Use of Force Against RNC Protesters 'Disproportionate,' Charges Amnesty Int'l
By Jim Kouri CPP (09/07/08)
The cleaning crews hadn't even started their work in St. Paul following the end of the Republican Convention, when the knee-jerk leftists at Amnesty International released their statement accusing police officers of using excessive force against the misfits and miscreants creating havoc outside of the convention center.
Amnesty International is concerned about "allegations of excessive use of force and mass arrests by police at demonstrations in St. Paul, Minnesota during the Republican National Convention (RNC) from September 1-4, 2008," said the organization in a press release written in London, England,
The human rights organization is calling on the city and county authorities to "ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations."
Amnesty claims its concerns arise from media reports, video and photographic images "which appear to show police officers deploying unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating outside the arena where the Convention was being held." Of course, the officials at Amnesty International failed to mention what many Americans saw on their TV sets during news coverage of the rowdy protesters, many of whom admitted they were anarchists.
TV audiences saw demonstrators smashing store windows, throwing bottles and debris at outnumbered police officers. The well-trained, well-prepared officers successfully controlled the mobs of people who visibly attempted to bait the officers into using force against them
According to officials from Amnesty, police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on "peaceful" demonstrators and journalists.
"Amnesty International has also received unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at [the] Ramsey county jail," states their press release sent from Europe.
Amnesty International claims it is also concerned about reports that "several journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while filming and reporting on the demonstrations." Remember, these are the same people working in the news media who claim they're not in the tank for Obama-Biden.
They include far-left host of the radio program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the program's producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. Goodman is one of those so-called journalists who have a few listeners thanks to government subsidies for "public radio."
Amnesty International claims it "recognizes the challenges involved in policing large scale demonstrations and that some protesters may have been involved in acts of violence or obstruction."
But then in the next sentence they state that "some of the police actions appear to have breached United Nations standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials."
Memo to Amnesty International: the UN does not possess jurisdiction over US local police forces.
Also, there were protesters in Denver during the Democrat's convention who claimed they were "victims of police officers," but Amnesty International failed to investigate those allegations:
"Police violence brought an end to peaceful protests in Denver Monday night. There are numerous reports of unprovoked police attacks on peaceful demonstrators and Pepper spray and peppered bullets were used by police and a number of injuries have been reported. Hundreds of people were penned in near the Civic Center Park and many arrests occurred there during the anticapitalista march. Close to100 people were believed arrested Monday night." http://www.dncdisruptions08.org/
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