Contrary to initial reports, the evictions of Occupy L.A. encampments were marked by police violence and hundreds of arrests. Journalists who ignored the prohibition on live coverage were expressly targeted by the LAPD.
posted by clarknova on Dec 1, 2011 - 52 comments

Who's coordinating crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street? The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that, although there was rampant speculation about Homeland Security's role in Occupy Wall Street crackdowns across the nation given multiple police force's paramilitary actions, the Feds are not directly involved. Instead, planning has been facilitated by an affiliated non-profit organization called Police Executive Research Forum, aka PERF.
But what exactly is PERF? [more inside]
posted by stagewhisper on Nov 19, 2011 - 271 comments

While the nation's attention has been recently drawn to the student protests at UC-Davis after video showing UCPD pepper-spraying a group of peaceful students went viral, this is merely one incident in a wave of student activism over the last three years with the goal of "reclaiming" the University of California for students. Some place the beginning of this mass student movement around the 2009 decision to implement a 32% tuition hike, which led to protests that drew over 5,000 students and a damning expose and condemnation from the President of the UC Faculty Association. (Budget Cuts Previously) [more inside]
posted by Chipmazing on Nov 19, 2011 - 674 comments

A shockingly frank appraisal from MSNBC of the unprovoked police attacks at the recent 'Occupy Wall Street' protest actions. [more inside]
posted by FatherDagon on Sep 27, 2011 - 258 comments