Granted, I’m upset with the video of the unidentified thugs snatching a guy off the street - but am I the only one?  Not one comment to this post in over 24 hours. I’ve no idea how anyone can anonymously give me feedback, but I’d sure like to know.  We have over 100 registered commenters on this site.  Are any of the following reasons even close to why there are no comments?

A - no one is reading (well, over 400 have since it was posted)
B - only servais is concerned with this
C - there is nothing wrong with this
D - it is an unusual event and not worth getting worked up over
E - I wish you would post positive articles
D - it has been happening for many years.  So what.
F - it won’t affect me
G - I read it.  Glad you posted.  Nothing to add.
H - I don’t want others thinking I’m against the police
I - my boss would not like my commenting on this
J - why comment - it won’t do any good
K - just don’t want to get worked up over it
L - I wish you would not post things like that
M - I thought you had moved beyond to better posts
N - I think the police are acting appropriately
O - I posted a comment once and got kidded about it
P - maybe the guy was guilty of something
Q - like they said, they did it for the safety of all
R - I’m liberal but cannot imagine why they were protesting
S - I’m conservative and they should do this more often
T - I’m very conservative and approve of this
U - shame on servais for even posting this
V - I’d like to comment but am afraid to
W - I’d comment if I could remain anonymous
X - I meant to comment but didn’t know what to say
Y - I don’t want to post the first comment
Z - a stupid post not worth even reading
Or perhaps another reason.

a. football season started
b. was attending the glen beck key to the city thingamajig
c. somali pirates hijacked my password to nwcitizen
d.  im assuming the accused were libtard commies….to the gulag w/ you!
e.  i have a headache
f.  this is harder than i thought it would be to get to z…..hopefully, one understands my point. maybe we need a riot tsar, too

John,
The juxtaposition of police officers in the same frame with the military uniformed personnel does raise the question of whether these people have legitimate police powers and have used those powers legally, or are they something else.  A question worthy of an answer.

And I find myself in a quandary on how to process the documentation of the event.  There is a lot of data in the video, but incomplete information on which to interpret motivation and justification.  For me, that means having to do a fair bit of research before commenting about the legitimacy of the incident. 

There appear to be arm bands on the left arms of the camo-garbed personnel, but the resolution of the video is too low to really tell.  One blogger I came across claims they are Pennsylvania State Troopers, but like so much on the internet these days, I find myself with too few confirmed facts to be willing to draw many conclusions.  And I have yet to find a journalistic credentialed report on the incident either. 

One opinion I do hold from this is that police officers, if that?s what they are, should not be wearing military uniforms and all personnel should be readily identifiable as officers.

This is very disturbing and I wish we had more information on it. We know that it was on official arrest. God, what a terrifying way to go. It reminds me of stories of no-knock warrents, where SWAT teams bust into peoples houses to arrest them and the citizen, seeing large men crashing through their door in the middle of the night open fire. Now they are charged with whatever prompted the arrest AND attacking a police officer, something they had no intention of doing.

Secret police do not admit they have arrested someone. There are no charges. No bail. No charging affidavits. No trial. No bail.

... and certainly no trial by a jury of common citizens culled from the voter registration polls.

They are SECRET, which does not seem to be the case here, no matter which Wal-Mart store they bought their outfits from.

The Pittsburg police freely admits these were their officers, and will have to eventually give us the names of the officers involved.

Protestors to the G-20 summits seem to be a particularily hell bent bunch, which confuse peaceful protest, with destruction of personal property and other anarchy events.

Even the Tea Part folks seem to understand the difference between protesting and criminal behavior.

It is not okay to destroy someone else’s property.

Police do infrequently misbehave, and the video camera has proven effective in weeding out officers who have no business being police officers.

Having said this though, we should not immediately convict police officers absent the full facts. Being a policeman or policewoman is not an easy job.

We should think twice before we criticise unfairly those that keep us safe at night.

I have a suggestion; Why don’t we get the facts from both sides and then make up our minds.

I’ll bet the protester who was grabbed while vandalizing private property was not confused, and assumed they were the police.

Maybe protester is is a too respectful term to use for some of these G-20 meetings, criminals may be a more accurate description, at least the way Funk and Wagnalls interprets their behavior.

~

State troopers in camo?
Even the national guard wore their uniforms as they blasted us with tear gas in the 60’s.
It seems very strange.

