THE MORNING AFTER
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 AT 8:17AMLast night’s LAPD raid is a tough story to convey. Polar opposite views of the same reality.
It was not a case of LAPD brutality or excessive force – not compared to LA’s past experiences, nor compared to New York, Oakland, Berkeley, etc. The reason for police restraint was the cumulative impact of many years of struggle for police reform. From the street perspective, however, it was a massive case of overkill and intimidation which took great bravery to withstand.
In some instances, peaceful demonstrators were literally run over by packs of police. A few people were shot with bean bags because they were occupying a tree house. The encampment itself was