More Orwellian everyday: APCs on LA streets

[joyfulgirl]

MARINE APCs APPEAR AT ANTI-WAR PROTEST IN WESTWOOD

LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM, What were first reported to be tanks and now identified as Marine APCs showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood.

The APCs circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered.

full story and video here:
http://www.la.indymedia.org/

 

[Se7en]

it's frightening really.

 

[verte76]

Oh, my goodness. I already have three protest meetings to go to, and we are going to re-start our vigils at a local fountain on Saturday afternoons. I just hope the City of Birmingham doesn't feel the need to send cops to watch us. I also hope no one wastes their time counter-demonstrating, although quite frankly it wouldn't surprise me if someone did. I'm sorry, I think counter-demonstrating is silly and counterproductive. I don't like it that they sent the tanks out anywhere, just because there was a peaceful protest. If this is a sign of things to come there's going to be trouble.

 

[deep]

Oh, my goodness. I already have three protest meetings to go to, and we are going to re-start our vigils at a local fountain on Saturday afternoons.

be sure and get your shots and have your personal business in order.

sounds like you could be having an extended stay at GITMO.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Just wait until Darth Bushius brings out the Stormtroopers of the Empire.

 

[Se7en]

i'm moving to endor.

 

[U2democrat]

Gen. Tommy Franks is going to be speaking here on Saturday night and I was invited to protest, but I think I'll be busy. Even though I disagree with his position on the Iraq war I have a problem with protesting a great leader such as himself.

Edit: Make that military leader who has actually sacrificed for this country.

 

[nbcrusader]

Interesting. The LA Times has no report of this story.

Were the vehicles really involved with policing the protest? Were they there for some other purpose?

I'd be interested to see more facts on the situation.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

well those certainly aren't "tanks" but it is odd that they would be deployed for such a small, non-violent event. is there a military depot or something near by that perhaps they were just being transported from place to place and just ironicly ended up going past an anto-war protest? sounds like a stretch, i know... but thinking the military would send two armored vehicles out to quell a small protest that could easily be handled by the LAPD is also a bit of a stretch...

i'd like to see more facts on this.

 

[verte76]

Oh, OK, if this was not even reported in the local newspapers I'll reserve judgment in the matter. I really don't expect to see cops or anyone else unusual at the vigil Saturday if I have the chance to go. Maybe some law enforcement was there to protect the protesters and the story got blown up into the tanks thing. Sometimes law enforcement officers are at demonstrations mainly to protect the demonstrators as counter-demonstrators can be nasty.

 

[BAW]

A little digging around the internet tells me that there is a Army reserve depot a few blocks away and these vehicles were actually there for a Veteran's Day parade on Saturday.

I should also add that I saw nothing about this in the LA newspapers or on TV and if this WAS an attempt to harrass the demonstrators, the local media would have been all over it.

 

[U2democrat]

yeah i would have seen it all over CNN if this were directed at the protesters......i can see why someone would think that though.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Yes, I did some poking around too and read that while no one could figure out what they were doing there, that the guys in the APCs seemed "amused and not unfriendly." Still, even if they were nearby for a parade they shouldn't have been fucking with the protestors and pretending to intimidate.

You guys seem to trust the local and corporate-owned media a lot more than I do. I would never assume that something didn't happen just because it wasn't on CNN or in the LA Times.

 

[nbcrusader]

I don't doubt the existence of the APCs - it is evidenced by a photo (though, theoretically, that can be faked).

The "intimidation" of protestors is an editorial comment.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I don't doubt the existence of the APCs - it is evidenced by a photo (though, theoretically, that can be faked).

The "intimidation" of protestors is an editorial comment.

I don't think the video could be faked.

It now seems like a prank.

 

[deep]

I don't think the video could be faked.

It now seems like a prank.

yeah



the only law enforcement i saw in the video was police on bikes with bike
helmets.

maybe you were had

how was it for you?

 

[joyfulgirl]

I don't think I was completely had, just a teeny bit had. No conclusions were drawn, the article was inconclusive, it didn't make any sense, I wanted to know what it was about and we found out. I think maybe Amy Goodman was more had than me, since she first reported it, lol.

 

[deep]

ahh


pacifica

my ol' friend

 

[verte76]

Oh, OK, it seems like some security for the upcoming Veteran's Day Parade was out. Like I said I'm not worried about any of my protest activities being harrassed by the local cops or whoever. I think perhaps people like myself who plan to protest are a bit sensitive about this stuff right now.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Speaking of intimidation of protestors, I once went to a demonstration outside an embassy in London where someone had thoughtfully decided to place snipers on the roof of the surrounding buildings. Interesting day...

