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Video and photos: Police violence at breakaway march

by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
Two-part realvideo of police violence during Feb. 16, 2003 anti-war breakaway march.
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
See below for part 2, photos, and a transcript of the videos.
§Police grab and club someone fleeing from the trap
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
horse-smack-drag.jpg
Police grab and club someone fleeing from the trap.
§He barely got away.
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
getaway-1.jpg
He barely got away.
§Second strike at butterfly woman
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
butterfly-down-second-strike-marked.jpg
The violet arrow shows the second club coming down as the woman with butterfly wings is already falling. Her arm is pointed to by the green arrow.
§Butterfly woman falls
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
butterfly-down-2.jpg
Butterfly woman continues falling
§Why are their batons like swords?
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
saber-batons.jpg
The horse patrol had batons which were cut like a sword, with a sharp blade and sharp tip as well.
§Their batons were scary enough without being shaped like swords.
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
horsey-scary.jpg
Their batons were scary enough without being shaped like swords.
§Cruelty to animals as well as cruelty to protesters
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
horsey-not-happy.jpg
Cruelty to animals as well as cruelty to protesters.
§#424 Horse cop even clubbed someone\'s sign!
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
horse-cop-clubs-sign.jpg
#424 \"Horse cop\" even clubbed someone\'s sign!

Here\'s a partial transcript of the two videos:

00:00 Army of motorcycles moves through to engage the crowd. Geary and Mason

00:33 Peace sign from someone in the San Franciscso Shopping Center

00:45 Crowd and drumming standoff

1:20 Smoke bomb and orange cone fly behind police lines

1:40 Police run to form new line down Market.

1:49 \"Stop the Objectification of Women\" chalk on sidewalk appears guarded by police line. Ironic considering what happened at
time 3:35 (below), with police guarding a porno theater

2:05 A rock thrown under a police car struck a woman demonstrator, she is injured and hurt.

2:27 Hats and bats emerge from the patrol car.

2:39 Anarchy symbol on their car; Just down the street, \"Support the Troops who break rank\" is stenciled on a bus ad

3:18 Passengers honk support

3:35 Defending the sex cinema

3:43 Another smoke bomb

3:59 \"Stand up for your rights\" chanted

4:14 The police begin to box the demonstration in; people aren\'t allowed to leave. A lot wasn\'t included here but people were obviously scared of what was going to happen as the walls moved in

4:32 Horses aren\'t allowed on sidewalks: learn something everyday

4:45 Horse batons look like swords, they\'re hardened and sharpened

4:54 A demonstrator gets out! Then feigns springting back in. Police don\'t seem to notice him but definitely aren\'t letting people through.

5:15 Police are clubbing people on the sidewalk. Horses rush onto the sidewalk and also use batons. Despite being \"not allowed\". I was far away when it started.

6:00 Police push man with blue jacket, then #460 walks his horse and pushes him with her

6:24 several more break through, one gets caught by a cop, a melee ensues but he gets away.

6:33 Horse patrol #424 begins his infamous rampage, striking someone at the curb, appears to have lost control of his horse and himself, charging with baton swinging, sometimes wildly, striking a sign just over someone\'s head, etc.

8:00 Horses appear to be leaving the demonstration as a crowd demands that they leave.

8:18 sparks from 424\'s horse\'s hooves as it slips on the concrete.

8:54 Police barricades have appeared in the street

9:03 Horses are out of the demo. They were really scary, in no small part because they appeared so hard to control and move so unpredictably, and so quickly, and are so large.

9:30 Police attack demonstrators, clubbing a woman wearing butterfly wings, knocking her over

[End Part 1]

[Begin Part 2]


00:00 Why is the police bicycle stuck under a police car? \"So nobody would take it\"

00:26 Police car rushes through crowd, strikes a demonstrator clad in black who flies up on his hood and then rolls off

00:36 slow motion of the aforementioned

1:00 the next car is not allowed through, someone climbs on the hood, police attack clearing the street quickly

1:43 SFPD #2170 attacked blond drummer

2:08 Suddenly cops are rushing through the crowd atacking and arresting, causing fear and a stamped. I do not know why they rushed through but a number of arrests resulted.

2:48 Cop has to put his helmet back on, it fell off

2:58 Head crushed under knee, pile of cops on top

3:33 I get name and number of the blond drummer just before he is violently arrested

4:14 The blond drummer is arrested.

#4217 stomping on foot (literally, up and down hard).

Police are trying to interfere with my right to observe. \"{1612 I have a right to observe\"

05:13 Cop grabs me by neck and shoves me (stated, not on camera)

5:43 Why is there a bullhorn strapped to a motor officer\'s off-road motorcycle?

6:06 Blond drummer boy is limp in middle of street, they keep wrenching his head off the ground and dropping it back down (not all captured on video)

6:40 Police car was smashed up a bit (broken window, circle a on the hood).

6:52 police attack, one (#1518) rushes straigt into crowd, goes out of his way to club a peaceful woman twice, another woman\'s leg is really hurt (my video doesn\'t clearly show everything but I was watching with the naked eye). I couldn\'t find the woman who was charged and clubbed.

7:25 scream therapy/criticism towards the police after all the terror

7:33 Woman in pain who police had just hurt #1929 D. Meredith (?) --- sounded like D. Merit (appropriate, \"demerit\").

8:02 Police attack women who are moving back as police line approaches despite steady movement (I was saying \"slowly\" over and over again). He then rushed me and pushed me slightly. His number, 2186, chanted.

8:40 Police line told \"do not cross the flower\" which was chalked by demonstrator.

8:50 Dead Kennedy\'s from a window with banner.

\"IRAQ\" sticker in center of \"Do Not Enter\" sign.

9:03 It\'s now dark. Motorcycles move in on the crosswalk bloc. Lots of cheering erupts over the sirens and horns.

9:41 Police lines wall in and surround the sit-in in the crosswalk.

9:57 Crosswalk is cleared abruptly. Police clearly violated the \"do not cross the flower\" directive.

10:09 Cop rebukes demonstrator about how the protesters are \"fucking it up for all the people who want peace\" and claims that business as usual is necessary in order to \"facilitate...all the people going someplace to fight the war\"

10:55 Police drive motorcycles wrong way. Still have a helicopter.

11:09 \"I need you to get out of the street\" to make the world safe for cars...which generate demand for an oil war.


Note: The identification numbers on police were frequently missing, or parts missing, and just the fact that some have four numbers made it difficult as you can usually only see three at the most when looking at their helmets.

Note: the time on my (borrowed) camera is probably about 5 minutes slow. Note also this camera had difficulty getting a clear picture especially as it got darker, may be partially a white balance issue, also things happen so fast and the cops are wearing such nondestinct colors, which hide their actions in a group. The frame rate of contemporary video is also inadequate to consistently capture fast movement such as baton blows.


§A bystander at the curb got rushed and clubbed
by Jason Meggs (( jmeggs at b c l u dot org ))
horse-cop-clubs-bystander.jpg
A bystander at the curb got rushed and clubbed before he could even react.
Add Your Comments
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TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
Geebo
Sat, Mar 29, 2003 3:55PM
stuart hanlon
Sun, Feb 23, 2003 1:05AM
jm
Wed, Feb 19, 2003 12:02PM
notim portant
Wed, Feb 19, 2003 1:43AM
jm
Wed, Feb 19, 2003 1:39AM
damn!
Tue, Feb 18, 2003 9:53PM
a
Tue, Feb 18, 2003 7:09PM
Jason Meggs
Mon, Feb 17, 2003 10:28PM
jm
Mon, Feb 17, 2003 10:26PM
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