NBC and ABC Tout Injured Protester as 'Rallying Cry' for Occupy Wall Street
On Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed: "Protesters across the country and a lot of Americans who are sympathetic to this Occupy Wall Street protest movement are tonight rallying around a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who was seriously injured during a violent confrontation with police in Oakland, California on Tuesday."
On ABC's World News, fill-in anchor George Stephanopoulos echoed that sentiment: "...one young man has become a symbol of their resolve." Correspondent Abbie Boudreau followed by declaring: "With tensions mounting daily, the name Scott Olsen has become a national rallying cry for Occupy Wall Street....injured Tuesday night, as police began firing tear gas during the Oakland crackdown."
In contrast to NBC and ABC taking accusations from the protesters as fact, on the CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley was more cautious in a news brief on the incident: "Anti-Wall Street protestors accused police of using excessive force. The confrontation left Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen with a fractured skull. But it's not clear how Olsen was injured or who was responsible."
In the Nightly News report, correspondent Migeul Almaguer blamed Oakland police for the violence: "Oakland police tactics have come under scrutiny." A sound bite was included from fellow Iraq war veteran Jordan Towers: "I was shocked that in this country they would do that to a peaceful protester. Scott was out here protesting peacefully." No mention was made of protesters throwing rocks and bottles at police.
Almaguer went on to announce: "Now Olsen's story is rallying Occupy protesters across the country....Tonight in many cities the Occupy movement appears energized."
On World News, Boudreau made a similar observation: "And not far from any of their minds, Scott Olsen, giving them a whole new reason to fight."
NBC's coverage was particularly propagandist as Williams introduced the next story on the broadcast:
That protest slogan from the '60s, "The whole world is watching," well, it's never been as true as it is right now. The pictures from inside these protests that the news media show, often originate from social media. And while police are increasingly getting called out these days for their behavior, remember, we can now see more of their behavior than ever before and they are under close scrutiny as NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Taibbi proceeded to list a handful of recent instances of police officers caught on tape being overly aggressive, including: "At the start of New York's Occupy Wall Street protests, a police inspector fires his pepper spray at a clearly nonviolent crowd."
Taibbi noted: "What is understood by the ACLU is that while there may not be more of these incidents, more of them without question are being caught on tape. That raises some next level in the age old interactions between law enforcement and the public."
At the end of his report, Taibbi offered the police perspective: "But it is also true that civilians in this post-9/11 world are arming themselves with tasers and mace and pepper spray, and that much of the video posted for the world to see only shows what's always been true about how legitimate police work often looks."
Sound bites were included from former New York and Los Angeles police commissioner: "We have an expression in policing, 'Lawful but awful.' Unfortunately, certain police actions, when they have to use force to make a lawful arrest, don't look good."
Filling in for Matt Lauer on Friday's Today, Brian Williams expressed more sympathy for Occupy Wall Street as he wondered how Thursday's stock market rally would benefit them:
...in lower Manhattan and in cities across this country we have people who spent a cold night outside because they are committed to this cause. They are the 99-percenters, if you listen to their rallying cry. What's in these stats for them? What do you say to them about the effect of a good run on Wall Street, outside of which they're camped out?
Here is a full transcript of Almaguer's October 27 Nightly News report:
7:06PM ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Protesters across the country and a lot of Americans who are sympathetic to this Occupy Wall Street protest movement are tonight rallying around a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who was seriously injured during a violent confrontation with police in Oakland, California on Tuesday. Our report tonight from NBC's Miguel Almaguer.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Medic!
MIGUEL ALMAGUER: In Oakland Tuesday, 24-year-old marine Scott Olsen was hit by what witnesses say was a police projectile. Friends rushed to his aid.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER A [WEARING A BANDANA OVER HIS FACE]: We asked him his name multiple times.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER B: What's your name?
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER C: What's your name?
PROTESTER A: But he wasn't responding. So we took him to the medic.
ALMAGUER: Olsen, who survived two tours of duty in Iraq, was critically injured with a fractured skull.
JORDAN TOWERS [IRAQ WAR VETERAN]: I was shocked that in this country they would do that to a peaceful protester. Scott was out here protesting peacefully.
ALMAGUER: Oakland police tactics have come under scrutiny.
HOWARD JORDAN [OAKLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT]: We want to make sure there is a thorough and complete job and a complete comprehensive review is done of the incident.
ALMAGUER: Like other veterans and thousands of protesters, friends of Olsen say he was demonstrating against a wide range of issues.
JASON MATHERNE [SCOTT OLSEN'S FRIEND]: He's just expressing his First Amendment right and his conviction that the corporate greed and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need to come to an end.
ALMAGUER: Now Olsen's story is rallying Occupy protesters across the country.
PROTESTERS: March with Oakland! March with Oakland!
ALMAGUER: In New York, they shouted "Oakland" as hundreds marched to city hall.
PROTESTERS: We are the 99%!
ALMAGUER: From Portland to Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER D: Scott Olsen is a hero for standing with the people.
