Wall Street Greek

Editor's Picks | Energy | Market Outlook | Gold | Real Estate | Stocks | Politics
Wall Street, Greek

The Wall Street Greek blog is the sexy & syndicated financial securities markets publication of former Senior Equity Analyst Markos N. Kaminis. Our stock market blog reaches reputable publishers & private networks and is an unbiased, independent Wall Street research resource on the economy, stocks, gold & currency, energy & oil, real estate and more. Wall Street & Greece should be as honest, dependable and passionate as The Greek.


Seeking Alpha

Friday, November 18, 2011

NYPD Police Brutality Against NYC Council Member at Occupy Wall Street

police brutality OWS Occupy Wall StreetSomething great happened on the way to Occupy Wall Street. He was a Hispanic citizen of New York City, and he wanted to see what was going on down there. He had received a call from a protestor, desperately pulling him to observe the brute force with which the city was “cleaning house.” His wife, who was counting on him to make his daughter’s college application interview, begged him, “Please, just don’t get arrested.” He reassured her that of course he would not get arrested. After all, who would arrest him?

advocacy for poorOur founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Article interests NYSE: DIS, NYSE: DWA, NYSE: CNK, NYSE: RGC, NYSE: RLD, NYSE: LGF, Nasdaq: RENT, Nasdaq: CKEC, Nasdaq: LSTZA, NYSE: MHP, NYSE: PSO, NYSE: JW-A, NYSE: JW-B, Nasdaq: SCHL, Nasdaq: CRRC, NYSE: NED, Nasdaq: PEDH, NYSE: BKS, Nasdaq: AMZN, Nasdaq: BAMM, NYSE: BGP, OTC: LYFE.OB, Nasdaq: NOOF, OTC: PUBM.OB, OTC: IFLM.OB, Nasdaq: PTSX, Nasdaq: SAPX, OTC: AFFW.OB, NYSE: TWX, Nasdaq: NWSA, Paris: VIV.PA, NYSE: NYT, NYSE: GCI, NYSE: AHC, NYSE: DJCO, NYSE: JRN, NYSE: LEE, NYSE: MEG, NYSE: SSP, NYSE: MNI, NYSE: WPO, Nasdaq: DEXO, NYSE: MSO, NYSE: MDP, Nasdaq: PRVT, NYSE: ENL, NYSE: RUK and NYSE: DN.

NYPD Police Brutality Against NYC Council Member at Occupy Wall Street (OWS)



He arrived and purposefully avoided the crowd to keep out of harm’s way, his wife’s words echoing in his mind. He walked across the street on Broadway, where he said there were no protesters. He approached police officers and told them who he was and asked to have closer access to the situation. They denied him initially, but he wanted to make sure they knew who he was, because that should matter. They would not even open their ears as they pushed him with brute force, using batons, and treating him like a common criminal. That’s when one officer acted on a sort of passion; he was apparently pretty psyched up for the day, his chance to bust some heads I suppose.

New York City Council Representative Ydanis RodriguezCity Council Representative Ydanis Rodriguez was forced to the ground, with his head repeatedly smashed against it. After giving him some of the business that little men with small voices take daily, the cocky cops arrested him too. They would have nothing to do with his pleas. With the same disrespect that they first faced him, they forced him into a police van and let him sit there bleeding for two hours. It was 13 hours before he was allowed to speak with an attorney, and 18 hours before his ordeal ended and we could learn about it. Here’s Representative Rodriguez’s personal account of the ordeal:

"They kept pushing," Rodriguez said. 'The force was so strong when they were pushing me. Then suddenly a police officer jumped from the middle of the street. He threw his body in front of me and started hitting my head on the street. ... I was assaulted by NY police officers." The police account of the confrontation was quite different than the respected representative’s view. The police complaint filed against him, which includes a count of resisting arrest, alleges: Rodriguez walked up to metal barriers on the southeast corner of Maiden Lane and Broadway and declared he was going to go through. When an officer told him he could not proceed, he said he would anyway, and made contact with a female police officer--knocking her of balance. Like any poor sucker from 125th street and up, who gets caught up at the wrong place at the wrong time knows, and as Rodriguez’s attorney stated, “the complaint is a product of fiction.”

Representative Rodriguez wasn’t alone that day, as countless others were arrested matter of factly like him and with disregard for American law and human rights. Also, the incident itself is not an isolated one to the day only. It happens daily in New York City and probably in other cities across the country as well. It is in fact a problem that I want to use this example to expose very clearly. I want you to remember it, because some day, this same injustice could happen to you when you are deemed by your protectors and maybe even legislators as a threat for simply voicing your opinion, which is your American right. Don’t you forget that!

And if it happens to you, and you are not a public figure, you will find it much more difficult to overcome than Representative Rodriguez. It will do more than just spoil your day. It can effectively ruin you, especially if you are poor and can’t afford good legal defense. You may have to accept a plea deal, admitting to doing something that is a complete lie just to more economically escape the ordeal. How would this record affect the rest of your life, one in which employers have a large pool to choose from that includes people without such an incident.

This is what many Americans face daily and it is a form of persecution, and it is unfair! A pool of mostly minorities is buried by this system, this free license the police have to lie and to arrest on a whim; it is an injustice they apply in the name of justice. You see, police officers are only men, as faulty as any other man, believe it or not.

In their defense, each morning they go to work knowing it could be their last day. Each “call” they make could bring upon them an assailant determined to take their life. And so they enter situations with that in mind. It affects them and how they work. However, they have also allowed an improper mentality to dictate how they approach every situation. There are instances, like the one we’re discussing today and even less intense situations, in which a certain evil overcomes them and they dictate what is right and what is wrong, and abuse their power.