 

[A_Wanderer]

So indymedia lied again, I guess that their reputation proves itself once again?

 

[nbcrusader]

Speaking of intimidation of protestors, I once went to a demonstration outside an embassy in London where someone had thoughtfully decided to place snipers on the roof of the surrounding buildings. Interesting day...

That sounds more like standard security now a days.

 

[Dreadsox]

That sounds more like standard security now a days.

Nah....

 

[joyfulgirl]

So indymedia lied again, I guess that their reputation proves itself once again?

They didn't lie at all. They merely reported exactly what happened, that APCs showed up at a protest and it was unclear why they were there, period.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

no it's not lying... i believe the proper word is "misleading."

 

[joyfulgirl]

Given that 1500 peaceful protestors were arrested outside of the RNC, it's not too misleading to wonder why the hell APCs are showing up at another peaceful protest.

 

[nbcrusader]

Interesting perspective. We have agenda driven media creating a story based on pictures and a video.

If you read the story, the "peaceful" protestors stop, surround two vehicles and get the "commanders" to "surrender".

I guess some will take this twisted view of the world as reality.

 

[kobayashi]

We have agenda driven media creating a story based on pictures and a video.

youre right. media is increasingly 'agenda-driven'. and this is an example of it. indymedia substantively only reported the story but as users of this forum easily found out there were other important facts that were not mentioned (as far as i know).

it reminds me of the time mainstream cable news in the western world passed these images off as the consensus arab reaction to 9/11.

point being that the media is polarizing-in seperate directions.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Given that 1500 peaceful protestors were arrested outside of the RNC, it's not too misleading to wonder why the hell APCs are showing up at another peaceful protest.

i witnessed a lot of these "peaceful protestors" getting arrested... the ones who were arrested were doing so because they broke the law. yes, you have the right to protest in this country. but you don't have the right to break the law while doing so. you don't have the right to block traffic illegaly, you don't have the right to march down a street without a permit, you don't have the right to disobey police officers, you don't have the right to set fire to a float right in front of the garden, you don't have the right to lay down naked in the middle of the street.

the people who were arrested knew they were breaking the law and probably counted on getting arrested. let's not make it out to be anything more than that, shall we?

 

[deep]

LOS ANGELES
Military's Presence at Antiwar Rally Is Called a Coincidence

By Wendy Thermos
Times Staff Writer

November 12, 2004

Photos and a video posted on the Internet this week depicting tanks at an antiwar demonstration in front of the Federal Building in Westwood provoked hundreds of outraged postings.

But police and witnesses said the armored vehicles were on their way to a Veterans Day event at the nearby Veterans Affairs grounds on Wilshire Boulevard, stopping only for a red light near the Federal Building.

"It's a whole lot of nothing," said Officer Kathy Simpson, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. "The 'tanks' were there for Veterans Day. They ride in the parade and wave."

The antiwar protest, sponsored by the group Act Now to Stop War & End Racism, was held Tuesday evening near the VA grounds, where a parade and exhibit were staged Wednesday.

Blurred photos posted on the Internet showed military personnel in battle gear standing at their hatches, behind gun turrets mounted on two tank-like vehicles rolling through traffic. Closer inspection showed the vehicles were not tanks but light-armored vehicles, which are smaller than tanks and ride on rubber tires instead of treads.

Several websites denounced the vehicles' presence and accused the military of trying to intimidate peaceful protesters. "There was absolutely no excuse to deploy tanks against a law-abiding crowd," said one site.

A statement posted Wednesday by Answer said, "It is an outrage to see tanks rolling through the streets of Los Angeles."

By Thursday, however, a representative fielding phone calls for the nonprofit group was considerably calmer. "I can't speak for everybody, but I think people are overreacting a little bit," said Darrin Downey, who saw the vehicles driving by. "It didn't seem hostile. I believe they were just going around the corner."

The demonstration was already over, he added.

It's not clear which branch of the military the vehicles belonged to. A Camp Pendleton spokesman said he believed his base sent one or two armored vehicles to the exhibit and parade, which celebrated Veterans Day and the Marine Corps' 229th birthday Wednesday. "I can guarantee you we didn't send them over there to scare a bunch of protesters," Sgt. Mark Ledesma said.