More and more, US police at all levels seem to exercise unprecedented authority over citizens. In the case of being in the same town as G20, it’s an easy leap to use the patriot act for broad authorizations. Sorry, Doug, but I don’t know any civilian police who wear camo. If there are such groups, we need to put a stop to it, as we need to be very clear about who is military and who are civilian police. The Posse Comitatus Act is alive and well in this country and, as far as I know, is still being upheld by the courts. As for the benefit of the doubt, not if they have violated that Act. We get to leap, at least, to the conclusion that they are at least responsible for our reaction to this seeming Constitutional violation.

From: http://www.northcom.mil/About/history_education/posse.html

“The substantive prohibitions of the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) were extended to all the services with the enactment of Title 10 USC, Section 375. As required by Title 10 USC, Section 375 the secretary of defense issued Department of Defense Directive 5525.5, which precludes members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps from direct participation in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.

“The PCA generally prohibits U.S. military personnel from direct participation in law enforcement activities. Some of those law enforcement activities would include interdicting vehicles, vessels, and aircraft; conducting surveillance, searches, pursuit and seizures; or making arrests on behalf of civilian law enforcement authorities. Prohibiting direct military involvement in law enforcement is in keeping with long-standing U.S. law and policy limiting the military?s role in domestic affairs.”

John,
I agree with most of what Ham says.  While it isn’t clear who the men in fatigues/camo are they do seem to be wearing arm bands, and it is not uncommon that law enforcement wear fatigues, etc. as part of SWAT team dress.  I believe that is true even here in Whatcom County.  However, I also believe that if indeed they are law enforcement they should be very clearly identified as such rather than an ID card clipped to a shirt sleeve.  As for the car…..even the B’ham P.D. has unmarked cars as do virtually all law enforcement agencies.

It’s important to remember the protests during the G-20 summit in Seattle.  There were many involved who were not protesting…..they were thugs…..hell bent on destroying as much property as they could.  Sadly, in the melee many bona fide protesters were also arrested and wrongly handled.

You have labeled the men in fatigues as thugs, yet you admittedly have many doubts as to who they really are and little real evidence.  This seems to be a premature conclusion….I guess that’s the difference between blogging and reporting.  The truth is we don’t really know who the real thugs are in this scene.

Ah Sharon, good to hear your comments.

First to your challenge on police wearing camo. Fish and game officers use camo regularly. Camo in this context is used to blend into the hunting population, so in this context camo is used by “undercover” officers.

I hope this is a reasonable answer to your challenge.(Should have never challenged a fisherman on this one!!)

I doubt that the camo along with the crew cuts in Pittsburg was used as undercover disguise, as if that were the case we have an IQ problem with the officers. (This is humor)

More to the point of this article though, I think there are deep wounds by those of us that faced the unbridaled abuse by officers in the 60’s and 70’s. These memories are vivid and the betrayal of police then to the simple protection of citizens into the realm of prohibiting free speech and the right to assemble, is a memory that is burned into our psyche, and colors how we look at the police and any action which reminds us of those terrible times and the abuse by police.

Those times and experiences were real, and remembering them is fair. (I get it)

Applying those 60’s experiences to images today, of officers who were not even born when those abuses took place, may not be fair absent the facts.

The G-20 protestors are a nasty bunch, and I don’t have much respect for them. Many are just hooligans looking to destroy something. The lessons of Ghandi and Martin Luther Kings’ non-violence coupled with clear logic and argument are lost on these folks.

Sharon, at any time in our lives if we are threatened by violence we can call 911 and an officer will come and place their life on the line to save ours. We need to remember to thank these good folks, or they will not be there if we need them.

Having said this though I personally witnessed the Gastown riots in 1971, and it scarred my view of the police for years.

I can still spot a bad cop from a mile away, but I have learned over the years that there are more good ones than bad ones, and I have learned to say thank you and get all the facts before condemning them.

This short film clip was designed to inflame the “Love Children” of the sixties. The “Man” is out to get us.( I now know that you and John are “Love Children”)

Life is a little more complex than a 60’s slogan.

Thanks to John and Sharon for the flashback.

~

John,

Thanks for challenging us to respond.
While this is a disturbing incident I am not surprised by the extent to which the ‘authorities’ responded.  The United States is the most violent nation on earth, and the United States military is (aside from being the biggest polluter on the planet) responsible for seeing to it that the global economy keeps humming along. 
If the ‘authorities’, and their sympathizers, are so concerned about property destruction why don’t they confront the earth’s biggest polluter?