Melonite Joe La Sac arrested in St. Paul
by Electric Elliot
Word on the street is our friend Joe was arrested once again filming protests at the RNC. Take a look:
Obviously it’s preposterous for journalists to be arrested in these situations, but it would seem that the group of protesters who were knocking over newspaper dispensers, littering the streets and pushing cops had some force coming. This footage brings about an interesting discussion though.
Is it correct to use the sort of force depicted in this video to get your point across? This group likely felt disenfranchised and frustrated with how they were being treated, but it is effective to act out in this manner? What do you think?
Furthermore, what can citizens do to prevent journalists from being arrested like those that have been at the DNC and RNC? If there isn’t freedom of press, it sounds a lot like chaos.
Good luck, Joe.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Doesn’t Joe have class tomorrow? Not anymore I guess.
The force and vandalism exerted by protesters in this video makes me mad. That lends no credence to their (my, our) cause.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 am
it looks to me like the protesters were using newspaper boxes and barriers to block traffic, which I thought was supposed to be a large part of the RNC protests- keeping delegates out, and police officers away. They were clearly nonviolent, simply blocking the road which was already blocked with people anyway. To me, this is not over the top and not violent. Does anyone know how to contact franklin lopez in case Joe needs help making bail?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:17 am
The REALLY unfortunate thing here is what Electric Elliot, Submedia.tv, Joe La Sac and damned near everyone reading this hasn’t yet realized. America is DEAD. It’s time to move on. Find another country where things aren’t so obviously sliding toward police state totalitarianism, and go move there. Nobody good is going to win in these confrontations. The roots of evil in America run very deep, much deeper than in Gandhi’s India, for example, and they are not going to be killed by century-old tactics.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I’m sick of these anarchists. Just delinquents, not revolutionaries.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@I disagree – I wouldn’t disagree that the moving of newspaper boxes and barriers to block traffic isn’t overtly violent, but pushing police officers? I wholeheartedly agree that there have been tons upon tons incidences where police have use violently over excessive and lethal force, but police are the law. And there are way more good cops out there than bad ones. If those individuals are anarchists, I suppose that’s an entirely different argument but for the typical-Joe-peace-protester, what is the best way to push forth your message? Is blocking delegates and police warranted in these situations?
Sorry, don’t have info on Frank Lopez but thanks for supporting Joe.
@Mike – If America is really dead, do you think it’s appropriate to do nothing and leave a sinking ship or do you grab a bucket? What’s more important to you, standing up for your values and your right to live where you want and make your country what you want or just surviving?
@Chris – Perhaps in your perspective they’re delinquents, but these individuals believe there methods are completely warranted. We have a government that has lied to us (not a big secret) and these folks want to take their country back by any means necessary. Of course, the question of whether or not those methods compromise the moral fiber of what it is to be an American or a good person are certainly up for question.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 am
@Electric Elliot: I left the US four years ago. Doing so -was- standing up for my values. Seriously, though, good luck with the bucket.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Update from Joe:
He was released early this morning after being interrogated by police. His camera is being held until Monday.
Expect a more detailed report from Joe in the coming week.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
While in theory the kind of physical force used by protesters is acceptable – it was not meant to seriously damage people or property (not that hard to pick up a newspaper dispenser, really) – in practice it works against them, because now the police can claim “violence!” and act with impunity.
Also, I think it worth mentioning the attitude the police (any police) come with. The vast majority of the time, police can be dealing with people ranging from angry drunks to gang members to meth dealers. Their automatic assumption is that yelling, angry people equals violence, even when the yelling, angry people intend none. They have a complete lack of perspective because their day job affords them none. This is especially true if they politically oppose the protesters, which they probably do. So expecting them to act appropriately in the face of protesters who don’t necessarily respect private property…yeah, that’s not realistic.
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