Tag Archives: police

Protest and riots

Posted on August 19, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Violence polarizes.  It makes people pay attention.  It makes people take sides.  And this goes for violence from authorities like the police as well as protesters. It doesn’t take many people, committed or crazy, in masks or police uniforms and … Continue reading →

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Ferguson and protesting police

Posted on August 14, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Unfortunately, there’s not much new about protests in reaction to overly eager policing, and there are many tragic, maybe criminal, endings that don’t generate protests as well.  In Ferguson, a small suburb of St. Louis, the police have clearly been … Continue reading →

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Zimmerman, Martin, and the Courts

Posted on July 14, 2013 by David S. Meyer

Don’t count on the courts to produce justice, but sometimes it’s disappointment with the legal system that does make change. We expect too much from the courts and we’re constantly disappointed.  The trial in Florida could have ended with George … Continue reading →

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Recovery for Occupy Wall Street’s library

Posted on April 10, 2013 by David S. Meyer

In the weeks that Occupy Wall Street created a protest village in lower Manhattan, activists put together a lending library of more than 5,000 volumes.  When the police cleared the demonstrators out of Zuccotti Park, contractors hauled all of the … Continue reading →

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The Klan is back (it never went away), in Memphis

Posted on April 1, 2013 by David S. Meyer

Members of the Ku Klux Klan staged a protest rally in Memphis on Saturday. They were protesting the City’s decision to rename three bridges.  The New York Times reports: The old names were Confederate Park; Jefferson Davis Park, named for … Continue reading →

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Occupy outcomes: community, rhetoric, and law

Posted on December 7, 2012 by David S. Meyer

The influence of successful social movements generally plays out over a longer time than the movements themselves. What happens afterwards is complicated and contingent, and activists aren’t always quick to claim credit for what they’ve done. Nationally, Occupy effected a … Continue reading →

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Policing police at Davis

Posted on September 27, 2012 by David S. Meyer

Nearly a year after a campus police office at the University of California pepper sprayed students nonviolently protesting against tuition hikes–under the banner of Occupy–the University has reached a settlement with the students.  The LA Times reports that the police … Continue reading →

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Small protests in Charlotte, so far

Posted on September 4, 2012 by David S. Meyer

The protest story from the Democratic convention so far is pretty similar to the stories from the Republican convention–minus the storms.  There are fewer demonstrators than organizers promised or journalists expected, lots of police, and scattered relatively small events mostly … Continue reading →

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Protest, police, and pepper spray at UC-Davis

Posted on April 13, 2012 by David S. Meyer

Most students, including even protesters, don’t encounter pepper spray during their studies at the University of California. Last November, however, a campus police officer sprayed students protesting tuition hikes at the UC-Davis campus.  It’s worth looking at. And it’s worth … Continue reading →

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Occupy diversifies; takes a building

Posted on April 2, 2012 by David S. Meyer

Occupy San Francisco has seized a building on 888 Turk Street.  Located in the Tenderloin District, the building, owned by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The takeover followed an April Fool’s Day march, and police apparently stood by as the … Continue reading →

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