police brutality - i'm scared :(

[flames of the flag]

hey comrades,
i recently read an article about how at almost every protest protesters get beat up or at least threatened, not to mention very intimidated by horses and dogs. ANd why? i dont think that the police have ample reason to beat up anyone. the violence is pretty much based on their political views.
This is basically the only reason why i have never demonstrated at anything, i'm scared shitless by riot police. looks like they're doing their job.
Anyway im assuming you guys do some protesting thus know a little about police brutality and since im gonna be doing some protesting with yfrc i wanted to ask you guys some stuff
is it as bad as it looks?
can you still protest and not get beat up?
should i be as worried as i am?,
any help would be appreciated,
thanks,
-flames

[RedRevolutionary87]

well flames, you hve every right to be scared, the trick is that you should use this fear to prepare, raisethefist.com had a great page on making sure your ready for the protest. shield and helmets are always nice.

[Kingnothing]

I don´t know mcuh about police brutality elsewhere althogh i guess cops are the same shit... here in argentina they are ruthlless they ride horses to hit people, they through huge amounts of tear gas which is many times past it´s expiration date so it makes you throw up, they use plastic and real bullets and they use those trucks with the huge water hoses to disperse protesters... nasty shit.. on 20 december 2002 when nation wide protest forced the resignation of former president De La Rua, 27 protesters where killed in less than 24 hours... fuck police brutality.. but as redrevolutionary said, use your fear to prepare yourself.

[deadpool 52]

Havent you ever seen the Korean protestors protesting the WTO battling the police on the Korean news? They practically throw themselves at the swat teams.

[RedRevolutionary87]

well cops in canada dont use real bullets so ya

[Kez]

The cops arent the real enemy, the real enemy is the govt who sends them, the police ar part of the working class comrades, however bad they seem, they are following orders from their masters

comrade kamo

[RedCeltic]

Quote: from RedRevolutionary87 on 7:34 pm on April 8, 2002
well cops in canada dont use real bullets so ya


Ever hear of Ireland's Bloody Sunday? Fake bullets can kill too.

[BOZG]

They weren't rubber bullets used on Bloody Sunday, the paras used live rounds to shoot at the protestors.

[RedCeltic]

I know some used live rounds... but I though I read that someone was shot with a rubber bullet that killed them..

maybe I was thinking of another case... or am mistaken..

:confused:

[RedCeltic]

Oh... it was Ireland... but not Bloody Sunday... my mistake

here's an article about it...

http://www.relativesforjustice.com/plastic/plastic.htm

[flames of the flag]

wow
the raise the fist sight surved to further scare me.
Probably just because i couldn't find the get ready for protest thing. where is it?
It's not tear gas that worries me, kingnothing, puking is fine by me as long as im not being shot. Anyways if you breathe thru a bandana douced with lenon juice the teargas won't bother you, at least that's what heard.
but yeah cops in canada do use rubber bullets so is it really possible that they can kill you?
-flames

[Moskitto]

I was walking into town today to get some camera film and I noticed something very strange.

It seemed that everyone under the age of 18 was being arrested except me, but they were being complete prats like smoking infront of a police officer, biking in and out of pedestrians on the pavements and telling the police officers to fuck off.

[Rob]

yeah, those pigs can be pretty brutal. and in response to comrade Kamo, the police have betrayed their comrades for the most part. not because they enforce any government, but because they enforce capitalism. ok, so i'm not sure how much sense that made, but anyway

[sabre]

my protest scariness list form least to most scared of:

Tear Gas
Mace
Batons
Rubber Bullets

i am not too afraid of teargas and mace because i have a gas mask i bought in germany this summer, i think its an old russian-made one.

the damage of rubber bullets (dont let this scare you from protesting, becuase its your duty):

http://www.infoshop.org/news4/bullets_full.jpg

those are welts from rubber bullets, imagine taking one in the eye

always wear work goggles, swim goggles, prescription goggles, etc.

[sabre]

also where is that protest thing on raisethefist, i really need to read it becuase im tryinbg to prepare for A20

[RedCeltic]

Sabre:

Excelent advice! I've never been hit by any of those things but I've heard they hurt like a son of a *****... it's the worst tool the copper has against you. Fucking tear gass don't mean shit... man they sprayed that at us when I was in the Navy... and made us recite our name... rank and .... social security number as all your tears and snot is running down your face like niagra falls...

Truthfully... I think most people who have been killed by Rubber or plastic bullets... have been hit in the torso... and are 21 and below..... or 45 and above...

[deadpool 52]

Those rubber bullets can kill you if shot in the back of the head.

Also the cops have different type of non-lethal guns (non-lethal does not mean painless, they are okay with the pain) that shot a three inch plastic bullet that broke a woman's arm.

[RedCeltic]

" shot a three inch plastic bullet that broke a woman's arm."

