There are as many as 8 and as few as 2 or 3 folks at Occupy DC McPherson I have solid regard for. Young Brian is one fo the two or 3. He is young, and I don't find his judgement impecible (tho far better than mine at his age) but I find his core character, his core Goodness rare, 1 in 100,000.
I saw him toninght as I was getting my supper from the food wagon. Brian was returning from jail after 3 days.
I had not seen Brian arrested, it happened mid morning Saturday I believe between my early am and noon visits. But another of the 3, Jerry Nelson, a HuffPo blogger/photog told me that Brian, who had been accepted as a crisis negotiator by the Occupy crowd, and the police, when he found he was totally and blatantly lied to by the police, demanded to be arrested, jumping a police barrier and announcing his intent to be arrested. Entirely non-violent.
Even when Jerry told me this, among all the confusion, it did not take prominence in my thinking. Now that I've heard from Brian, I'm horrified and deeply sadened. My best guess is that Officer Beck, in total bad faith, said and promised whatever he saw would gain the immediate compliance of the demonstrators, with zero intention of carrying through. I deeply and passionately believe in the dictum - innocent until proven guilty, but not as something to hide behind. A man is responsible for his moment by moment behavior, decisions, views, actions, so I don't have the luxury of suspending all judgment until I have the entirely unlikely opportunity to hear Officer Beck's side.
I now recall hearing, and catching obliquely on tape, the clear expectation Officer Beck, Park Police, set in the early morning, that - only those tents with bedding would be removed, or with food, or dangerous uncleanliness. I'm 99% sure this was not made up, and is what Park Police said would happen. 80-90% of the tents are gone. It is impossible that that many failed the police criterion.
I'm open to hearing my assessment is incorrect. I HOPE I find it to be incorrect, because that would be such a massive moral, professional, constitutional lapse on the part of our Federal Government as to constitute massive destruction of what has been my view of and hope for that institution - the Park Police.
With no expectation of impact, I'll none the less advise Brian to take all promising steps in the media and legal channels to bring this to a head. If there are overriding circumstances that could not be foreseen - they should be brought to light. If it was simply the Federal Government urinating on citizens because the citizens were unarmed - that too should be brought to light.
I saw him toninght as I was getting my supper from the food wagon. Brian was returning from jail after 3 days.
I had not seen Brian arrested, it happened mid morning Saturday I believe between my early am and noon visits. But another of the 3, Jerry Nelson, a HuffPo blogger/photog told me that Brian, who had been accepted as a crisis negotiator by the Occupy crowd, and the police, when he found he was totally and blatantly lied to by the police, demanded to be arrested, jumping a police barrier and announcing his intent to be arrested. Entirely non-violent.
Even when Jerry told me this, among all the confusion, it did not take prominence in my thinking. Now that I've heard from Brian, I'm horrified and deeply sadened. My best guess is that Officer Beck, in total bad faith, said and promised whatever he saw would gain the immediate compliance of the demonstrators, with zero intention of carrying through. I deeply and passionately believe in the dictum - innocent until proven guilty, but not as something to hide behind. A man is responsible for his moment by moment behavior, decisions, views, actions, so I don't have the luxury of suspending all judgment until I have the entirely unlikely opportunity to hear Officer Beck's side.
I now recall hearing, and catching obliquely on tape, the clear expectation Officer Beck, Park Police, set in the early morning, that - only those tents with bedding would be removed, or with food, or dangerous uncleanliness. I'm 99% sure this was not made up, and is what Park Police said would happen. 80-90% of the tents are gone. It is impossible that that many failed the police criterion.
I'm open to hearing my assessment is incorrect. I HOPE I find it to be incorrect, because that would be such a massive moral, professional, constitutional lapse on the part of our Federal Government as to constitute massive destruction of what has been my view of and hope for that institution - the Park Police.
With no expectation of impact, I'll none the less advise Brian to take all promising steps in the media and legal channels to bring this to a head. If there are overriding circumstances that could not be foreseen - they should be brought to light. If it was simply the Federal Government urinating on citizens because the citizens were unarmed - that too should be brought to light.
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