Police Aggression at Civic Center Rally

right-click the vidoe link, choose "copy link location", then open a video player (windows media player, VLC, etc.) and choose "file" + "open stream" or "open network stream" and paste in the link

Some of the protesters were caught with cans of gasoline- they had stolen flags from the other side and were using gasoline to set them on fire. They were caught, however. The shirtless guy was raving- possibly mentally ill.

We've actually scheduled a combo US and Iraeli flag burn for tomorrow. Just a few (about 25 of us) will be gathering for it, but we will have some pics and try to get them posted.

I ahave some of my own to contribute

Yeah, if anyone can come i'd also like to attend.

In a just society racism would not be taught,tolerated or sanctioned by the State, it would be illegal. Free Speech does not include advocating oppression or promoting violence of a people based on race. In a righteous society the police would be sent to protect the immigrant not harass and deport him. In a just society the police would not guard the gates of corporations who profit in the trillions off the blood of young soldiers and lives of men,women and children because no such corporation would be allowed to exist. In a just society those waving the flags of the oppressor,those advocating the exclusivity of their race and the massacre of another would be put in prison. And the young people whose land was stolen, homeland destroyed and people killed would not be beaten again and again and again by the batons of the San Francisco Police Department. If white and privileged America wants to continue in arogance and ignorance to think that it's whiteness and privilege makes them more valuable then there couldn't possibly be enough cops in the world who could protect them"when the chickens come home to roost."

the shirtless guy is NOT mentally ill. He probably was raving because of the unjustified brute force that the cops used against him.

though it would be difficult to put together an accurate chronology of events, here's what I saw:
first, yes, someone set an israeli flag on fire. i can't refute that it was stolen from the counter-protesters across the street, but I didn't see anything to indicate that. the rush of cops came after the flag was no longer on fire, so there was no issue of fire safety involved. nobody had gasoline as far as I could se... there might have been a squirt of lighter fuid. the answer people who got roughed up (including the guy who got pulled over the barricade onto his head) clearly had nothing to do with it. the bald guy whose head was injured, I can't say much about. I don't know why he was targeted for arrest in the first place, but yes he probably did resist arrest... clearly though, there was no need for the police to smash their way into the crowd, jabbing with their clubs, occupy a tiny closed off stairwell, just to make a show of force. if this was all over a burned flag, that's absolutely insane. i heard some people saying that one of the counter-protesters had run over the other side of the street... maybe that's what started the incident. if anyone knows any more, please share.

When I heard that someone ("an older Arab woman") had been pushed down when the cops ran over to arrest the person who alledgedly started the fire burning the Israeli flag, i went over to investigate. When i arived the person was already in police custody and around them were many dmenstrators mainly youngish Arabs, but also a sprinklin of others, who were very angry. Around them were a bunch of ANSWER monitors (march security) telllin them to o back to the in fornt of the stage and inore what the police were doing. ANSWER also said from the stage, in both Enlish and arabic that it wassn't the dmeonstrators business to bein trying to protect their brother who just arrested, and instead they should be listnein to the (boring) speakers. I believe that instead ANSWER should have told everybody in the crowd what was happpening and stopped the rally to show the police that we won't tolerate this, anywhere. The least they should have done was not send the monitors over to tell people what they should be doing, and allow those who wanted to do what felt was the right thing to do. Also if there are monitors at all, their job is to protect us form cop and Zionist/right-wing attacks, and secondarily to direct traffic. Their job is NOT to tell dmenstrators on our side how we should act. Most demonstrators are not childran and don't need big Daady Dick Becker and his cronies to tell them how ahat they should do or how to protect each other. .

There were many people who were good enough to help out with ANSWER security yesterday. For some on ANSWER security it was their first time and because of the emergency nature of the march were unable to get the official position on what to do when the police rush in and brutilize the People. ANSWER security is not present to police our brothers and sisters in resistance. ANSWER security is present to secure the permited demonstration areas from the reactionary forces present yesterday. Thank you, Lisa Roellig

Then why did you do what you said you are not there for?

My suggestion is to attend an ANSWER meeting. Tuesday, 7PM Lisa Roellig

When I stepped in as ANSWER security, it was not to police those who were resisting the obvious racist and uncalled for tactics of the police it was because I saw a woman seperated from her son being brutalized by the police, and I had to react. The cops suck..they are not about keeping the peace they do not help those who are trying to do so...
Perhaps some police officers may have good intentions but I have a feeling that many of them are violent individuals who found a career that legitamizes their violent racist tendancies.

