A Largely Peaceful Police State

On November 30th the LAPD cleared out the LA Occupy encampment with a massive police action that was hailed in most mainstream media outlets as being peaceful and well-conducted.  Being a defiantly mainstream media organization - NPR jumped on the bandwagon of LAPD-love with two features on its November 30 Morning Edition.

One involved Renee Montagne interviewing Frank Stoltze a reporter at NPR affiliate KPCC.  Stoltze described "a massive police operation" that was "a largely peaceful operation" and commented that the protestors were "quite well-disciplined."  Stoltze also claimed that the police action was due to "concerns about public safety' and because "there was some drug use going on."  At that point Montagne interrupted him to say "And drug dealing, I mean there were some stories of you know, you know homeless encampments that had encroached on the encampment." [Of course "some stories" is all the evidence Montagne produces to substantiate such a provocative claim].

The second story featured Inskeep interviewing Frank Stotlze who explained that "in the end there was very little force used...in part because this is a new LAPD."  The interview covered much of the same material as the Renee Montagne piece.

BUT there were a few little problems with this Police State Theater propaganda from LA:

First, the coverage of the raid was restricted to 12 members of a media septic tank pool.  Like the restrictive media pools of the US military these "pools" are meant to tightly control access to what is actually happening and to favorably tilt coverage toward those who set up the pool and grant/deny access to this "pool" - in this case the LAPD.  You would think, just the very concept of the police media pool would raise journalistic concerns - unless your news organization is tiltled toward spinning press coverage in favor of police actions against dissidents.

Second, and most important, a lot of rough and very ugly police behavior occurred outside the coverage perimeter that the media pool had access to, and to those who were arrested once they were out of the range of media pool coverage.  Ruth Folwer of Occupy LA reported on police "kettling," rough tactics, and arbitrary arrests that occurred on side streets around the main occupy crackdown.  Lisa Derrick documented police use of "non lethal" weapons  on non-violent, non-resistant LA protesters. The LA Weekly blog noted the brutal police attack on photojournalist, Tyson Heder.  Patrick Meighan, one of the writers for the popular FOX cartoon, Family Guy, has posted a very detailed description of his first hand experience of the rough treatment meted out to those arrested at Occupy LA.  A very similar picture emerged from Exiled editor, Yasha Levine's description of his treatment by the LAPD.  The Brad Blog gathered evidence of both the deplorable conditions endured by arrestees and the use of police violence against protesters during that "largely peaceful operation" by the "new LAPD" that NPR's Frank Stoltze was so impressed with.

Any organization that claims to be doing journalism would recognize that it has a duty and responsibility to revisit a story/s which future events and facts have shown was so distorted, truncated, and false.  It's bad enough that NPR considers it acceptable to adopt the servile role of reporting from a police-picked/ police approved "pool" - but even more disturbing is its utter lack of follow-up in correcting the misinformation conveyed in that report. Given that we are talking about NPR (which has a fondness for jack-booted police tactics and for the expanded powers of the surveillance state) it really is no surprise at all that NPR has purposely ignored the evidence that their two main feature stories on the police action against Occupy LA were nothing but pro-police propaganda filled with inaccuracies and spin.

If you want to get a sense of the "objective" and "unbiased" attitudes of the so-called journalists who work for NPR and its affiliates listen first to the Steve Inskeep interview story I mentioned above and hear the derision in Inskeep voice as he sneers "OK, so the tree fort is on its way out." [this link has great images and descriptions of that "peaceful" action.]  Even more disturbing is KPCC's John Rabe's editorializing as he interviews pool reporter and colleague Frank Stolze and says [at about the halfway point of the interview]:

"There were a lot of protesters who were saying [Rabe imitates them with snarky intonation] 'This is what a police state looks like.' And it's not what a police state looks like.  They may not like the lines of cops, but nobody was shot down like in say Syria, Egypt, Libya - these are police states; I don't think that helps the Occupy LA's cause by having people shouting dumb stuff like that."     

Burning Up the Tube So To Speak

Hey, let's give Andrea Seabrook credit for at least mentioning, on Saturday's ATC, the video of one NYPD's finest assaulting a cyclist in a Critical Mass ride - even if she introduced it with her signature doofiness:

"Now a few of the stories burning up the tube so to speak - news you're more likely to find forwarded to you by email than in any newspaper, call it viral news. First if you think YouTube is all silliness and fluff, check this out: a New York City police officer was videotaped ramming a bicyclist to the ground....the officer was later identified...He's now been stripped of his badge and gun and is on desk duty while the department investigates."

The kicker is that there is a real news story here that NPR conveniently misses. If you read the story of the police assault in the Gothamist, you'll notice this telling fact: "the cyclist in this video was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest." Seems to me that's what usually happens when the police beat someone up and there's no video camera around. Wouldn't contacting the NYPD Commissioner make an interesting investigative piece? Well, dang, I figured if I waited around for NPR get on the case, I'd be waiting forever, so I just sent an email to the commissioner myself:

Dear Commissioner,

I'm curious to know why the cyclist attacked by a NYPD officer in the Critical Mass ride was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest. Is this typical? Seems like witnesses and other officers on the scene would have noticed that the rider did nothing illegal.

