Keeping America safe from the evil Associated Press:
If police and protesters skirmish around the Republican National Convention, count on Philadelphia Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke to be in the middle of the action.
He was rewarded for his efforts Monday by being doused with pepper spray, knocked down and arrested by St. Paul police.
Rourke was shooting photos of the protesters at a parking lot at 7th and Jackson streets, in downtown St. Paul, when police converged from three directions on protesters that they regarded as particularly troublesome.
"We were encircled, and as I moved toward the officers in front of me in a passive manner, my legs were taken out from behind in an aggressive manner," Rourke said yesterday after 12 hours in jail.
That's why we all need to condemn this unnecessary abuse of power by the police in St. Paul -- there's no excuse for confusing a newsman doing his job with actual lawbreakers. If it could happen to a regular Philly guy like Matt Rourke, it could happen to you.
It happened in Philadelphia during the RNC - with tacit and overt endorsement of the Philadelphia police.— Marchus- I say let the anarchists run wild & burn down the whole place down.— Paul B
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- OMG, it could happen to me, too? Really? Gosh. . . . I better rethink the act of political violence I was going to organize after work today. Give me a break. There is such a large gulf between the constitutionally protected actions of peaceful protestors and the actions of these loser, wanna-be anarchists. They have no legitimate political message besides a desire to create havoc and destroy public and private property. As usual, the view is great from the cheap seats. Wil, if you were the chief of police in Minne/St. Paul, how would you handle the situation? Would you prefer that these spoiled brats be allowed to run wild in the streets? Would you allow them to disrupt the proceedings of the convention and possibly endanger some of the participants? Do you really think that these actions are random and not based on any legtimate security concerns? I'd love to know. A "regular" Philly guy was pepper sprayed and arrested because he willingly associated himself with a group looking to start trouble. Lie down with dogs, get fleas. He'll probably win a Pulitzer and Nobel Peace Prize . . . once the burning feeling subsides.— ILikeIke
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Feeling slanderous, today b.atk? Glad to see you've calmed down a little. Try to steer away from your facutally challenged temper tantrums.— RG
- Comment removed.
- Why am I not surprised Will would in essence defend the rights of these vermin to destroy anything and anyone they want? If they were in his neighborhood, he'd be under his desk crying for the police and soiling himself. The photographer took a risk, as did the reporter last week in Denver who tried to interview some of the protesters.— PhilaRocks
- And PhilaRocks shows off their reading comprehension skills.— RG
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
