. (The paper did reveal some unflattering details on the protests, such as a spray-painted message that read "Kill Pigs.")
In Oakland, where one protester -- Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran -- was in critical condition at a local hospital after being struck in the head with a projectile during the chaotic street battle on Tuesday, city officials defended their actions, saying the police used tear gas after being pelted with rocks. The police are investigating what happened to Mr. Olsen.
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Comments
And then there's
Submitted by ontheright on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:03pm.
And then there's this...
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/28/flier-at-occupy-phoenix-asks-when-...
Will MSM report on this? Yes, rhetorical, for sure.
NPR
Submitted by Kuso Jiji on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:06pm.
Pretty much taking the same approach on their reporting, and it is funded by the US government. Scary. Very Scary.
the young man was hit by a projectile-
Submitted by JIMMY1660 on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:26pm.
Cops do not throw things-so who did?
No one yet, can say that Olsen
Submitted by UpNorth on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:16pm.
was hit by a tear gas "projectile", a rubber bullet, a rock, a bottle or a Flea Bagger's shoe.
As for Scott Olsen, he is the owner of the blog, ihatethemarinecorps dot com. He also admitted in a twitter feed that he was up for administrative separation from the USMC for cocaine use.
When things begin to fly, and you stick around, you're asking to get boinked in the noggin. If he'd paid attention during his training, he might have figured that out.
Occupy Tampa
Submitted by TerryWest on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:42pm.
Occupy Tampa is really heating up which should please the mean stream media, I am unable to locate the disturbing audio I just heard on the Todd Schnitt show of a protester verbally abusing and imo tormenting an officer, this was during an arrest of two other protesters.
The mayors of these city's who are standing back in silence are as responsible as the protesters who are going after police officers who are simply enforcing the laws of the city's.
I finally got a clear account
Submitted by ThePickle on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 5:50pm.
I finally got a clear account of what happened in Oakland and its seems that the initial police decision to clear the park was made after receiving calls regarding a sexual assault, fires and several fights as well as an infestation of rats in the area. I believe the final straw was when paramedics responding to a call from the protest area were barred by protesters from entering the park. It was then that the decision was made that the area had become too unlawful to further ignore and that police would be dispatched. Upon their arrival the police were met with a barrage of objects including rocks, glass bottle and utensils from the kitchen area.
So let’s tally the reasons these “peaceful” protesters brought down such unwarranted action by the police:
1.A sexual assault committed, one would assume, by someone in attendance at the “protest”. (As this “protest’ has gathered to its bosom the dregs of society it would hardly be fair to state conclusively that it was in fact a “protester” that had committed the sexual assault.)
2.Fires in an area as densely populated as the OWS protest camps would tend to put many lives in danger and as such is a legitimate public safety concern.
3.While the incidents in question may have been characterized as “fights” without a proper police response and subsequent investigation there is no way of knowing if they were in fact “fights” rather than a more serious case of “assault”.
4.As for the rats, maybe they were there before the protest and maybe they weren’t however it is no stretch of the imagination to assume that a large gathering of folks with “questionable” sanitation arrangements (they have been know to poo on public safety vehicles) would tend to attract a large number of vermin. Case in point…..Michael Moore.
5.and the last and most serious breach of public safety is when a group of thuggish hippies decided that they were in charge of who got and who didn’t get medical attention…….ok that’s the Obama administration and Obamacare, so maybe call this a case the President “leading from the front"……. for once. Anyway when a group of citizens bar public safety vehicles from public areas they have demonstrated that they are as removed from “lawful” and “peaceful” as a person can get.
So tell me the tale of the poor peaceful OWS protester that for NO REASON AT ALL were set upon by The Man’s goons and beaten down for NO OTHER REASON than they dared to exercise their FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.
Then I will tell you about this bridge I have for sale.