The last I heard, First Amendment Right does not absolve one of being held responsible for their actions or words.

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Yes they did.

Days later, Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard joined one of the Occupy marches. Adams cooed later that he’d never seen a more organized protest and was so proud of them.

The only Commissioner cranky about the Occupiers is Nick Fish, the Parks Commissioner, who asked that Occupiers be removed soon because they were hurting the trees. Ropes lashed onto trees support the Gilligan’s Isle-like latticed wall made of twigs and vines. One of these walls shelters the spiritual “Sacred Place” which includes anti Semitic signs.

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H/TJohn Hinderaker at Powerline blog who found this post at Commentary (here) which says:

There are many ways to measure media bias in America — but in some respects the coverage of the Tea Party Movement versus the coverage of OWS is among the most revealing of all.

Having watched coverage of both movements, it’s clear to me that the press, in the main, approached the stories from opposite ends. There was a palpable eagerness to portray the Tea Party in the most negative light possible — as a gathering of racists, simpletons, and fools. They searched and searched again for any sign, any comment, and any action that might reflect poorly on the Tea Party. The entire frame of the story was, in almost every respect, negative. One could not help coming away from most stories on the Tea Party without the distinct feeling that the press was starting out hostile toward it, determined that readers and viewers alike come away with the impression that those who comprised the Tea Party are at best cartoonish figures and at worst bigots. There was very little effort to understand what it was really all about.

When it comes to Occupy Wall Street, on the other hand, the coverage is much more inclined to be sympathetic. The press – much of it, anyway – is bending over backwards to help us understand the grievances of the OWS protesters. They are the expression of a legitimate anger in America toward Wall Street.

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Movements have revealed different parts of America – and reminded us that the press, which is comprised of impressive individuals, is still dominated by a liberal/progressive ideology. That isn’t a crime; it’s merely a reality.

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They came in a not-so-well orchestrated succession. Statements by Portland Police Bureau leadership and the Mayor’s office came within hours of the other yesterday. And in the late afternoon another statement explained the rest.
It came from the Portland Police Association–the cop’s union–complaining about recent events by Occupy Portland protesters.

After being cheer led by the Mayor and Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Randy Leonard (with Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman silenced by the rest), official Portland decided to shake a reproving forefinger at Occupy Portland.

All it took to get this mild remonstrance was a protester trying to throw a cop under a bus. No biggie.

The PIO for the cops issued the first statement saying,

Unfortunately, Occupy Portland provided no information to Portland Police regarding the route or possible number attendees, despite repeated requests throughout the day for this information. 

Having no information on unpermitted marches and events makes it very difficult for the Police Bureau to make plans to assist [emphasis mine] in these marches. When police cannot properly plan for marches, the safety of marchers, officers and the public safety is put in jeopardy.
  

Early in the march, people left the sidewalk, entered the street and refused officers’ direction [emph mine] to get on and stay on the sidewalk. 

During the march, a sergeant was pushed into the path of a moving TriMet bus. …Police reported that last night the tone of the march also changed in that marchers seemed to want a confrontation with police. [emphasis mine]  The group marched against traffic and provoked motorists along the route.  

Wow! The protesters didn’t provide the cops with a parade route and weren’t nice to citizens and the cops???! Unprecedented! Oh, wait. Portland officials have never required the protesters to file a parade route or take out a permit. Gee, do you suppose that’s why they still don’t do it? 

Then the next statement came from the Police-Chief-turned-Mayoral-Candidate-in-Waiting Mike Reese who insists now that officers wear their riot gear while patrolling Occupy Portland especially after the non permitted march and cop into bus incident:

Because unpermitted marches pose a significant threat to marchers, police and motorists, incident commanders will have the authority to order appropriate action if marchers are not staying on sidewalks and obeying laws. [emphasis mine–didn’t want you to miss the irony]


Due to the strain on patrol officers, I am ordering all sworn members to begin wearing their Class C uniforms and duty belts, effective Friday, November 4, 2011. All sworn members will have their gas mask, baton, and helmet immediately available.

The reluctant Police Commissioner–Mayor Sam Adams–chimed in next.

One police sergeant suffered minor injuries when he was pushed in front of a TriMet bus. Fortunately, he will be okay. Violence like this will not be tolerated [other violence, however, has been tolerated].

Today, we released a statement stressing the importance of working collaboratively in advance of events like these, to share information. When we do not have this information or marches are unpermitted, police will be asking participants to stay on sidewalks and obey all traffic laws [emphasis mine–gotta appreciate that now they’re asking the protesters to follow the law when they’ve been breaking it for weeks].

This is a very reasonable request. We need advance information to ensure the route is safe. We also need to have the right number of police officers to facilitate a successful march [I wonder if he was ever concerned about a Tea Party being “successful.”] without unfairly pulling officers away from Portland’s neighborhoods.

The last statement explained the previous three. We found out why “Official Portland” went all 5-Oh on the protesters. The Police Officers Union is ticked.

My favorite part of the letter to Portlanders

I’m glad the union is speaking up, but, frankly it’s a little late. Here’s my official response to them.

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The Police Association has sent a letter (here) to Portlanders urging them to DO SOMETHING and SAY SOMETHING to the Mayor and Commissioners about the dangers posed by Occupy Portland aka Obamaville.

What would you have us do that we have not done already? We’ve told the City about open air drug dealing, bad actors, children sleeping in tents near sex offenders, drug needles being left in tents, shoving officers into buses and the like.

We’ve told them they’ve set a bad precedent, opened up the City to equal protection and civil rights lawsuits, shown that by virtue of those choices have committed view point discrimination, and demonstrated how the City has allowed this encampment to become a magnet for law breakers.
Please see: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and too many others to mention.

