This is part two of a series that began with John Corzine, Job Creator.
Thank goodness Lt. John Pike had the good judgment and presence of mind to recognize a threat when he saw one and to douse those kids with pepper spray. I mean, they were protesting! Right in front of him! If he hadn’t sprayed them, who knows what would have happened? They might have started chanting political slogans or something!
When it comes to chemical weapons, Lt. John Pike is a humanitarian. Remember the time in 2007, when he tackled a suspect rather than spraying him because he “didn’t want to hurt his fellow officers?” If good judgment were grounds for promotion, today I’d be saluting Captain John Pike, I have no doubt.
Besides, the University had every reason to be confident in Lt. John Pike as a protector of civil rights. When it settled an anti-gay bias claim brought by another officer who cited Pike for using an anti-gay epithet, it only had to pay $240,000. If anyone could be trusted with deciding when to use force against students, it’s Lt. John Pike!
Lieutenant John Pike, protector of public safety, I salute you!
1. There’s an interesting article in the Atlantic detailing the changing police response to protests. By my reading, the protests against the World Trade Organization, which were unusually violent, have effected policy changes inappropriate for handling OWS.
2. Rania Khalek on AlterNet points out how police are getting more military equipment. The War on Drugs and the War on Terror have caused some weakening of Posse Comitatus.
3. An article from the front page of RedState (the Right’s Daily Kos), is happy to accuse Marxists of “being behind” OWS. In a similar vein, Rush Limbaugh highlights a plan from some OWS protesters to bomb Wall Street. The level of his accusations might encourage listeners who happen to be police officers to be more heavy-handed than merited.
This article points out that the new non-lethal police “tools”, pepper spray and tasers, are correlated with increased use of excessive force.
The alleged plan was not to bomb Wall Street; it was to bomb Macy’s.