That's just sick! But anyway... I've heard they can kill.. and apperently break bones... and leave welts... but I don't think all of this is reason NOT to go to any may day protests... It's usually the small group of protesters... that make it on CNN that break down fences... etc... that are bombarded with police brutality.

[RedRevolutionary87]

ok here it is comrades, first of all wear layers that way the bullets dont hurt as much, gas masks are handy but also illegal and can get you a nice conspiracy charge, they can be aquired at military surplus store for around $20-40. make sure to wear i protection, a ski mask and or a hood, make sure something is covering your face, and try to wear all black so you can sink into the crown so its harder to identify you, simple shields can be made out of garbage can lids, or if one cuts the bottom off a garbage can and kuts it in half it make a nice big shield that protects your sides, dont wander too far from the group, if your gonna huck a brick at something run out, do it fast and run back. if you see someone getting booked, get a bunch of comrades to rush the cops or jumble up on top of your comrade so the pigs cant arrest him/her. pigs stopped using metal handcuffs at protests so now they use thees plastic things, always cary nail clippers in your back pocket so if they do get you clip them off and run like hell. thats all that i can think of right now, hope this helps

[Derar]

A bullet is a bullet , either rubber plastic or metal ....... it's still a fucking bullet .

[RedCeltic]

This is about as close you will come to seeing what I will look like on may day...

http://sp-usa.org/photos/cincy_banner.jpg

[RedCeltic]

Or like this...

http://sp-usa.org/photos/women_ny_banner.jpg

[MJM]

Quote: from RedCeltic on 1:15 pm on April 10, 2002
Fucking tear gass don't mean shit... man they sprayed that at us when I was in the Navy... and made us recite our name... rank and .... social security number as all your tears and snot is running down your face like niagra falls...




And they say rouge states use chemical weapons on their citizens, WTF is this then?

[RedRevolutionary87]

protesters should start making their own tear gas

[Malvinas Argentinas]

Every weekend i am there in to see the futbomatch. Here in Argentina Ther is constant fight with the police, i always have to run and try not to be hit with a plastic bullet, they really hurt... But here, the people dont feel intimidated by them. They fight against and in many cases, the police is the one who runs. This is thanks to the Barra Bravas(hooligans).

[RedRevolutionary87]

we really need to do that, we need to swallow our fears, and rush them, there is more of us then them, and gunst dont werk at close range

[flames of the flag]

has mayday been violent in the past? are we planning on going redrev?
i think it's safe to stay away from anarchist so that they take the cops' attention away from us comrades. or maybe stay with them cause if cops do attack the anarchist are probably more likely to fight back.
I really don't know what to do once the violence starts. Should I just run or fightback or what?
by the way red, i dont think keeping nail clippers is a good idea cause i read that in some instances protesters have been strip searched.
But i geuss that in general, there's safety in numbers. If i'm gonna be at a protest, i'm gonna be with LOTS of comrades to back me up once the pigs get the batons out.
-flames

[RedRevolutionary87]

hey flames dont worry about it much, because at a protest everyone protesting is your comrade and will try and help you, however i doubt we will be causing much ruckus on mayday, simply because we are just starting out and dont have that many people, im really hoping on going this year, itll be a great way to get yfrc into the public eye.

[pastradamus]

over here the police are stupid!
Last week they scrapped a car that was evidence in a case! it was supposed to be used to charge sum guywith murder

[bleed3r]

Quote: from Derar on 3:01 am on April 10, 2002
A bullet is a bullet , either rubber plastic or metal ....... it's still a fucking bullet .


too true.. and yes they can kill. a blunt spoon can kill if weilded right, what makes you think that a projectile traveling at that velocity cant?... a nonlethal is only such if their users take the firing precautions necessary in making them nonlethal, which more often than not doesnt take place... being shot in the knee with a rubber bullet is quite different from being shot in the head with one... i used to have a poster that said "nonlethals aren't". the truth is that any weapon can be lethal as well as nonlethal depending on its use.

i did see a picture a while back of riot cops using paintball guns, which is slightly more reasonable... much less a chance of being killed, and they can still sting pretty bad if you're not wearing layered clothing.. but i cant imagine paintballs stopping a pissed off guerilla army of protestors ;) . you're most likely stuck with the "nonlethals" for now.

as far as making our own tear gas, what better to do than buy OC pepper spray?? it supposedly works more effectively than tear gas, being that it also causes severe coughing and breathing difficulties as well as weakened reflexes alongisde the tears and runny nose.... if you're really bent on making your own, mixing alchohol with salt (with heating or boiling so the salt absorbs) is supposed to work as a makeshift mace... there are probably more effective recipes in the anarchist cookbook.

however, i'm quite confused about the comment "guns dont work at close range"... no matter how close rangeit is, a gun is still a gun and it can kill just as effectively... i see little difference in being killed from 50 meters away and 5 centimeters away..

(Edited by bleed3r at 4:48 pm on April 12, 2002)

[pastradamus]

too true.. and yes they can kill. a blunt spoon can kill if weilded right,

what a quote!