From Occupy Frankfurt. The German police took off their helmets and marched

[Fearless]

"From Occupy Frankfurt. The German police took off their helmets and marched with the protest clearing the way for them."



http://imgur.com/vtK2B

[dana_b]

1. "you - are - the 99%!"

some of them actually get it!

[reorg]

2. no they did not

"march with the protest" nor was there any need to "clear the way".

Oh, they took their helmets off! Big deal, it was a hot day in May and you can almost see them sweating.


Please don't spread untruthful statements that have already been demonstrated to be false. These police forces had been enforcing a ban on all events of the "action days" by Blockupy Frankfurt and their presence at the final demonstration, the only event for which the ban was lifted, was unwarranted and unwelcome.

This beautiful and strong demonstration was the end of a very difficult series of action days. Thousands from all of Europe flocked to Frankfurt to take the squares and block the ECB and other major financial institutions. We were met with total repression. With the exception of the final demonstration, all of our countless planned rallies, demonstrations, assemblies, cultural and educational programs and festivities were banned by the city. We were denied the constitutional right to assemble. We were denied our democratic right to expression. We were denied space to sojourn in the city – with the exception of autonomous student buildings, even the universities were shut down. Democracy was effectively prohibited. At the very least, we can ironically point to one consequence: if we were denied our protest, the police effectively blockaded the city for four days. The European capital of finance was shut down.

We called out to action days in Frankfurt against the austerity policies of the troika and governments. We called out to action and protest against the authoritarian politics implementing these policies. We were met with total repression by the German police. Over 1400* of us were taken into custody for attempting to assemble in the city. We have witnessed: the authoritarian politics are protected and upheld by violent police apparatuses. We have known about fortress Europe for some time, about the coupling of ruling interests and violence at the borders of the European Union. Now violent police repression of democracy has hit the heart of the beast. The police response to Blockupy Frankfurt, indeed a political response, has marked a new phase of repression in Germany.

http://17to19m.blogsport.eu/2012/05/20/a-brief-note-after-the-action-days/

See also: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=724584

[Fearless]

4. You cite a blogger, I have a photo showing peaceful demonstration...

On that day. In that place.



Frankly, if you're going to be high and mighty with me you should bring credible evidence.

Additionally and I quote from your link... "With the exception of the final demonstration, all of our countless planned rallies, demonstrations, assemblies, cultural and educational programs and festivities were banned by the city."

[reorg]

5. no, I cite the organizers of Blockupy Frankfurt

and I happen to have followed the events as they unfolded, being a politically active resident of Frankfurt for 40 years.

Read the link at the end of my post, everything I say is documented. If you need more links, or translations, just ask.


This is the official homepage of Blockupy Frankfurt:

http://blockupy-frankfurt.org/de

Note the links in the right margin column under 17TO19M:

"A brief note after the action days" ... http://17to19m.blogsport.eu/2012/05/20/a-brief-note-after-the-action-days/

Oops, that's the article I cited, so it does appear to be legitimate, I guess.

What exactly are your doubts as to the veracity of what it says?

[Fearless]

6. Nothing you have said has disproven that what I linked happened.

Is the picture fake? Or is it at least nice to see an instance where people weren't getting their heads bashed in a la Oakland? A single solitary moment where stuff may actually have gone our way for a bit?

I never stated that there wasn't violence at any point. I never stated anything in fact. I posted an article and a photo that showed that not every time we speak up for ourselves do we meet the end of a police baton or tear gas canister. Is it too much to ask to celebrate that rare occasion a little?

[reorg]

7. You obviously refuse to accept what actually happened

The picture is certainly not fake and shows that even police officers are able to grin when they look at a carnival.

How is that remarkable? Well, it isn't. What you (and others in a similar thread) are suggesting is something quite different.

