The one-time auto dealership on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has been vacant for several years. A few weeks ago a small group of protesters calling themselves “Occupy Everywhere” took up residence in the building and announced grandiose plans to turn it into a free clinic, child care center, and dormitory. The “anti-capitalist” protesters admitted that they had broken the law by trespassing on the premises, which are owned by an out-of-town businessman.
On November 13, reports the Raleigh News & Observer,
“A police tactical team of more than 25 police officers arrested eight demonstrators Sunday afternoon and charged them with breaking and entering for occupying a vacant car dealership on Franklin Street. Officers brandishing guns and semi-automatic rifles rushed the building at about 4:30 p.m. They pointed weapons at those standing outside, and ordered them to put their faces on the ground. They surrounded the building and cleared out those who were inside. About 13 people, including a New & Observer staff writer covering the demonstration, were forced to the ground and hand-cuffed.”
The police treated the raid as a military operation, conducting detailed surveillance of the target, using squad cars to close off four downtown blocks, and then striking with overwhelming force. The supposed justification for the raid was the threat of property damage by protesters, who were suspected of setting “traps” and fortifying the occupied building. Yet this made-for-TV raid resulted in a handful of misdemeanor charges.
84-year-old police assault victim Dorli Rainey
Two days after the paramilitary operation in Chapel Hill, police in Seattle — a department that has become notorious for the gratuitous use of violence, including lethal force — conducted a pepper spray assault against protesters who had gathered to express “solidarity” with the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Among those incapacitated by the chemical attack was 84-year-old Dorli Rainey, who caught a full blast in the face.
Federal advisers reportedly instructed municipal officials “to seek a legal reason to evict residents of tent cities, focusing on zoning laws and existing curfew rules. Agencies were also advised to demonstrate a massive show of police force, including large numbers in riot gear.”
According to expatriate writer Simon Black, who curates the Sovereign Man website: “It’s truly appalling how police forces across the country have become militarized. The concept of ‘peace officer’ no longer exists. Police are now paramilitary forces who only protect and serve the political class. Because I’ve been out of the country for so long, I notice these changes more acutely; it’s like diving in head first into ice-cold water as opposed to wading in slowly. And this rise of the police state is accelerating.”
While the Occupy movement is amorphous and unfocused, it has served the valuable and sobering purpose of illustrating the extent to which “local” police have become assets of a monolithic, militarized federal “internal security” force. Long gone are the days when the police existed to protect and serve; current police doctrine is best described as “close and kill” — the operational credo of the military.
“General Colin Powell’s Doctrine of the U.S. Armed Forces is that the United States should be the `meanest dog in town’ to frighten a potential enemy…. When force is used, it should be with `overwhelming strength and no half-way measures.’ In law enforcement, these principles are routinely applied in both field and tactical operations. … Law enforcement [application] of the Powell Doctrine is clear: have overwhelming and superior resources available, primarily as a deterrent, but use them decisively when needed.”
The boldness Leach describes is exercised selectively. When called on to deal with an actual threat — such as the Columbine gunmen in 1999 — SWAT teams are models of caution, timidly seeking cover in the interest of “officer safety” even if this means allowing the aggressor ample time to kill his victims and then end the rampage on his own terms. When given the opportunity to take down a small knot of unarmed Bohemians, however, SWAT operators are as bold as Hector, dashing in with guns drawn and lats flared for the benefit of the cameras.
Whatever one thinks of the ideology and behavior of the Occupy movement, the much greater threat to our liberties comes from the army of occupation called the “local” police.
