More Video Stills From Portland Anti-Bush Protest

thaught this was interesting:

beaverton public school's web filter blocks you from veiwing some of these pics

Good stills. I just wanted to add that I think the caption "After an unprovoked pepper spray and baton assault, some demonstrators use their bodies in an attempt to block a line of police cruisers bringing in reinforcements." only captures half the story.

Why would the police choose to bring in a dozen reinforcements through one of the busiest protest corners? Wouldn't it have been easier and less risky to use another entrance? And would 10 or so additional cops meaningfully help the 200 or so that were already there? Just an opinion, but I think it was a deliberate provocation tactic so they'd have an excuse for their wrong-headed actions. Be sure to ask the Chief of Police and Mayor Katz why they chose to send in a trivial reinforcement through the most difficult path they could choose.

Couldn't have put it better myself. I was there for the provocation, and I felt the same thing. There was no reason for them to basically plough through hundreds of people other than to get the proper video footage of people attacking police cars. That is the major media image that is translated for them. A large BOOM! happened soon after that point, and a giant volley of people paniced and stampeded back from the front line. SOme kind of gas... the lung-pain seared through the block's radius.

Still waiting for the revolution where everyone just folds their arms,

REXELLA

We have to get over worrying about the the cops provoking anything. The Fact That They Exsist at All is Violent Provoking. The police drew fisrt blood a long-ass time ago. Sealed off streets, armed goons, choppers, cameras, hell how much more do you need? We have to see ourselves as part of a slave revolt and not wait for the cops to provoke us before we fight back. Because by waiting for the cops to provoke us we put them at the advantage. We keep waiting till they are strong before we strike, till they are kicking our asses then we think to rally up our fighting spirit. Why wait till you have a mouthfull of pepper-spray to,?, well, um, you get the picture!

theoretically, it's like this: the cops are here to protect the people, right? to make sure that peoples rights are upheld and whatnot. and laws are supposedly just there to make you think before you break them (think about it..there are millions of extrenuating circumstances that can justify just about any "non-law abiding" action), they are there to make sure that when you do "break the law" you do it safely an/or think about what you are doing...theoretically cops are not the hired goons and thugs they are. In reality however, they are only as strong as we let them be.
in my opinion, a revolution is the natural evolution of society. There comes a time when change is needed... when the people are repressed, as opposed to being represented, as is now, i a perfect time...a republic falls every few hundred years...if we even had a republic all we'd have to do is wait, but we need action.