Could you explain this?

I'll let you know if I get a response, and who knows maybe I'll pass it on to NPR so they can report not just on the cool "viral news," but also on the viral police state called the Homeland.

What Mistakes? What Agitators?

NPR's Carrie Kahn continues working damage control for the notorious LAPD. Back in January it was just a communication problem that caused the kindly LAPD to beat the crap out of demonstrators, whereas a few tardy days after the event the coverage was weak in spite of the fact that a local NPR reporter was attacked in the march.

So on the one year anniversary of the march and police attack Inskeep tells us that "This year the police say they've learned from their mistakes."

From there Kahn 's launches in with

"Today's march will undoubtedly start like last year's with the usual rallying cry [march sounds] however, police insist it won't end the same [march sounds, sirens] after being pelted with rocks and bottles by a small group of agitators, riot clad LAPD officers used batons and rubber bullets to disperse the thousands."

Call me skeptical, but where is the eyewitness, video, or photographic evidence of "agitators" provoking the police? As Tom Hayden points out, this storyline is exactly what the LAPD wants to have sold to the public.

Making Themselves Understood

You might remember last May when the LAPD went on a rampage against demonstrators and bystanders at a a May Day immigration rally. Even at the time NPR had a hard time covering the story - though the cops roughed up one of NPR's own reporters.

Well, gosh. Turns out it was all just a problem of miscommunication, or as del Barco calls it "an old problem, making themselves understood." If only the police had had the Phraselator at the time - then they could have "made themselves understood" and gently escorted all those Spanish speaking folks out of the MacArthur park.

This morning's little police state propaganda piece really took it to a new limit. First Inskeep introduces the report: "The Los Angeles Police Department has a new crime-fighting tool. It looks like something Captain Kirk and his crew might have used in the original Star Trek series. This device was developed by the Pentagon for U.S. soldiers now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan...it could come in handy in lots of LA neighborhoods where English is rarely spoken."

Crime fighting tool? What crime? Marching in a park? Holding a demonstration? I realize it might disappoint Inskeep and Co., but such things are still legal. And that stupid, condescending comparison to Star Trek...ugh.

Then Mandalit del Barco gets in on the fun. She explains that "the main idea is for police to use the Phraselator for crowd control, to avoid the kind of chaos that happened last year during the huge May Day immigration rights march [ambient sound of police loudspeakers and popping noises]. Police in riot gear used batons and rubber bullets to sweep through MacArthur Park, trying to disperse the crowds, dozens were hurt, including Spanish speaking immigrants and newspeople. "

To avoid the kind of chaos? Excuse me. There was no chaos; there was an intentional police attack on a bunch of unarmed, unthreatening demonstrators, bystanders, and reporters.

Inskeep ends the report by crowing "To hear the Phraselator say, HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK! in five languages go to NPR.org."

Blackshirt Nation

UPDATE: NPR finally covered this story on Sunday Weekend Edition, May 6, and did a better job.

Here's a little activity I'd suggest you try.

On the NPR site, type "Patricia Nazario" in the search box and here is what you get. Look carefully - the most recent story featuring Patricia Nazario is a September 2004 story from Bogota, Colombia. Unbelievable, it is the evening of May 5th and NPR news has yet to do a significant segment on the LAPD's attack on the peaceful immigration rights rally--including an assault on local NPR affiliate reporter, Patricia Nazario. You would think that since NPR had one of it's own affiliates attacked, it would want to get some extensive coverage.

I emailed the NPR affiliate station, KPCC, and this is the exchange:

(My inquiry): I run a blog that is critical of NPR's national news coverage. I was stunned that the national bureau has not done any follow-up to the mention that a local affiliate's reporter was injured. I would like to comment on this on my blog, but thought I should inquire whether NPR has contacted you about doing any further coverage of this story.

(KPCC replies): Thanks for writing to KPCC. NPR did in fact follow up on this story. Carrie Kahn interviewed Patricia for a story, Day to Day wanted to interview Patricia for a story (we turned that one down because it was early in the morning after a very long night) and a new NPR program, Tell Me More, is going to interview her on Monday. News Director, 89.3 KPCC-FM.

Okay, so if Carrie Kahn interviewed Nazario, where is it? Carrie Kahn covered (covered up?) the police attack on the march in her report on May 2nd's Morning Edition, the morning after the attack. Here is her coverage:

"that turned into a standoff as some members of the crowd refused to move (sounds of police yelling). As officers yelled a small group of protesters threw bottles, sticks and Coke cans at police. Within minutes lines of officers in riot gear swept into the park firing rubber bullets and ordering everyone out....Most inside the park including families with small children, street vendors, and television crews didn’t hear the orders to disperse until police were already in the crowd. Several TV camermen and reporters were pushed and hit by police, including an NPR member station reporter from Los Angeles. She was treated at a local hospital...."

So here it is four full days after a squad of police without badges or identifying tags attack people with clubs, non-lethal bullets, and tear gas and that's all we get from NPR news - in spite of their having a local reporter who was one of the victims of the police.

For decent coverage of the attack take a look at KPCC's coverage, Truthout (featuring local Fox video coverage and LA Times article), or this photo coverage from the LA Times (source of the graphic).