Polizei-Brutalität Pt. 1.

"Love of this country is based on nothing but the fear of living somewhere worse
And gratitude shouldn't be the reaction to someone else being slaughtered first," Aus-Rotten.

I remember seeing that little kid being savagely beaten after being stabbed. I remember being there. I heard the cries of hundreds of kids shouting "Fuck the Police!" I saw the tear gas explode as kids scurried from it, faces already contorted with the searing pain they felt in their lungs, like cockroaches from the light. I saw the scared look on the cops face when the riots began. And all I could think as I partook in the mindless violence was... why? In that moment I was not proud to be a "Punk." This was not the message that i wanted to be a beacon of.

British invasion 2k6 was one of the most anticipated punk shows of the year. So big was it in fact, that there two stages needed for all the bands to play in the allotted time frame. It's head lining bands included, Broken Bones, The Varukers, G.B.H., Vice Squad, and The Addicts.
Every little punk kid within 500 miles of San Bernardino was going to be there. Every little punk kid was going to sport their Mohawk, crusty studded leather vest, dirty bleached patched jeans, and freshly washed under wear courtesy of mommy.
However, every little punk kid did not know that they would be exposed to the true nature of the police that their punk music had taught them to hate so much.

The Show started well. There were peaceful protest rally sign ups, political party information booths, and all the other political propaganda inherent to the punk scene.

The show began to spiral out of control when a neo-nazi stabbed an anarcho punk over an argument in the mosh pit of the outside stage. The knife was small and did little to halt the already inebriated child. The child and his friends reacted violently towards the nazi and his "crew." (I think that's such a silly word) Security did their job well and observed and reported the incident to the police right away.

The police with all their machismo and flare came to "protect and serve." The problem is they "served" the wrong person. The police began to barbarically beat the living hell out of the already stabbed minor, letting the nazi get away. Upon witnessing this injustice the entirety of the outside stage attendees began to grow very angry and started to revolt against the police.

The riots truly began when the inside stage, oblivious to events on folding outside, was blasted with tear gas. Disgruntled punks with lungs and eyes ablaze flooded into the streets and began destroying anything and everything in sight. The small police force of San Bernardino was no match for the mob and for an hour and a half the mob raged on the property of the city, private and public alike, basically unhindered. The total amount of damage done was in the millions of dollars. All of this could of been avoided had the police not used the tactic of accost first ask questions later.

"You see, there are people who believe that the function of the police is to fight crime. And that's not true; the function of the police is social control and protection of property." Michael Parenti

If the above statement is true (which I believe it to be) than in the case of British invasion the police did not do their job.

Police brutality is very real thing. The police of this day have lost the meaning of the slogan "Protect and Serve." They are a manipulative agency. Go on you tube and you can find hundreds of videos where brutal force was employed needlessly by the police. It's disgusting. The police spend so much time and unnecessary money on finding marijuana and other illegal narcotics. They should be busting down the doors of those dope peddlers called "doctors" who sentence millions of kids every year to a messed up childhood on Ritalin, Aterol, and Wellbutrin. But I digress.

I don't think that what happened at British Invasion was right on either parties part. It is my opinion that the over reaction initially by the police and the sloppy management of the situation thereafter is completely to blame for the rioting. I think if the police had peacefully detained both the nazi and punk initially and then let the show go on nothing would of happened. It is the initial aggression the police displayed that provoked the aggression of the mob.

I am a pacifist. I think violence is wrong and the destruction of private property is wrong as well. Although I wasn't too sad to see the corporate fat peddlers Jack in the Box and Carl's Junior practically burnt to the ground. I was happy to see the mom and pop Mexican food store unharmed through out the whole ordeal. It was good to see that unlike other riots this riot stood by it's convictions and restrained from harming independent business.

We as a nation need to be more strict on our police agencies. We need to be more strict on the requirements of become a "law enforcement" officer. I propose that we start making Peace officers really officers of peace. Strip them of their guns and give them flowers or at least something much less lethal. There are thousands of alternatives to a fire arm and baton that will be just as effective and half as lethal at detaining criminals.

The bottom line is we have average-jack-ass-American-joe behind a gun and a badge, and even average joe makes mistakes and has bad days. What if we all legally had guns on our worst of days? What carnage would you be responsible for?