[mlandman]

* People organize to protest something legit (and cool in this case!).
* For every hundred peaceful protesters, there are a couple of bad apples.
* Bad apples end up creating a problem during the protest of some kind that is against the law.
* Police move to enforce the law against those bad apples creating problems.
* Bad apples refuse and resist arrest.
* Police can either give up or use force to arrest those bad apples.
* When the force is used (no Jedi jokes, please), it gets photographed. People complain.

I think in some occasions police use excessive force. However, in most cases in which they use force, it's because a protester is breaking a law and refuses to obey the officer who is trying to enforce the law. So, officer tries to arrest the person and a scuffle breaks out. All I'm saying is that with all the photos on those two stories Undertoad posted, including the one at the top of this thread, I don't see anything to indicate that the police used excessive force, or used force when none should have been used. Could be inappropriate police brutality, could be police doing a great job enforcing the law against the bad apples. With all the crap that the police take, I usually take exception to an assumption of "bad policing".

The bad apples theory applies to the police, too. However, I would take a guess that the majority of instances of 'use of force' are justified. Just as most protesters aren't bad apples, just some.

-m