G20 : Chilling arrest by men in military fatigues

“G20: Chilling arrest by men in military fatigues. There are more and more examples of military personnel doing police work on the streets of the good old U.S. of A. I wonder if anyone in the media will ask about potential posse comitatus violations in Pittsburgh? Nah. I hope someone got that kid’s name.”

About @ndy

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I like anarchy. I don't like nazis. I enjoy eating pizza and drinking beer. I barrack for the greatest football team on Earth: Collingwood Magpies. The 2024 premiership's a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood.
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6 Responses to G20 : Chilling arrest by men in military fatigues

  1. WE LeMay says:

    I don’t like to see these idiots protesting like this either BUT if the military is allowed to make arrest then when will they come to your house to pull you out for what they see is a legitimate reason?

  2. @ndy says:

    BJ,

    That article presents a very weak argument: its main concern appears to be based on speculation regarding the contents of the soldiers’ uniforms. That is, are they really soldiers — and if so, of what provenance — or police dressed in para-military style uniform?

    First, let’s break down what we see here. Three men drive up in a sedan, dressed in fatigues, grab someone off the street, and stuffs [sic] him in their car. An unmarked sedan? And why pull the one protester out of the crowd? What possible good would that have done? Had the authorities wanted to start arresting people, there are hundreds of regular police officers on the streets available to “grab” people committing actual violent acts, not just yelling on the street.

    In reality, the use of ‘snatch-and-grab’ squads, especially in ‘public order’ situations, is standard operating procedure for police forces the world over. The purpose is to detain wanted individuals quickly and efficiently. It also assumes that because arrests are effected by uniformed officers, other arrests won’t be — which, again, is patently false.

    What is at issue is the nature of the ‘arrest’, and why men in military fatigues were used to effect it.

    College Politico writes:

    The G-20 Joint Information Center, which can be reached at 412-402-7630, issued this statement to me which explains exactly what is going on in that video:

    “The individuals involved in the 9/24/2009 arrest which has appeared online are law enforcement officers from a multi-agency tactical response team assigned to the security operations for the G20.

    It is not unusual for tactical team members to wear camouflaged fatigues. The type of fatigues the officers wear designates their unit affiliation. Prior to the arrest, the officers observed this subject vandalizing a local business. Due to the hostile nature of the crowd, officer safety and the safety of the person under arrest, the subject was immediately removed from the area.”

  3. Walker says:

    This clip has been debunked at length. The uniforms aren’t legit, no weapons are visible, and the vehicle isn’t military (and appears to be a rental). However, the clincher is actually the fact that no friends or family of the “victim” have run screaming to the media or ACLU to decry this “abduction” and demand the safe return of their noble freedom fighter.

    Think, people. Please.

  4. @ndy says:

    The only way in which the video has been ‘debunked’ is by way of questioning whether or not the three men — dressed in military fatigues — were in fact members of the military or — as it seems — police dressed in para-military uniform.

    The statement which the ‘College Politico’ blogger provides is either real or faked. If real, it confirms that a man was, in fact, arrested by “law enforcement officers from a multi-agency tactical response team assigned to the security operations for the G20”; if fake, then we’re back to square one.

    I’ve no idea if the person so detained — assuming he’s been released — has informed anybody else at all, let alone media. Further, the arrest appears to have taken place only a few days ago, so it may be that the situation will be clarified in the coming days or weeks.

    Hopefully…

  5. don says:

    Recheck the first ‘debunked’ link. It’s been confirmed now as Pittsburgh police arresting someone for vandalism. Wacky uniforms!

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