BLM activist DeRay subjected to violent arrest in Baton Rouge.

[Vattel]

DeRay McKesson, one of the most prominent activists associated with the police reform protest movement, was arrested in Baton Rouge, where he traveled earlier Saturday to demonstrate in solidarity with residents angered by the recent death of Alton Sterling after an officer-involved shooting that was captured on video.

McKesson was taken into custody around 11 p.m. in what two fellow activists who witnessed it described as a physically violent arrest.

“They tackled him. One officer hit the top of his body and another officer the bottom,” Packnett said.

“The police continue to just provoke people,” McKesson said after an officer yells to a group of people that if they step on the roadway they will be arrested.

Then an officer says the man in the “loud shoes” has been “flagged”: “You in them loud shoes, if I see you in the road, if I get close to you, you’re going to jail,” an officer can be heard saying on the video.

In response, Packnett says, “We’re on the shoulder. There is no sidewalk, sir.”

The group was walking away from a protest and rally that had been dispersed, traveling alongside road traffic on a street that they said does not have a sidewalk.

Activists continued to talk as they walked up the side of the street. Moments later, an officer’s voice is heard.

“City police, you’re under arrest.”

“What?!” McKesson exclaims. “I’m under arrest y’all.”

Then the video and audio feed cuts out.





https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/10/black-lives-matter-activist-deray-mckesson-taken-into-custody-by-baton-rouge-police/

[Vattel]

1. DeRay: "The police were violent tonight, the protesters were not."

[Stellar]

2. As per usual? nt

[sangfroid]

3. Of course they were

Let's not forget what the job of the police officer is. He or she is not there to direct traffic, or give people directions, or steer drunks home. No, he or she is there to ensure that the lower classes in our society do not threaten or inconvenience the upper classes.

More and more, I am coming to believe that the Mayor and the police Chief can snow us about working together to eliminate violence, but it's the cop on the street who grinds people with racism, homophobia, sexism and a readiness to do extreme violence at the drop of a hat.

[Vattel]

5. There is some truth to what you are saying, but I wouldn't go as far as you

in defining their function as one of not inconveniencing the upper classes.

One thing I learned growing up in Southern California is that police behavior varies greatly from city to city and even precinct to precinct. There were some areas where young people knew to watch out because the police tended to be violent assholes and other areas where the police were very professional. My Dad's colleague used to be stopped regularly by the police for riding his bike to work through a white neighborhood in a suit and tie in Torrance. Needless to say, he was black. But many cops are not racist and don't harass people who obey the law.

[SCVDem]

4. The writing on the wall says

The conditions are again nearing a tipping point and we will slide right into 1967 and 68.

Add a week of over 100 degree temps and wait for someone to do something.

Coast to coast riots scared the crap out of my 13 year old ass. That was closer to home than Vietnam.

Let's defuse the reasons NOW! Think of the children!

[Vattel]

6. I agree. We need to protest nonviolently like the protesters in Baton Rouge.

And we need to avoid suggesting that most cops are villains.

[PatSeg]

7. So many don't remember or

are too young. Perhaps the riots of the 60s and 70s feel like obscure history to some. It is amazing that demonstrations have been so peaceful and nonviolent up until now. The patience of the people surely will be exhausted eventually if we don't see some meaningful change in law enforcement nationwide.

We can't keep paying lip service to the victims and then sweep them under the rug and hope for the best.