C'Ville Weekly:
Charlottesville police officers, Daily Progress reporters and ACLU observers were gassed, as well as bystanders near those blocking High Street, leading some to question the show of force at a demonstration that was breaking up.
John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization, had advised local police before the event to avoid heavy-handed tactics and militarized equipment, and says people react differently when the riot shields come out. “What we had was an army,” he says. “What they were saying to the crowd was, this is a riot.”
Whitehead says he’s gotten calls from all over the country. “What I saw yesterday was not a community policing event. It was an armed police state. It’s not a good image to portray around the nation.”
“The city abdicated its duty to state police,” says civil rights attorney Jeff Fogel, who was present at Justice Park. “You can’t treat cops like human beings when they’re dressed like Ninja turtles.”
There were lots of different stripes of people in and around the park. But as usual, only one faction showed up dressed like they were looking to start some shit.
Gotta be a better way.
Charlottesville police officers, Daily Progress reporters and ACLU observers were gassed, as well as bystanders near those blocking High Street, leading some to question the show of force at a demonstration that was breaking up.
John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization, had advised local police before the event to avoid heavy-handed tactics and militarized equipment, and says people react differently when the riot shields come out. “What we had was an army,” he says. “What they were saying to the crowd was, this is a riot.”
Whitehead says he’s gotten calls from all over the country. “What I saw yesterday was not a community policing event. It was an armed police state. It’s not a good image to portray around the nation.”
“The city abdicated its duty to state police,” says civil rights attorney Jeff Fogel, who was present at Justice Park. “You can’t treat cops like human beings when they’re dressed like Ninja turtles.”
There were lots of different stripes of people in and around the park. But as usual, only one faction showed up dressed like they were looking to start some shit.
Gotta be a better way.
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