ALMAGUER: Tonight in many cities the Occupy movement appears energized. Scott Olsen's family arrived here in the Bay area from Wisconsin to good news. He's been upgraded to fair condition. Meantime, the demonstrators say they plan to go nowhere here in San Francisco. They'll hold a vigil for Olsen later on tonight. Brian.
WILLIAMS: Miguel, it's bracing to hear that call for a medic here in the states for a guy who survived combat overseas. Miguel Almaguer, in the Bay area tonight, thanks.
Here is a full transcript of Boudreau's October 27 World News report:
6:33PM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And today's rally on Wall Street probably won't soothe, it could even intensify, the Occupy Wall Street movement that's spread across so much of the country. And tonight, one young man has become a symbol of their resolve. A 24-year-old Iraq war veteran, now in serious condition in a California hospital, his skull fractured after a violent run-in with police. ABC's Abbie Boudreau has more.
ABBIE BOUDREAU: With tensions mounting daily, the name Scott Olsen has become a national rallying cry for Occupy Wall Street. Olsen, who had joined protestors after work, was injured Tuesday night, as police began firing tear gas during the Oakland crackdown. People who came to his aid were then scattered by a gas canister tossed by police.
Last night in New York, protesters marched in solidarity with Olsen, leading to a tense confrontation with police and ten arrests. Today, the police union said it had shown restraint but would now sue any protester who injured an officer. That's because an estimated 70,000 people nationwide have joined in demonstrations since last weekend. Atlanta's mayor:
KASIM REED: We know for a fact that we have crossed the $300,000 threshold in terms of dollars spent.
BOUDREAU: Across the country, the costs are soaring. In New York City, overtime expenses, $3.4 Million. $2 Million in Boston and counting. In Minneapolis, the sheriff's department reports spending $200,000 so far. And in San Francisco, the bill is more than $100,000. And Debra, who's been out of a job for two years, says she's not budging. How long do you plan on staying here, in a tent?
DEBRA: As long as I have to. I don't plan on leaving unless I'm forced or taken to jail.
BOUDREAU: And not far from any of their minds, Scott Olsen, giving them a whole new reason to fight. Abbie Boudreau, ABC News, San Francisco.
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Comments
Scott Olsen Injury
Submitted by wdvander on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:03pm.
I am in prayer for the recovery of Scott Olsen, but the accusations being thrown about that Oakland police were the cause of the injury are absolultely unproven. I have seen no investigation completed, so lets wait until that is done before starting to figuratively throwing stones.
I believe it was an MSNBC commentator named O'Donnel who stated that the OWS movement needed it's "Kent State" moment to be a catalyst for change. This could be that moment. I just absolutely don't put it past any of these anarchists to deliberately injure one of their own to advance their agenda. It certainly would not be the first time.
Facts don't matter to the
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:03pm.
Facts don't matter to the network news. Neither does accuracy nor full disclosure. They have devolved into nothing more than televised tabloids with true journalism being nothing more than a myth in their minds.
But I thought killing cops
Submitted by NC Cop on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:03pm.
But I thought killing cops was their rallying cry?????
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/28/flier-at-occupy-phoenix-asks-when-...
"Hot Air has confirmed with the Arizona Department of Public Safety that fliers have been found at Occupy Phoenix instructing people on when to shoot police officers."
Those wacky protesters!! Wonder if our one party media will get their panties in a bunch over that.
I kid, of course.
They'll use any excuse as a license to become violent.
Submitted by gobnait06 on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:04pm.
The authorities have no idea what or who caused the injury to the veteran yet the networks can't wait to ascribe it to the police. Has the whole world gone completely insane?
Truth in Reporting
Submitted by scottyusmc on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:05pm.
This needs a disclaimer indicating that it is "approved by the DNC" for release. These mouthpieces are nothing but puppets for the BOB administration and the socialist left.
Well, I guess the America
Submitted by Minarchian on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:22pm.
Well, I guess the America haters got their "Kent State" they were wishing for.
Not that they didn't cause it to happen in the first place.
Just wait until they start getting evicted due to equal protection issues the cities have in their treatment of the TEA Party rallies. That is, of course, if the TEA Party people can find a judge who still believes in equal protection and treatment under the law.
the rest of the story?
Submitted by kata on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:21pm.
Protesters threw turquoise and red paint at the riot officers. Some led the crowd in chanting, "This is why we call you pigs."
More at SFGate
The story is clear as to what happened and how - but the protestors "on the ground" are being told that no one threw anything and it was completely unprovoked. So the misguided occupiers will continue to march blindly while surrounded by anarchists whose goal is diametrically opposed to the one being sold to them as a peaceful movement. Of course they are energized. Poor stupid sheep.
The public would not have known about his injury had it been in Iraq. I doubt it would have gotten a single line of press. I loathe the media so much.
So the rioters are now
Submitted by Free Thinker on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:32pm.
So the rioters are now victims? Somehow I don't think they will find much sympathy.
