I shot video at all parts of the rally and protest last night. However, a person came up to me and specifically asked me not to post it to the internet. In a comment on an earlier post, I was accused of not listening to her, which is bull shit. I did listen and I have posted no video. However, if you search Youtube it is easy to find other video.
I wonder, if others ignored this person’s request, or if it was only me they targeted?
Anyway- here is some video that is out there. The first link is to the WTAE coverage. Their video guy arrived shortly after the arrests and the craziest part of the evening. I spoke with him, helped get Lauren to the cameraman.
http://www.wtae.com/news/28972265/detail.html
The others are on Youtube:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2LLBG0tm8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3rGP2v9VMA[/youtube]
You can see in 3:30 of the first video that the discussion of police violence is what prompted the police you keep defending to start their shit. They don’t want people to hear about the horrific things they do. They want people like you to continue to defend them and act as if their beatings and assaults and abuse of people is A OK and always defensible.
I am really unclear who you are fighting with because it isn’t me. PLEASE PLEASE point out what I have said which is supposedly “defending the police”?
You have some battle you seem to be obsessed with, and it is with the police. I don’t know the history of it, the source of it, and most certainly can’t do anything about it.
I believe that a civil society needs rules by which they live and the police are to be a way in which that social structure functions. Police like any individuals in power can either act responsibly (what we all hope for) or they can misuse that place of power. In those cases, it is the responsibility of us all to hold them accountable and demand that act responsibly and professionally.
At the rally I saw the police act responsibly at times, and I also saw and personally experienced behavior which in my opinion was excessive, unnecessary, and out of line. That’s just my opinion based on what I saw and what I experienced.
I have chosen to write about this incident in a series of shorter posts (Well, short for me at least. I easily write 1000 toy 1400 word posts) I have so far, written only about the beginning of the rally. And I may continue.
I write what I see and experience and I share my perspective. It may be a different perspective from yours, and I’m fine with that. My job as a blogger is to do exactly what I’m doing- sharing my opinion, my viewpoint, and allow others to have their viewpoint. I have never told anyone they are wrong. I have said, when I see it or experienced it differently than they.
I seek solutions to problems, and in terms of LGBT issues a huge part of that is breaking the ongoing dynamics that keep our community as victims. For me that means trying to be honest about the whole of it and see the complexity of situations to understand them better. So for me the police are not all good nor all bad. I’m more interested in figuring out how to get the police and the LGBT community working together to combat homophobia. I think there is change needed within the police. I think they are not adequately trained. I don’t think they adequately understand LGBT issues. But I also think people like you are wrong to paint the situation as either all red or all yellow, good or bad.
I really don’t care what you think of me or my blog or my opinions. You are entitled to your own opinion.
I have a feeling you are often in battle with most everyone, and I hope you find ways to use your anger to actually improve things rather than simply battling everything.