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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Oakland Police Bust 'Em Up |
| 2011-10-26 |
| A U.S. Marine veteran is today in a critical condition in hospital after being injured by a police gas canister during last night's Occupy Oakland protests, which saw running battles break out between authorities and protesters as a crowd tried to reclaim an encampment. Scott Olsen, 24, of Daly City, California, an Iraq veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, suffered a skull fracture and brain swelling after being hit in the head during the riots. Officers had cleared the site of demonstrators around 12 hours earlier in a dawn raid where at least 85 people were arrested. Police gave repeated warnings to demonstrators to disperse from the entrance to Frank Ogawa Plaza in the Californian city before firing tear gas canisters into the crowd at 7:45pm on Tuesday evening. There were reports from officers that some protesters had been throwing rocks. 'It's terrible to go over to Iraq twice and come back injured, and then get injured by the police that are supposed to be protecting us,' Mr Olsen's roommate Keith Shannon told The Guardian, adding that he served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 before leaving the military last year. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 How callous. |
| Posted by: Jeque Hupairong2828 2011-10-26 22:41 |
| #1 Thank you for your service, Marine. Enjoy the rights you fought to protect, while remembering that the right to free speech does not encompass breaking the laws which bind all citizens. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-10-26 19:06 |