Originally Posted by CDSmith

No, Richard, I wasn't kidding. I was asking a key question pertinant to the situation, it's what critical thinkers whose reactions aren't driven solely by their emotions do.



Interesting take. Any actual proof to back it up?

While anyone who knows me personally knows I harbor no great love for cops, and that I've never been a cop, I have actually had experience with being on the side of security and having to face down or otherwise deal with a group of agitated people. And those experiences tell me that it's often in the cop's (or security personnel's) best interest to single out the few (or the one) main agitator who is stirring the rest up the most with his or her yappy mouth, aggressive actions, or a combo of both, and neutralize thier foolishness before the situation gets even more out of hand.

I also know that for the most part it's not law enforcement's habit of just smacking people around and macing/tasering them without reason or some sort of provocation. I say "for the most part" because I realize there have been exceptions. But I think it's safe to say that in most cases the cop or cops as it were don't just act without provocation.

So I ask again, what if anything might this person have been doing to get her a faceful of riot cop ownage?

If the actual unequivocal answer is "nothing, she was just there, she was innocent", as unlikely as that would be, then I'm completely with you guys who are leaping to her defense.

However, if it turns out that she was loudly running her mouth, shouting obscenities at the cops, getting in their faces (all of which are things that often stir up mobs and incite escalation) then I'm sorry but it then falls into a "you get what you get" situation. I mean, for example, if there's a pot of boiling water on the stove and you know that if you stick your hand in it you're going to get scalded badly, and you go ahead and stick your hand in there anyway, then of course you get what you get. Here is no different. Everyone with any sense knows that if you disobey riot cops and stir shit up and get in their faces, yell, fire up the mob, maybe throw some stuff at them, etc, that you in all likelyhood are putting yourself at risk for a beatdown, macing, tasering, rubber bullet hits, or worse.