Bad Cops, Lying Media, and Anarchist Scapegoats
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.broadsnark.com/bad-cops-lying-media-and-anarchist-scapegoats/
Bad Cops, Lying Media, and Anarchist Scapegoats
December 20, 2009
By: Mel
Category: Anarchism, Civil Rights, Media
I�m having a really hard time deciding who are worse � police or media.
As you may have already heard. There was a giant snowball fight at the
corner of U and 14th in Washington, DC. I was there from about 2:30 to
3:00 and it was fun as hell. Maybe 100 or 150 people were gathered,
split between the east and west sides of 14th. Whenever the lights
would change, everyone would yell �Charge!!� and start pelting the other
side with snow.
Not long after I got there, some hilarious anarchists showed up with a
sign that said �No War but Snowball War.� Everyone loved it. They
joined the snowball war on the west side. Occasionally, the west side
would chant �Whose Snow? Our Snow!� Here are some pics I took.
Scary right?
Well, apparently some DC cop thought it was scary because, after I left,
he pulled a gun at the snowball fight. You can read about it on Gawker
and in the City Paper. There is also a good account of what happened
over at DCist.
The only thing I will dispute about the DCist account is that I saw lots
of snowballs tossed at cars as they rolled through the intersection.
I�m sure some cars found it annoying, but it wasn�t dangerous. It was a
blizzard. I was walking faster than cars were driving. What was
dangerous was driving on roads not cleared of snow. Without a snowplow,
you really had no damned business being in a car yesterday. (I included
some street pics in the images above to give you an idea of how desolate
the streets were.)
As incredulous as I am about that cop pulling a gun, the thing that is
pissing me off even more is how Channel 7 news decided to cover the story.
"A lively snowball fight on D.C. streets took a dark turn Saturday when
anti-war protesters dressed in anarchist garb showed up, and a D.C.
police officer pulled his weapon out of his holster."
Channel 7 also claims that the anarchists started pelting cars. That is
a lie. That started before they got there. And I saw many snowballs
coming from the east side of the street (the opposite side from where
they were). More importantly, who cares! They were f�ing snowballs!
So a vile, power drunk cop uses his gun to stop a snowball fight and the
papers blame some good natured anarchists with a sense of humor. This
is so typical. This is why people aren�t out in the streets about all
the BS that happens every day. News media isn�t in the business of
watching police and government any more. They just serve as their
lying, sensationalist, propaganda arm.
Some of the comments I have seen on the reports are just killing me. I
think my favorite was the person who said the cop was protecting his
property. WTF! From snowballs?! And why the hell is a cop driving a
hummer?
Ugh!
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
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My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
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Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"