American Police State

Police treatment of protestors are the Republican National Convention was something of a disgrace. People were incarcerated and charged with felonies for no reason other than to keep them off the streets. Why was that a goal? Presumably so as to suppress dissent and eliminate the impression that protests existed.

CNN reports:

A judge in Manhattan held the city of New York in contempt Thursday, saying police did not abide by his order to release more than 500 people arrested in protests this week. The judge imposed a $1,000 fine for every person who was not released. ... Clare Norrins, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, said hundreds of people were still in custody and are not scheduled to be arraigned.

Many of the arrested had spent more than 38 hours in custody, despite a legal guideline recommending that anyone arrested for a minor violation during the convention be released or arraigned within 24 hours. One person had been in custody for 58 hours, said Colin Starger, a volunteer attorney with the lawyers association. ... Lawyers have criticized the indiscriminate nature of the arrests. "They would just round up groups with these orange, plastic nets and arrest many innocent people in the process, including members of the press, people going to the movies, shoppers coming out of stores and businessmen going home from work," Maxian said.

Reports indicate that people were being arrested almost indiscriminately. Inside the convention, a protestor was arrested while a Young Republican who kicked her (while she was down) was left alone. Is this really appropriate for America? Adam Yoshida thinks he should get a medal instead of criminal charges he deserves.

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