Chevron-Texaco police brutality

What causes an armed officer to brutally kick and beat a peaceful demonstrator without provocation? It could be, as a previous poster suggested, way too much coffee and insecurity about having to face the massive humanity that was saying no to war and no business as usual at Chevron-Texaco this morning. It could also be because they just don't know what to do when a black woman is leading some 15 people of color and others in chant (probably also a rare sighting in this isolated, whitebred, middle-class stripmall they call San Ramon). It was probably a number of things, but what is unmistakable is that the racism motivating the surprising, out-of-the-blue rush towards 3 people of color was blatant.

The police targeted at least one of these three folks 1)before any warning to disperse was given (a warning was given after this incident) and 2) for no apparent reason. Why target these people when there was a whole line of folks locked down volunteering to be arrested?

Of course, these cops were totally blatant about a lot of things: as we (Freedom Uprising) were crossing the street, I saw a sheriff actually wave towards oncoming cars, encouraging them to run into us. Not a very impressive image you’re projecting there, boys. We had guessed that the old white boys' is still very much intact there in San Ramon, but the way he smirked as he was directing cars in our direction shows absolutely no ability to distinguish between his profession as police officer and his own petty ideologies. Nor did the "law enforcement" team out there have a problem about making a display of going out to shake the hand of a laughably fanatical flag-waving SUV driver who stopped in the middle of the intersection (blocking traffic for at least 5 minutes) to boo us, instead of giving the guy a ticket.

Blatant endorsement of the war and blatant lack of understanding of professional roles just makes them look bad and incompetent as cops. However, blatant racism will not be tolerated. Further, unprovoked violence of this kind will not be tolerated. We should all hold these so-called law-enforcement officers accountable for their illegal attack and other acts of brutality.

I would encourage anyone who has even further accounts and evidence to post them.