How about the police who are
Submitted by inquiringmind on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:40pm.
How about the police who are injured doing their jobs defending the city. Why isn't Goerge mentioning them? Aren't these police also union members? Where is the police union when their members need defended?
It should be a rallying cry
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:25pm.
It should be a rallying cry, a cry that the liberals need to switch to a different political party! Hay, liberals, if my own party did this to me, and you have to admit that the Oakland police are controlled by Democrats (It's a Democrat who is Mayor, and a Democrat is Chief of Police, remember?) so there's no doubt as to which party is to blame, I'd switch party membership, pronto! Your being attacked by members of your own party, on both sides! Your all fighting amongst yourselves! I mean, really, how hard is it to figure out?
By the way, how long do you think it will take until Obama says something along the lines of "the police acted stupidly" and calls for Beer Summit?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Sorry no sympathy for this
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:22pm.
Sorry no sympathy for this guy. The police did not start the incident.
Once again, the media is on
Submitted by ant on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:32pm.
Once again, the media is on the wrong side of an issue. I notice while reading through reader comments on mainstream press articles on OWS that those commenters that talk of "the hypocrisy of turning away the homeless, useful idiots, etc" get hundreds of 'likes', while those readers that type the usual lefty rants get in the area of 16 or so 'likes'. Of course, the media is with the 16 or so and dutifully tries to spin it to everyone else as 16 hundred.
Of course, the police acted stupidly.
Submitted by creekrat on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 2:36pm.
We have already been shown how to honor our police, have we not ?? Our commander in chief has set the discourse !!
Scott Olsen: Founder of 'I Hate the Marines Corps.com'
Submitted by mrt721 on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:20pm.
Some "hero":
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/good-grief-leftie-hero-scott-ols...
Not to mention Olsen's drug use.
Submitted by UpNorth on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:40pm.
Self-admitted drug use, that may have gotten him "administratively separated" from the Corps.
And, as yet, no one has been able to say, truthfully, that Olsen was hit by anything fired by the police. It could have been a bottle, a rock, a can of paint. I've watched the video of this a few times, and the tear gas comes from behind the police lines, and it does not look like any of the projectiles or canisters hit him. The people who dispense the tear gas stand behind the lines, for their safety, and to keep their things out of the hands of the people on the other side of the barricades. So, whoever was firing the projectiles probably didn't even see that group of occuturds who were up by the barricades, there were a few lines of officers between them and the barricades.
Thanks
Submitted by IrateNate on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:20pm.
Thanks for the link; I was wondering what kind of true Marine would attend these gatherings of street vermin.
Strange a week ago the
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 3:25pm.
Strange a week ago the libmedia was calling for a kent state moment and now they think they have it.
Even the Marine Corps
Submitted by bkeyser on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 4:34pm.
has it's five percent. This former Marine protester was likely one of them.
As my parents taught me
Submitted by BMorgan53 on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 1:19am.
If you go to places where you don't belong, have no business being there, and then act like a fool; what happens to you is your own damn fault.
The Left hasn't been this happy about a Marine getting hurt
Submitted by DaMav on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 1:32am.
since Fallujah
WE all saw this coming. The
Submitted by jessieH on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 9:52am.
WE all saw this coming. The liberal socialists are just too predictable.
All sorts of lovely comments about this marine
Submitted by CherryBomb on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:00am.
Big Government has lots of Kos-kinded comments, some suggesting the rubber bullets used should have been live ammo, while others simply stated he got what he deserved. Pussy, scumbag, 4 years in the service, 2 tours of duty, fighting for our freedom, but can't have an opinion of his own.
Just lovely. For a man awarded the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, among others.
The canard about "rubber bullets"?
Submitted by UpNorth on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:42am.
There were no rubber bullets fired by the police, the closest thing to a rubber bullet was a bean bag round.
As for Olsen, I've watched the video several times, have you? Nowhere in the video can it be established that he was hit by anything fired or tossed by the police. Tear gas rounds leave a trail in the air, tear gas canisters that are thrown are easily seen. Rocks, bottles and ball bearings shot from sling shots not so much. Not to mention bottles filled with paint, or human waste.
"For a man awarded the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal"? Have you checked any information about him? You might want to visit here, or here, or here. This from a "Marine" who was administratively separated from the USMC, self-admittedly for cocaine use.
Brian Williams is very wealthy
Submitted by OldJoe on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 12:42pm.
Multi million dollar contract. Just like the others squawking and gushing over the OWS.
A Bad Marine
Submitted by Alpha Tango on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 2:39pm.
I do not believe that the injured person was a marine unless he was dishonorably discharged. If he is active duty, he should be prosecuted via court martial and serve the rest of his enlistment time in jail. At least he should be thrown out in accordance with the military code of conduct.
Marines are not known to do stupid things like protesting mindlessly.
Alpha Tango
Submitted by ant on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 9:48pm.
I read that he was dishonorably discharged due to 'self-admitted' cocaine use. Whether he was purposely trying to be discharged, I don't know.