1) To Amelia: What did you do to help the woman who was bein brutally attacked? 2) Did anybody in the security force, no matter your alleged intentions or thouhts, try to rescue the person who was being arrested or consider that rather telling everybody to stay back and go back to listening to the speakers, helping those interested in doing so. 3) Could someone go to the meetin tomorrow night and report on what was bein discussed aropund this issue, what the role of security is at these demos, etc., since i can't make the meeetin due to a prior engagement. 4) Is ANSWER helping the legal defense of the guy who got arrested?

This person who was arrested (bald guy) would be a relative of mine. Although I wasn't there I spoke with those in charge of our family group for the august 12th protest. From what I heard, Bald guy, for the sake of simplicity we will name him "Alan" was simply preparing to burn an Israeli flag using he's lighter. The police had witnessed a person with lighter fluid, but didn't question it. Once they noticed Alan starting to burn the flag they had asked "wheres the fluid?" he responded "I do not have any fluid" and continued on he's way to burn and chant with the crowd. As a result, the police felt he was lying and thus the video shows the rest of what happened.

As an activist who works very closely with police to make sure everything is lawful and in order, I myself have been harrassed and attacked by SFPD in these past few weeks of protesting for no reason at all. Just the other day in the Muslim Unity Rally on August 11th 2006, I was harrassed by police who threatened to arrest me after a woman verbally attacked me saying "You F--king Terrorist" while I was passing out flyers. I responded calmy to the woman with "UN Resolution 3379, Zionism is Racism". THe SFPD officers which I took pictures of surrounded me accusing me of attacking the woman. I didn't yell at her I didn't make any hard motions to suggest I was attacking her, they just wanted to intimidate me.

I noticed they do this while a protester is alone and unable to defend himself from their harrassments. They (sfpd) know that if it ever came down to arresting a person and having to face the courts that they would most likely win since its your words against theirs.

As for this incident with Alan, I find it rediculous that the SFPD would take it this far and to attack a whole crowd simply to show intimidation and force.

I also heard later from a relative that 2 police officers who happen to find a picture of "Nasrallah" of Hezbollah throw the picture on the floor then step on it to taunt my relative. THis i found very disturbing, not because it was a pic of Nasrallah, but because professionalism shouldn't cross the line into showing your particular political beliefs.

thus...SFPD...not all but most do not respect the freedom of speech, only to supress it as much as they can whenever possible.

I encourage all to show restraint while encountering such racism from police and we should all get together in showing support against these racist acts of violence by sending letters to the mayor and chief of police. Regardless of their support or non support.

Also, There should be an understanding with the media. Arabs are semitic peoples, if the media finds it easy to label Arabs as Anti-semitic, then we should find it easy to label anyone who supports these attacks on freedom of speech are also anti-semitic.

Is Alan stil in custody? What are the charges filed against him? Is there a trust fund set up for his defense? You should go to the ANSWER meeting tonight and request that they set one up.

alan is out of custody as of today (wednesday), at this time i do not know anything else.

Alan did not have any lighter fluid when asked for it by the police nor did he have it at all during the SFPD attack.

from my understanding...

Alan is charged 2 felonies and a misdeamner. I do not know for what but thats from what I am hearing.

Were the charges dropped?
Will ANSWER help (financially or otherwise)?
Just wondering.

Take that same cop minus the uniform, put him on the other side of the barricade waving his finger and yelling. Now you no longer have a fool, but a 1st Amendement practictioner. But, of course, it's perfectly normal when YOU act that way (according to you of course). See why the cops might think you are the fools? What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh?

the difference is that protestors who look angry and yell aren't armed with weapons and aren't public servants working (ostensibly) under authority of, and funded by, the people.
there's also a difference between macho aggression and righteous anger.
p.s. does "this fool needs a chill pill" really sound like a serious criticism to you? detect a note of levity?

Alaa was given 3 years probation, and a hundred dollar fine, in addition to the 5 days he had already served in jail.
ANSWER provided NOTHING. No legal assistence, no financial assistence, NOTHING.
Alaa ended up using a public defender.

See, the rabid pro-israel crowd simply wants to criticize ANSWER--first, they are 'anti-semitic' (heard that before) and support terrorists, but then, when they don't support someone setting fire (att3mpting to) then they are talked bad about, too. This isn't about ANSWER--this is about state sponsored terror of the US and Israel.