I course, Dennis, me, and some others were not talking about police provocations (you said you didn't read the thread, right?) but when police decided to pull power-trips and fuck with us for little or no reasons in our day to day lives.
As far as demos and smaller elements within them that might want to kick things up a notch, aren't cops trained to expect that? A big argument I hear about the army is that they shouldn't try to get of out going to Iraq because when they voluntarily signed up they knew the US might go to war. That's part o their job, so they shouldn't gripe. So why don't more folks feel that way about the police force? They knew this was part of the job, and they decided to take it anyway. I don't feel sorry for them. Personally, I've been photographed and made rude comment by cops at demos while doing nothing illegal whatsoever. One photographer was so blatantly close up I had to wonder if really was photographing me, or if there was film in the camera and he was just pretending like he was photographing me to intimidate me from expressing my Constitutional right to protest.
In L.A. of 2000 a friend of mine was running away from a cop. Why, I dunno. This was during an anti-corporate glbo protest ("The Battle of Los Angeles"). The police officer apparently was so porcine and out of shape he couldn't keep up at all, began having chest pains, bent over heaving, and went to the hospital, Now he is a "hero" for being wounded in the line of battle. I've wondered how many similar ceremonial honors have been won by out-of-shape cops (too many doughnuts, etc.?) merely for getting themselves out of breath, wheezing, and running for 20 feet or so before collapsing because they're so fat and overweight. But, they're "injured in the line of duty" and of course "heroes" and get medals for their injury in the line of duty.
Another favorite is when cops order you to do something you know they really have no right to tell you to do. If you say no, they reply, "Oh, I wasn't asking you that as a police officer. I was just asking you as one human to another. If you wouldn't do that?" Then if you still refuse, the cop arrests you (usually on some other charge). So, okay, actually you were asking me as cop.
B.
Marvin Gandall wrote:
> I haven't followed the thread too closely so the
point may have already been
> made, but taunting the cops at demonstrations is
just something politically
> awakening, angry and single young people do. It's
not something working
> people with jobs and families and more traditional
political affiliations do
> when they begin to turn out.