Protesters Dressed As Blackwater Guards Arrested In Front Of Congress

CNN   |  Paul Courson   |   October 22, 2007 12:39 PM


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Dozens of protesters were arrested Monday for blocking the doors and streets outside congressional buildings near the U.S. Capitol, according to Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol police.

Schneider said nearly 60 were arrested on various charges, including unlawful assembly.

Video showed police handcuffing a female protester dressed in a black pullover emblazoned with "Blackwater" and the U.S. security contractor's paw print symbol.

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- getoffmedz See Profile I'm a Fan of getoffmedz permalink

Blackwater is nothing but a Bush/Cheney backed global crime wave.

A full-scale investigation needs to be launched into who started some of the Southern California wild fires.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:16 AM on 10/23/2007
- FlowerGirl See Profile I'm a Fan of FlowerGirl permalink

Tax evasion? Well, it was good ennough for Al Capone.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:20 PM on 10/22/2007
- unclebucky See Profile I'm a Fan of unclebucky permalink

This got my attention: "unlawful assembly"

Let's see, now. A definition of "freedom of assembly" reads: "Freedom of assembly is the freedom to associate with, or organize any groups, gatherings, clubs, or organizations that one wishes. It is held to be a key right in liberal democracies, whereby citizens may form or join any political party, special interest group, or union without government restrictions.

"In legal systems without freedom of assembly, certain political parties or groups can be banned with harsh penalties for any members. Public protests against the government are usually banned as well."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_assembly

Gee, in legal systems without freedom of assembly, public protests are banned. What do WE have in the constitution?

Freedom of assembly is a right guaranteed to Americans by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_amendment

Ufff. What have we here?

The text of the First Amendment is:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Uh oh. Someone's gonna get in trouble now!

Ugh.

--UB.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:48 PM on 10/22/2007
- unclebucky See Profile I'm a Fan of unclebucky permalink

PD.

And let's be sure that the charge of blocking doors were the case. If they want to protest, they cannot block doors or even accidentally threaten bystanders.

But I bet this is trumped up as much as Trump's coiffure is a combover.

Ugh.

--UB.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:50 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

Unlawful assembly = a gathering of persons for the purpose of committing either a crime involving force or a noncriminal act in a manner likely to terrify the public.

Freedom of assembly is a 1A right. Gathering in a group to block the streets or scare passersby is unlawful assembly and is a crime.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:10 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

Comedy gold. What a bunch of nuts. Love the costumes.

Not so funny: the protests in the DC area against the IMF meeting last week. Store windows were broken, and a woman was hit in the head with a brick. Way to go, "peaceful" lefties!

http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2007/10/21/woman-hit-with-brick-in-imf-protest/

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:15 PM on 10/22/2007
- unclebucky See Profile I'm a Fan of unclebucky permalink

All right. Fair enough.

Where has the respect for MLK gone? Why do people break windows? Two possibilities you haven't considered.

1) Outsiders infiltrated and busted things up and then quickly ran away. Prove that this could not have happened. Otherwise, please zip it.

2) Unfortunately the second possibility is that members of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP)* may have participated, and they are often not PEACEABLE demonstrators in the tradition of MLK. Just as in Seattle the wrong people are being branded as "liberals." The RCP is affiliated with none other than violent troublemakers as the Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) of Perú, who caused decades of violence and death in that country.

* It is said that the World Can't Wait (WCW) allows members of the RCP in their numbers. Badness.
http://revcom.us/rcp-e.htm

So, YES, my dear Julie, there are non-violent protests which then turn violent and sometimes even dangerous. NO true LIBERAL or PROGRESSIVE would EVER sanction that kind of display. Violence begets violence which both beget misunderstanding and further violence.

Please don't be so simplistic and consider alternative explanations.

Ugh.

--UB.
Clearly a Progressive getting sick to his stomach of being called a violent liberal.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:02 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

FWIW, I didn't call them liberals or progressives; I called them lefties.

I don't really know what a progressive is, but a true liberal, like you apparently, wouldn't sanction such violence.

Thanks for your honest and decent comments.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:40 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

Watch the video. I don't even know what these idiots are protesting about, but whatever these useless thugs are against, I'm for.

It's possible to get your point across without throwing bricks. It really is. These geniuses don't know that, and they've made a bunch of enemies for their "cause", whatever the hell it is.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:36 PM on 10/22/2007
- unclebucky See Profile I'm a Fan of unclebucky permalink

Who threw the bricks. Were they a part of the main group, or were they infiltrators. Gotta find that out. I bet they were infiltrators, btw.

But NO, no PROGRESSIVE throws bricks, breaks windows, scares people and makes a mess.

Must be the RCP.

Ugh.

--UB.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:18 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

Funny how HuffPo fails to report on this lefty protest that turned violent. Here's an article with a picture. Why is Fox the only one reporting on this?

