tentative steps to American police state?

[marksimons]

some pictures to go with the article.

worrying stuff I'd imagine...

perhaps.

http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/ftaa112003/Police_Brutality_in_Miami.html

http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/ftaa112003/american_justice.html

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1125-08.htm

Outside, we experienced something distinctly heavier: "War Lite." In fact, the more control the U.S. trade representatives lost at the negotiating table, the more raw power the police exerted on the streets.

"Our goal was to drown you out," one Miami-Dade police officer explained to me, and that's exactly what they did. Small, peaceful demonstrations were attacked with extreme force; organizations were infiltrated by undercover officers who then used stun guns on activists; busses filled with union members were prevented from joining permitted marches; dozens of young faces were smashed into concrete and beaten bloody with batons; human rights activists had guns pointed at their heads at military-style checkpoints.

Police violence outside of trade summits is not new, but what was striking about Miami was how divorced the security response was from anything resembling an actual threat. From an activist perspective, the protests were disappointingly small and almost embarrassingly obedient, an understandable response to weeks of police intimidation.

Listening to the incessant roar of helicopters and the march of police boots, I couldn't shake the feeling that something new was going on. It felt less like we were the targets of this operation than the target practice, unwitting extras in an elaborate military drill.

The FTAA Summit in Miami represents the official homecoming of the "war on terror." The latest tactical and propaganda techniques honed in Iraq -- from a Hollywoodized military to a militarized media -- have now been used on a grand scale in a major U.S. city. "This should be a model for homeland defense," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz proudly said of the security operation that brought together over 40 law-enforcement agencies, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But in order for the Miami Model to work, the police first had to establish a connection between legitimate activists and dangerous terrorists. Enter Miami Police Chief John Timoney, an avowed enemy of activist "punks" who repeatedly classified FTAA opponents as "outsiders coming in to terrorize and vandalize our city."

With the activists recast as dangerous aliens, Miami became eligible for the open tap of public money irrigating the "war on terror." In fact, $8.5-million spent on security during the FTAA meeting came directly out of the $87-billion President Bush extracted from Congress for Iraq last month -- a fact barely reported outside of the Miami press.

But more was borrowed from the Iraq invasion than just money. Miami police also invited reporters to "embed" with them in armored vehicles and helicopters. As in Iraq, most reporters embraced their role as pseudo-soldiers with unsettling zeal, suiting up in ridiculous combat helmets and brand-new camouflage flak jackets.

The resulting media coverage was the familiar wartime combination of dramatic images and non-information. We know, thanks to an "embed" from the Miami Herald, that Police Chief Timoney was working so hard hunting down troublemakers that by 3:30 on Thursday, "he had eaten only a banana and an oatmeal cookie since 6 a.m."

[mrmatas2277]

i live here in Miami...and i tip my hat to the Police that worked that week...no incidents of property damage (that usually happens when these people come in town)...they didnt even allow these trouble starters to even lift a bottle in a violent way, they were squashed before they could even react...i am sorry...if u wanna feel sorry for anyone, feel sorry for all those Mom n Pop stores that closed up b/c of these people...many boarded up their windows and doors b/c of the type typical "Protests" these people do...no sympathy for these protestors...u wanna try civil disobedience and block a road or block the Reps from leaving their conference? well then u have to pay the price...

[jamiroguy1]

I feel sorry for the people that got their asses wooped by those thug cops. By the way the chief of police in Miami is the same chief of police from Philly that was forced out of his position for intolerance of decent and non violent protests. I think there are a few lawsuits in the works actually.

Related Article (Clicky)

Another Related Article (click)

[jamiroguy1]

THE MIAMI MODEL

Paramilitaries, Embedded Journalists and Illegal Protests.

Think This is Iraq? It's Your Country

MIAMI, Nov. 24 - We were loading our video equipment into the trunk of our car when a fleet of bicycle cops sped up and formed a semi-circle around us. The lead cop was none other than Miami Police Chief John Timoney. The former Police Commissioner of Philadelphia Timoney has a reputation for brutality and hatred of protesters of any kind. He calls them punks," "knuckleheads" and a whole slew of expletives. He coordinated the brutal police response to the mass-protests at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000. After a brief stint in the private sector, Timoney took the post of Miami police chief as part of Mayor Manny Diaz's efforts to "clean up the department."

