ACLU: Anti-war protesters' rights violated by police

[NVMojo]

Today: March 22, 2005 at 9:51:47 PST

The Metro Police officers who arrested scores of anti-war protesters outside the Bellagio on Saturday may have violated the demonstrators' civil rights, representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday.

Exactly how many people were arrested in connection with the alleged crime was disputed by the protesters, who contacted the ACLU on Monday.

Police recorded nine people arrested, Officer Jose Montoya, a Metro spokesman, said. Members of the loose-knit, anti-war coalition consisting largely of UNLV students told the ACLU that between 20 and 25 people were arrested, Allen Lichtenstein, an attorney for the Southern Nevada ACLU, said.

Montoya said the protesters were arrested after they began running into the resort and onto the road as part of the demonstration.

The demonstrators told the ACLU that they were told they needed permits to protest on the sidewalk. Montoya said a permit would have been necessary only if they were to be demonstrating in the landscaped median.

"On this one, I wouldn't think they'd need a permit, if all they're doing is protesting and it's peaceful," he said.


more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2005/mar/22/518488658.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. someone needs to spend a few more minutes training their cops.

maybe with an emphasis on LAW?

[NVMojo]

2. I think this has happened with them before ....

[beltanefauve]

3. this is becoming commonplace

Hate to say it, but this is happening all the time now. It happened to me at the RNC in New York. The cops used bait-and-switch tactics, told us it was okay to assemble if we stayed on the sidewalk,or if we marched single-file, that sort of thing, only to snare us in a net once we complied. I (We) did everything the cops told us to do, were never ordered to disperse, never heard the words, "You're under arrest!" and I wasn't even informed of my charges until after my release.(Two phony counts of disorderly conduct; a violation, not a misdemeanor or felony). Our First and Fourteenth Amendments rights were clearly violated.
Why is it considered such an honorable, patriotic act to defend the Constitution and our way of life abroad (not that I seriously believe that's why we're in Iraq, of course) but not to defend it from our own government, when clearly our system is broken? I AM a patriot, dammit, and I'm going to keep on fighting this.

[gratuitous]

4. Another municipality on the hook for beaucoup civil damages

And the corrupt Bush administration, which demands this level of police "protection" before it will grace the citizenry with its presence, just lards on the unfunded mandates and claims to be doing something worthwhile.

I wonder how the good people of Nevada feel, knowing that Chimpy lied to their faces about the nuclear waste repository at Yucca, is taking millions out of the pockets of pensioners, and now are sticking the city of Las Vegas with a huge bill for violating citizens' rights?

Well, Nevada voted for Chimpy this time around, so they must be okey-dokey with his man date.

[beltanefauve]

5. Speaking of police"protection"

There were 38,000 "peacekeepers" in NY for the RNC to protect the corporate elite versus the 18,500 peacekeepers we have in Afghanistan.