4/8/2003: Protest gets painful

Well, a few things. Dispersing a large crowd is a lot different than taking away a single person. If they had fired rubber bullets at a woman holding a sign and being in the way... well, that's pretty re-goddamn-diculous. On the other hand, I have little sympathy for these people. The police don't have much of a choice when there are 750 people that are obstructing a very serious operation. You need to get them out of there, and fast. Taking all day to do it could cost lives. Again, if it were a single person, arrest makes perfect sense. But not in this case.

She certainly shouldn't have a wound to her face, but the cops are generally pretty good about that. I'm guessing she didn't realize what was happening and ducked, which is the dumbest thing you can do with less lethal ammunition, because it greatly increased the chances of you being <b>permanently</b> stopped. If you're hit over the heart with a bean bag, you're a goner.

The best bet is to not do stupid shit like obstructing an area like that with a large crowd, where the police really have no choice but use these methods.