We had watched him the night before on the local news in Miami praising his men for the restraint they had shown in the face of violent anarchists intent on destroying the city. In reality, the tens of thousands who gathered in Miami to protest the ministerial meetings of the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit were seeking to peacefully demonstrate against what they consider to be a deadly expansion of NAFTA and US-led policies of free trade. There were environmental groups, labor unions, indigenous activists from across the hemisphere, church groups, grassroots organizations, students and many others in the streets. What they encountered as they assembled outside the gates to the building housing the FTAA talks was nothing short of a police riot. It only took a few hours last Thursday before downtown Miami looked like a city under martial law.

On the news, Chief Timoney spoke in sober tones about the tear gas that demonstrators fired at his officers. No, that is not a typo. Timoney said the protesters were the ones launching the tear gas. He also said the demonstrators had hurled "missiles" at the police. "I got a lot of tear gas," Timoney said. "We all got gassed. They were loaded to the hilt. A lot of missiles, bottles, rocks, tear gas from the radicals."

Seeing Timoney up close and personal evokes this image of Mayor Daley at the '68 Democratic Convention ordering his men to shoot protesters on sight. He is that kind of guy.

Link to full article

[marksimons]

well if miami needs him

to protect you from him

or this obvious danger to the peace

or crazy young folks who should know better

careful, she could flip at any moment...

this dude is an obvious security threat...

undercover cops take down protestor

and general tommy franks says something I've been saying...

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/11/20/185048.shtml

Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.

Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men’s lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado.

In the magazine’s December edition, the former commander of the military’s Central Command warned that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government.

Discussing the hypothetical dangers posed to the U.S. in the wake of Sept. 11, Franks said that “the worst thing that could happen†is if terrorists acquire and then use a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon that inflicts heavy casualties.

If that happens, Franks said, “... the Western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we’ve seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy.â€

Franks then offered “in a practical sense†what he thinks would happen in the aftermath of such an attack.

“It means the potential of a weapon of mass destruction and a terrorist, massive, casualty-producing event somewhere in the Western world – it may be in the United States of America – that causes our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat of another mass, casualty-producing event. Which in fact, then begins to unravel the fabric of our Constitution. Two steps, very, very important.â€

Franks didn’t speculate about how soon such an event might take place.

Already, critics of the U.S. Patriot Act, rushed through Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, have argued that the law aims to curtail civil liberties and sets a dangerous precedent.

But Franks’ scenario goes much further. He is the first high-ranking official to openly speculate that the Constitution could be scrapped in favor of a military form of government.

The usually camera-shy Franks retired from U.S. Central Command, known in Pentagon lingo as CentCom, in August 2003, after serving nearly four decades in the Army.

how many more times will we see this in america?

[jamiroguy1]

Police state is here. Wake up people!!

[xpyrate]

Originally posted by marksimons

how many more times will we see this in america?

Oh ... we will see lots more of that ... thnx to the brain washed 50%

[ChiefSlapahoe]

Franks may be right. Imagine a tactical nuke (many of which are missing from the former Soviet Union) ends up in the hands of terrorists (some have suggested bin laden may have already purchased suitcase nukes in '98) and they obliterate New York or Washington D.C. The rise of a police state would seem like a logical thing to happen, with people being arrested in violation of the constitution in the name of guarding against another cataclysmic attack. I could easily see muslims rounded up and detained and most civil liberties going down the tubes for all Americans. The damage from a nuclear or biological strike would be enough for our leaders to say "fuck it" and throw the constitution out the window.

[mrmatas2277]

again...u people can paint whatever picture u guys want..i live here and i saw and read first hand what happened...FEW incidents and thousands saved in property damages to local stores...yea, ur right...damn these cops...they saved property damages for the small businesses of Miami...who cares that EVERYWHERE these "peaceful" protestors go, they cause thousands upon thousands of dollars of property damage, set fires and destroy cars, etc...ur right...it is these Protestors "right" to destroy other people's businesses, that have taken them years of hard work to establish...thanks for making me see ur point.... ...there are subjects that most of the time can be argued by both sides...but when u back up KNOWN trouble makers and choose them over the poor, hard working small business owners...thats just plain wrong...say what u want...this was a success and thousands of dollars were saved by these OVER ABUSIVE POLICE OFFICERS...oh well, dont worry...i am sure they have OTHER conferences that these Anarchists can go and burn that city to the ground...maybe some of u would enjoy them in ur home town?