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=4690404&version=8&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:24 PM on 10/22/2007
- kittycago See Profile I'm a Fan of kittycago permalink

oh please let the IRS put this freek away it would be the best bust since Al Capone another thug that liked armed brutes and money.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:27 PM on 10/22/2007
- MissingAmerica See Profile I'm a Fan of MissingAmerica permalink

Maybe we can go after Blackwater, after all. The government seems to pursue those crimes involving government money far more than those crimes involving murder, torture and the like. It's akin to freeing OJ for murder, and possibly putting him away for life for armed robbery. In other words, it's money that counts; not people. When it comes to Blackwater, whatever it takes to shut them down, I'm all for it.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:08 PM on 10/22/2007
- loki See Profile I'm a Fan of loki permalink

I fear for Waxman or any other public figure who comes out against Blackwater. Remember , Blackwater is a Christian army built by ultra Capitalist, the fighters of the religious Rights Crusade to take over America. Stolen military Jets, purchasing Bomber planes from Brazil, and building custom urban armored vehicles all backed by tens of thousands of paid radical murderers. Just think , all of this based right here in the United States of Capitalism.
Be scared, be very scared of this group and those who back it. Im sure if they can, they will do whatever they feel it takes to keep them and their support strong and well.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 10/22/2007
- Rand See Profile I'm a Fan of Rand permalink

According to the article, they blocked doorways and streets. That IS illegal, however well-intentioned their purpose

One thing I've learned over many years of organizing street demonstrations: If you break the law, the cops WILL bust you (They may do it anyway, but that's another story!)... Even if they're sympathetic to your cause. It's simply their job

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:54 PM on 10/22/2007
- sugarmoes See Profile I'm a Fan of sugarmoes permalink

"getting busted" is the whole point.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:31 PM on 10/22/2007
- Where is Jesus? See Profile I'm a Fan of Where is Jesus? permalink

Well, duh! Usually the idea of protesting like this IS to get arrested to make a bold statement. Most people don't have the guts to do what these people are willing to do for the rest of us. They are not sitting on their asses, politely pointing out that they were breaking the law. That's not the point, Rand. The point is put the pressure on congress and this stinking administration to do the right think. To make it so visible in the public eye so that others will be emboldened and inspired by the actions of a few brave souls. Nobody cares that they broke the law. Come on!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:19 PM on 10/22/2007
- Rand See Profile I'm a Fan of Rand permalink

You MIGHT want to point this out to the posters who seem shocked that people were arrested for violating the law

BTW, there have been MANY legal demonstration (Although this administration is making that harder) which have managed to make a point WITHOUT breaking the law

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:49 PM on 10/22/2007
- hannitizer See Profile I'm a Fan of hannitizer permalink

What exactly is "unlawful assembly" I thought the constitution prohibits the government from denying the right of peaceful protest. Another nail in the coffin of the constitution. Heck of a job Chimpy!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:44 PM on 10/22/2007
- JulieSA See Profile I'm a Fan of JulieSA permalink

You can't block the street. That's against the law, unless you've obtained a parade permit. It's a public safety issue, but you probably don't care about that.

You can protest on public property (sidewalks) all you want, but you can't impede or restrain the public from going about their business. In the worst case, that would be unlawful restraint, which is akin to kidnapping under the law.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:22 PM on 10/22/2007
- unclebucky See Profile I'm a Fan of unclebucky permalink

Correct.

And that is why one has to very carefully design protests and demonstrations.

Someone said the goal is to get busted. That is just stupid. I would go back to the March on Selma demonstration and see if the leaders wanted to "get busted." I think not.

You make these points from a good vantage point, the rule of law.

Haha, but now, are the laws legal that would force protesters to "free speech zones" (located around the corner and under the tree over in east cupcake invisible street)?

Cheers,

--UB.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:10 PM on 10/22/2007
- ConcernedAboutRFuture See Profile I'm a Fan of ConcernedAboutRFuture permalink

"UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY"..... be afraid.... be very afraid.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:37 PM on 10/22/2007
- wadenelson1 See Profile I'm a Fan of wadenelson1 permalink

Cool!

Has Blackwater got a website where I can get a hoody?

If not, they should!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:11 PM on 10/22/2007
- zendem1 See Profile I'm a Fan of zendem1 permalink

While you're getting your "hoody" here's a few other items you can buy for yourself at the Blackwater gift shop:

Erik Prince anatomically correct action figure.Holds a cross in one hand and an M-16 in the other. Has a little teeny weeny for which the weapon compensates. Pull the string in back and he says"Kill For Jesus","Kill For Jesus". Runs on 4 "D" batteries paid for by Congress.

8" Vibrating butt plug. Inscribed with the official Blackwater logo. Machine washable. A must -have for every mercenary's fox hole. (Real mercs don't need the lube. Reach around not included

"Kickback Greenbacks:" Looks like real money, but stamped with the official Blackwater logo. Start a slush fund, bribe a Congressman,or keep those Defense Contractors in your corner. Nothing talks like Dead Presidents

"Quagmire:The Iraq War Video Game: You are locked and loaded as you and the Blackwater boys are deployed to Iraq. Geneva Convention? Rules of Engagement? That stuff is for pussys as the hellfire bandits snoop and poop all the way to Syria.Ain't no oversight in this neck of the woods, Sparky. Need to grease a sheik? No probelma. Bust up an insurgent circle jerk outside Baghdad? Break open those doors and give those ragheads a lead spray. Build your body count to make it to the top level. Just watch out for a Congressional Investigation.

Blackwater Ringtones: "Amazing Grace", "Onward Christian Soldiers", "Battle Hymn of The Republic". Order now and get a free helmet phone.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:50 PM on 10/22/2007
- loki See Profile I'm a Fan of loki permalink

You sound like your ready to shoot up your highschool. Blackwater wanna be material?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:34 PM on 10/22/2007
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