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This video shows what happened.
Here is a photo of the ammunition or projectiles which police shot at the Oakland protesters:
Karl Denninger argues that the police intended to hit Olsen in the head:
One ex-Marine — a combat veteran — took a rubber round in the head. He is in critical condition and may die. That was not a mistake; that was aimed fire and an intentional assassination. Sorry folks, that’s facts – from 50′ you don’t “miss” and hit someone in the head with these things if you’re shooting for the legs or other non-vital parts. He was shot in the head by someone who aimed for the head. Those projectiles arenot “non-lethal” and the bomb thrown by a cop at the people trying to come to his assistance after he fell wasn’t tossed accidentally either.
A marine says that Oakland used crowd control methods that are prohibited in war zones, and that the shot must have been intentional:
Before gas goes into a crowd shield bearers have to be making no progress moving a crowd or crowd must be assaulting the line. Not with sticks and stones but a no bullshit assault. 3 warnings must be given to the crowd in a manner they can hear that force is about to be used. Shield bearers take a knee and CS gas is released in grenade form first to fog out your lines because you have gas masks. You then kick the canisters along in front of your lines. Projectile gas is not used except for longer ranged engagement or trying to steer the crowd ( by steering a crowd I mean firing gas to block a street off ). You also have shotguns with beanbags and various less than lethal rounds for your launchers. These are the rules for a WARZONE!!
How did a cop who is supposed to have training on his weapon system accidentally SHOOT someone in the head with a 40mm gas canister? Simple. He was aiming at him.
I’ll be the first to admit a 40mm round is tricky to aim if you are inexperienced but anyone can tell the difference between aiming at head level and going for range.
The person that pulled that trigger has no business being a cop. He sent that round out with the intention of doing some serious damage to the protestors. I don’t care what the protestors were doing. I never broke my rules of engagement in Iraq or Afghanistan. So I can’t imagine what a protester in the states did to deserve a headshot with a 40mm. He’s damn lucky to be alive and that cop knows he was using lethal force against a protester he is supposed to be protecting.
A poster at Occupy Marines Facebook makes the following comment:
You can see Scott Olsen standing, with his BACK TOWARDS THE COPS moments before being shot. Watch closely - the guy who shot him can be seen backing away from the fence and lowering his shotgun (he must have been less than 5 feet from Scott when he shot him in the head). He then goes behind two other cops and THROWS THE FLASH BANG himself at the people trying to save them. The other two cops don’t move, but this guy steps back and then forward just as the flash bang is tossed. The same guy shot him and then tossed the grenade at the people trying to save him.
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What's especially tragic here is that the Oakland ordinance that had the cops all riled up is most likely unconstitutional on its face. Occupy Cleveland went to federal court and got an injunction striking down the curfew.
Last Friday night, members of the group Occupy Cleveland, which have been demonstrating on Public Square in downtown Cleveland since early October, were told that they must vacate the premises as the permit they had been granted by the city expired at 10pm. Without a permit, city law prohibits camping out between the hours of 10pm and 5am. Several arrests were made, all while the demonstrators peacefully explained that they were expressing their 1st amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. On Wednesday, the group scored huge victory when a federal judge issued an injunction that would allow them to occupy the Tom Johnson quadrant of Public Square at all hours of the day for an indefinite period of time.
The success of the Occupy Cleveland participants in establishing their right to freely assemble and speak may serve as an example for groups facing similar situations in cities across the United States that are also participating in the global Occupy Wall Street movement. Oakland, Cincinnati, and Atlanta, to name a few, may be especially interested in this lawsuit and the subsequent agreement as their "occupations" of public areas were also raided and broken up by police, essentially halting their freedom of speech and assembly.
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/17710