They’ve ignored us.

You’re in the best position to instruct the City on these things. Apparently City officials don’t listen to constituents, they’re only willing to listen to labor unions.

Follow

The last I heard, First Amendment Right does not absolve one of being held responsible for their actions or words.

Follow

H/TJohn Hinderaker at Powerline blog who found this post at Commentary (here) which says:

There are many ways to measure media bias in America — but in some respects the coverage of the Tea Party Movement versus the coverage of OWS is among the most revealing of all.

Having watched coverage of both movements, it’s clear to me that the press, in the main, approached the stories from opposite ends. There was a palpable eagerness to portray the Tea Party in the most negative light possible — as a gathering of racists, simpletons, and fools. They searched and searched again for any sign, any comment, and any action that might reflect poorly on the Tea Party. The entire frame of the story was, in almost every respect, negative. One could not help coming away from most stories on the Tea Party without the distinct feeling that the press was starting out hostile toward it, determined that readers and viewers alike come away with the impression that those who comprised the Tea Party are at best cartoonish figures and at worst bigots. There was very little effort to understand what it was really all about.

When it comes to Occupy Wall Street, on the other hand, the coverage is much more inclined to be sympathetic. The press – much of it, anyway – is bending over backwards to help us understand the grievances of the OWS protesters. They are the expression of a legitimate anger in America toward Wall Street.

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Movements have revealed different parts of America – and reminded us that the press, which is comprised of impressive individuals, is still dominated by a liberal/progressive ideology. That isn’t a crime; it’s merely a reality.

Follow

They came in a not-so-well orchestrated succession. Statements by Portland Police Bureau leadership and the Mayor’s office came within hours of the other yesterday. And in the late afternoon another statement explained the rest.
It came from the Portland Police Association–the cop’s union–complaining about recent events by Occupy Portland protesters.

After being cheer led by the Mayor and Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Randy Leonard (with Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman silenced by the rest), official Portland decided to shake a reproving forefinger at Occupy Portland.

All it took to get this mild remonstrance was a protester trying to throw a cop under a bus. No biggie.

The PIO for the cops issued the first statement saying,

Unfortunately, Occupy Portland provided no information to Portland Police regarding the route or possible number attendees, despite repeated requests throughout the day for this information. 

Having no information on unpermitted marches and events makes it very difficult for the Police Bureau to make plans to assist [emphasis mine] in these marches. When police cannot properly plan for marches, the safety of marchers, officers and the public safety is put in jeopardy.
  

Early in the march, people left the sidewalk, entered the street and refused officers’ direction [emph mine] to get on and stay on the sidewalk. 

During the march, a sergeant was pushed into the path of a moving TriMet bus. …Police reported that last night the tone of the march also changed in that marchers seemed to want a confrontation with police. [emphasis mine]  The group marched against traffic and provoked motorists along the route.  

Wow! The protesters didn’t provide the cops with a parade route and weren’t nice to citizens and the cops???! Unprecedented! Oh, wait. Portland officials have never required the protesters to file a parade route or take out a permit. Gee, do you suppose that’s why they still don’t do it? 

Then the next statement came from the Police-Chief-turned-Mayoral-Candidate-in-Waiting Mike Reese who insists now that officers wear their riot gear while patrolling Occupy Portland especially after the non permitted march and cop into bus incident:

Because unpermitted marches pose a significant threat to marchers, police and motorists, incident commanders will have the authority to order appropriate action if marchers are not staying on sidewalks and obeying laws. [emphasis mine–didn’t want you to miss the irony]


Due to the strain on patrol officers, I am ordering all sworn members to begin wearing their Class C uniforms and duty belts, effective Friday, November 4, 2011. All sworn members will have their gas mask, baton, and helmet immediately available.

The reluctant Police Commissioner–Mayor Sam Adams–chimed in next.

One police sergeant suffered minor injuries when he was pushed in front of a TriMet bus. Fortunately, he will be okay. Violence like this will not be tolerated [other violence, however, has been tolerated].

Today, we released a statement stressing the importance of working collaboratively in advance of events like these, to share information. When we do not have this information or marches are unpermitted, police will be asking participants to stay on sidewalks and obey all traffic laws [emphasis mine–gotta appreciate that now they’re asking the protesters to follow the law when they’ve been breaking it for weeks].

This is a very reasonable request. We need advance information to ensure the route is safe. We also need to have the right number of police officers to facilitate a successful march [I wonder if he was ever concerned about a Tea Party being “successful.”] without unfairly pulling officers away from Portland’s neighborhoods.

The last statement explained the previous three. We found out why “Official Portland” went all 5-Oh on the protesters. The Police Officers Union is ticked.

My favorite part of the letter to Portlanders

I’m glad the union is speaking up, but, frankly it’s a little late. Here’s my official response to them.

Follow

The Police Association has sent a letter (here) to Portlanders urging them to DO SOMETHING and SAY SOMETHING to the Mayor and Commissioners about the dangers posed by Occupy Portland aka Obamaville.

What would you have us do that we have not done already? We’ve told the City about open air drug dealing, bad actors, children sleeping in tents near sex offenders, drug needles being left in tents, shoving officers into buses and the like.

We’ve told them they’ve set a bad precedent, opened up the City to equal protection and civil rights lawsuits, shown that by virtue of those choices have committed view point discrimination, and demonstrated how the City has allowed this encampment to become a magnet for law breakers.
Please see: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and too many others to mention.

They’ve ignored us.

You’re in the best position to instruct the City on these things. Apparently City officials don’t listen to constituents, they’re only willing to listen to labor unions.

Follow