Occupy Oakland Tries to Capture the Oakland Convention Center - Occupiers Getting Desperate

[jordan179]

Occupy Oakland attepted to occupy the Oakland Convention Center, with grandiose plans of turning it into some sort of political-social headquarters. The Oakland Police Force disabused them of these delusions, arresting some 300 of them. Interestingly, the Occupiers are becoming more violent.

Occupy Oakland organizers had earlier vowed to take

Comments

[jordan179]

Enforcing the law against the Occupiers is hardly a "serious blunder." The Occupiers are in material and publicly harmful violation of any number of laws, and their arrests and imprisonment would be a good thing, since it would tend to restore public order, help the economies of the cities they afflict, and make people less willing to participate in these riots, since they now might by doing so be facing months or years in prison, rather than slaps on the wrist.

There is nothing about membership in a mob which morally or should legally confer a defense against criminal acts committed by the individual. This is actually the principle at law: to the extent that we fail to enforce it, we encourage violent and destructive mobs

[jordan179]

There is absolutely no sane reason for the "rule of law" to flex itself away from prosecuting the Occupiers, particularly the hard-core Occupiers, for their crimes. Avoiding such prosecutions sends the message "It's okay -- you can break whatever laws you want in Oakland, so long as you do so as part of a mob," which not only emboldens the Occupiers, but also other FUTURE mobs. It increases the likelihood of rioting mobs in Oakland's future, and makes Oakland less attractive as a home for businesses in the future.

This sort of thing can really damage a city, far beyond the actual physical damage done by the rioting. Businesses are not eager to move to a town which has already demonstrated that, given any significant civil disorder, the authorities will stand back and let the disorderly riot for fear of offending the ideological allies of the rioters.

Just because someone is behaving childishly does not prevent him from being dangerous, and one can't simply ignore (or mock, or even harass) dangerous people. One has to stop them,

[gothelittle]

" it takes nerve to volunteer to act as a human shield, and make “Jewish-settlement” one indivisible word. That was the most astounding, courageous, and utterly despicable tactic ever invented in modern warfare, to use unarmed women and children as annexation and occupation forces, daring your opponent to fire on them while “the whole world is watching

[jordan179]

... it takes nerve to volunteer to act as a human shield, and make “Jewish-settlement” one indivisible word. That was the most astounding, courageous, and utterly despicable tactic ever invented in modern warfare, to use unarmed women and children as annexation and occupation forces, daring your opponent to fire on them while “the whole world is watching.” But it worked - and in warfare, there is no other award.]

You are deeply demonstrating here the very anti-Semitism of which I accused you, thus proving me correct.

To wit: you consider that the Israelis are doing something morally wrong by building CIVILIAN SETTLEMENTS, but the Arabs are not doing something wrong by killing the civilians in those settlements. If the civilians are killed, it's the fault of the Jews for deciding to be there, not the fault of the Arabs for deciding to murder the civilians

[kalance]

Personally, I think that arresting people for throwing lethal weapons with the obvious intent to do harm is quite "accordingly".

What do you believe should be done with people who throw bombs in public?

[galadrion]

If they surrender immediately and unconditionally, then take them into custody.

But once they start attacking, they've stated their willingness to be attacked. Oblige 'em. With superior firepower whenever possible.

Oh, and if they bombs haven't gone off, they get to disarm them. While under gunsights. "You threw it. Now you get to disarm it... and if you do something that looks suspicious, remember we've got several people covering you with rifles..."