You suggest they march with the protesters and even "cleared their way". But that's not what they did, they were there to control the protest, to ensure that the action days did not achieve what had been planned, namely the BLOCKADE of the banks in the city for several days through spontaneous, peaceful protests going by the label "Blockupy". It was hoped this would revive the Occupy Frankfurt movement which no one mentions any more after 8 months or so holding out through the winter

The city government, conservatives in coalition and, shamefully in this matter, with full participation of the Greens had BANNED any and all activities that could have led to such a PEACEFUL, carnevalesque mobilisation effort. They prevented the blockade and occupation of the financial district and they won, with the gracious help of the officers you celebrate. Why on earth wouldn't these people have a grin on their faces? Four days of work almost over, 1400 arrests, lots of people kept out of the city, they pretty much shut it down, actually -- and finally some free carnival to boot, so what's there to worry about, right?

It is simply not true that all peaceful demonstrations in the US are met with batons and tear gas canisters. It is, however, very true that demonstrations that mean something, that our masters feel are getting out of hand are ALWAYS met with tear gas and batons, if not worse, and that is, unfortunately, true for Germany just as it is for the US.

Water cannons (with CS gas) in the financial district, just in case the way needs to be cleared:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/strassenstriche/7220990432/in/set-72157629771341004/

[Fearless]

8. That's the title of the picture! I mean really! Go to the link.

And have a good night.

[reorg]

9. So, an anonymous poster at some obscure picture sharing site

thinks it's cute to make up stuff and give pictures misleading titles.

Ok, sorry, I thought you might be interested in knowing what is really going on.

[Fearless]

10. Devolving into pettiness. Good night.

[Fearless]

11. Ahh so funny story...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002721617/

[uponit7771]

3. They understand they are in it with the 1%

[Iterate]

12. This is a childish illusion -no need to spread it.

Last edited Tue May 27, 2014, 08:29 AM - Edit history (2)

reorg is exactly right (Hallo reorg ).

This is nothing more than the Polizei co-opting, surrounding, and controlling a protest to keep it away from banks and shop windows.

German police are not like American police in 100 different ways, but the one thing they have in common is that in their general actions they do what they are told.

[Fearless]

13. Thank you for calling me childish. It was nice to talk to you as well.

While yes, the police had "controlled" the protest, in that they only let them protest in this one place and arrested some 400 people who protested elsewhere. Using reorg's own post from the other thread:

"Sure, if you take away the ridiculous gear, German police officers look just like any other German, and some of them may even suggest that they don't take issue with the demonstration as such (as long as it remains non-"violent", as they will hasten to add, of course). That has always been the case."

I never stated that the police weren't controlling the rally. I never said that they weren't protecting shops or keeping people off side streets. Take issue with the title if you want I suppose. As I said again, it is not mine, it is from the link.

Regardless, the purpose for which I posted it is, as I said, to show that not every time people protest do they meet police batons and tear gas. You may counter by saying, well that's because everything was calm and moving smoothly and that they weren't allowed to go freely where they wanted. I would add, that violence is never helpful, by police or by protestors. If people got violent at a protest, I would expect police to do their job and remove those people from a protest. They do not benefit our cause in anyway but serve to radicalize it, frequently intentionally, and through the use of plants. And, I would say that I never claimed they were allowed to go wherever they wanted. One photo doesn't describe everything. It describes one thing. And the one thing it described is accurate. There was a peaceful protest, without violence for a little bit. Unlike, say, as I said, Oakland.

[Iterate]

14. The word wasn't directed at you in any way whatsoever.

I don't do that shit. We're all on the same side.

In thinking back about what I did mean, the word was attached to an idea, a particular version of the events which was more obvious in other posts, even other threads.

And that was the idea that the German police in "marching with" were somehow joining the cause, or had changed sides, or were even more virtuous. I'd call that set of beliefs naive, or a fantasy, or in its worst form, childish. I'd call it that even if I held that belief myself. A more subtle variant is the idea that the peaceful nature of the march was somehow their doing because they showed restraint.

If I knew the police had orchestrated the idea with this pose, with this image, I'd have to call it sinister and masterful.

However it happened, it seems that this particular protest was thwarted successfully, even to the point where the final public message, headline, and conversation has been some variant of how the police, not the protesters, were responsible for its limited success. What ever you want to call it, it was effective.