This has to change, and it will only change when public figures stop defending the police, which they do with reckless abandon against human rights. In this case, the Deputy Mayor took to the defense of the police officers, even against the clear report of the distinguished representative. If he could dare to do so in this instance even, then what does a police officer have to fear. The system has his back, and he can do no wrong. He is the God of the street. Instead, the system of checks and balances needs to be enforced. It is a privilege to be a police officer, and there is a long line of unemployed people willing to take the job. We’re not doing anybody any favors by giving free reign to brutality.

In Greece, when a police officer shot an unarmed teenager at point blank range a few years ago, every teenager and almost everybody else stormed to the streets and set fire to them. They burned down police stations even, and they forced the government to review the police officers involved and the entire system. Is that what it’s going to take here? I think none of us wants that, but some sort of pressure must be applied to the government to ensure the proper and fair enforcement of power.

Thus, this great injustice served to a representative of the government is a sort of blessing. He has witnessed firsthand what happens to the little men of New York City daily. We hope that Representative Rodriguez, enriched with this wisdom, will help to restore order to the NYPD, because he is in a position (and it seems chosen) to make a difference for all of us.

Voice your opinion about Occupy Wall Street here.

We support:

Stop Police Brutality in NYC
Occupy Wall Street

Article interests The New York Times (NYSE: NYT), Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Daily Journal (NYSE: DJCO), Journal Communications (NYSE: JRN), Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE), Media General (NYSE: MEG), E.W. Scripps (NYSE: SSP), McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI), The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO), Dex One (Nasdaq: DEXO), Martha Stewart Living (NYSE: MSO), Meredith (NYSE: MDP), Private Media (Nasdaq: PRVT), Reed Elsevier (NYSE: ENL), Reed Elsevier Plc (NYSE: RUK), Dolan Co. (NYSE: DN), Disney (NYSE: DIS), DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA), Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC), RealD (NYSE: RLD), Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF), Rentrak (Nasdaq: RENT), Carmike Cinemas (Nasdaq: CKEC), LYFE Communications (OTC: LYFE.OB), New Frontier Media (Nasdaq: NOOF), Public Media Works (OTC: PUBM.OB), Independent Film Development (OTC: IFLM.OB), Point 360 (Nasdaq: PTSX), Seven Arts Pictures (Nasdaq: SAPX), Affinity Medianetworks (OTC: AFFW.OB), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA), Vivendi (Paris: VIV.PA), Liberty Starz Group (Nasdaq: LSTZA), McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), Pearson Plc (NYSE: PSO), John Wiley & Sons (NYSE: JW-A, NYSE: JW-B), Scholastic (Nasdaq: SCHL), Courier (Nasdaq: CRRC), Noah Education (NYSE: NED), Peoples Educational Holdings (Nasdaq: PEDH), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Books-A-Million (Nasdaq: BAMM).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

NYC tours

Labels: , , , , ,

free email financial newsletter Bookmark and Share

1 Comments:

Anonymous Publius said...

It's a shame about CM Rodriguez. As a New Yorker, he should have figured out that: 1) you do not go near any mob scene; 2) you do not go near any mob scene that has already gotten out of control more than once, 3) you do not challenge any armed and uniformed police officer in a street protest and 4) you do not breach any barricade in 1,2 and 3 above. That being said, yes the NYPD is on "alert". I am thoroughly convinced that only police officers, their families and anyone who has ever been inside a mass crowd can understand what the dynamics are and how fast a situation can change. (I can claim yes to two of three). Did the situation get out of hand? Two thousand clueless protesters, several hundred cops, one politician, World Trade Center; yeah things probably did get out of hand.

But, consider this: is the Councilman that naive to walk into a confontational setting expecting safe passage or was this an opportunity to bait the law and gain some personal recognition courtesy of OWS?

One's position as an elected official does not exempt one from the reaches of common sense or the law.
God bless America - this is a democratic republic where everyone is equal in the eyes of the law (and the NYPD).

Blame? For inequality? There has always ben inequality- seal with it. That blame belongs to us all. We elect our representatives who write our laws. We choose how we live and what we do with our lives. There are no guarantees in life; there is no handout and most definitely no "free lunch". Blame? For the disaster in Zuccotti Park? Blame Mayor Bloomberg who forced his third term as mayor. These nogoodniks should have been run out of the park back in September. Mayor Bloomberg is as much at fault for this disgrace as the ACORN-like leaders organizing OWS. His job is to protect the city, not let things go just because he doesn't care. Notice, he only acted when OWS decided to physically go to Wall Street AND when the Health Department also threatened to go in without escort.

As a New Yorker, I am tired of protests, especially when a nice oasis as Zuccotti Park is hijacked and destroyed. I am tired of peoiple screaming and threatening to shut down this or shut down that. When your first amendment right crosses mine, to travel to get to and from and work or even my physical safety, then let slip the full fury of the NYPD. No one, no group should ever, ever have the ability to close or threaten the city and its people. When the safety, security and economic vitality of this city and region are threatened, then the City or the State has to and must act, in whatever way necessary to restore order.

This isn't 1968 and there is no Viet-Nam war. Why is it that so many of the OWS people are actually employed? Why are so many others there instead of looking for work. Are our taxes now paying for unemployment benefits enabling otherwise able bodied human beings to protest instead of seeking work? This just does not add up.

Their purpose is lost on me. I understand the frustration, but what the OWS people do not understand is that the politicians really do not understand and do not care. That is point one. Point two is that the ordinary Joe and Josephine really don't care about OWS either. They are struggling to make ends meet and don't see the value of a protest doing nothing more than making noise, stinking up a city block and making life difficult for small store owners, residents and regular low-level office workers.

Nope. No sympathy. Close it down, sterilise the park, and let's move forward with life.

4:33 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home