Front Page  »  

Plainclothes cop points gun at California protesters

December 12, 2014
Undercover CHP officer in Oakland

Undercover CHP officer in Oakland

An undercover policeman pulled a gun on protestors highlighted the clashes between demonstrators and officers in Oakland on Wednesday night. [Huffington Post]

Protesters have demonstrated all week in Oakland and Berkeley, rallying against recent grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in cases in which black civilians died. The protests have led to fighting, looting, Molotov cocktail throwing and numerous arrests.

On Wednesday, some protesters identified two officers in civilian attire marching in a crowd alongside demonstrators. A scuffle ensued in which one of the officers pulled out his handgun and pointed it at protesters.

Members of the crowd photographed the officer doing so. Officials later identified him as a California Highway Patrol officer.

The officer did not fire any shots, and most of those gathered around him quickly dispersed.

On Thursday, Avery Browne, chief of Golden Gate division of the CHP, defended the actions of the undercover officer. The officer was protecting himself and his partner from a mob that encircled them, Browne said.

“We are extremely cognizant and sensitive to the display of a gun,” Browne said. “It can be very upsetting.”

But, Browne said a crowd of about 50 was closing in on the two officers. When the officers attempted to leave, one of the protesters struck one of the policemen in the back of the head.

A woman then bolted from the crowd and kicked the same officer in the head, Browne said. The officer who had not been attacked then pulled the gun.

However, a report from KTVU News, however, stated that the scuffle began when of one the officers pushed a protester aside. The demonstrator responded by pushing back, upon which the officer tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Browne said the officer was treated for concussion-like symptoms and soft tissue injuries.

The man who allegedly attacked him was charged with felony battery and assault. Police did not catch the woman accused of kicking the officer.


Loading...
Subjects:                 
Related:


100 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Everyone is a suspect or criminal except LE

More than half the population has either been on parole, probation, in jail or prison.

Virtually everybody in the population has been charged with some kind of violation or another, revenue!


0

What is the likely solution?


More revenue to LE for better training, better equipment, better salary with education in Criminal Justice and better benefits, as usual in the past, and back to the SOS for the next foul up for more of the same opportunity and when their pension system is in trouble, back to the tax payers again.


0

I believe that I can change the minds of many of you on this issue. There are of course those who will, until their dying day, believe every myth that has even been perpetrated as long as it falls in line with predetermined ideological category they have selected based on comfort. But there are those of you who form there opinions based on reason and rational arguments.


My name is Matthew Kaney. I was born and raised in San Luis Obispo. I have never, in my entire life, directly collected any form of government assistance (including unemployment at a time I was unemployed). I have a degree from UCSD, with a major in history and a minor in economics. I am a private contractor that develops processes for small to medium businesses that allow them to compete with the capabilities of larger corporations. I do everything from perform the jobs along with the staff members who do them, to designing the new processes, to writing the software (myself) that handles the automation and integrates the process with the ERP (accounting system) software.


I am not a progressive. I believe that government should be as small as possible. I don’t think that government should take the role of what you can do and who you can do it with. I don’t think that it should influence markets and choose the winners and the losers. Between state and federal , I pay almost 28% of my income in taxes, and that doesn’t include every other tax like sales tax. I think that’s ridiculous. I think that people should have the right to bear arms, and that they should have the right to defend themselves. If the owner of the store that Mike Brown robbed took our a baseball bat and beat him senseless, I would probably not protest that action. However, putting a man in a headlock, chokehold, WHATEVER you want to call it for selling single cigarettes completely violates any notion I have of freedom and a free market.


That is one reason I support the protesters. Another one is that I have gone to many protests before and I have seen how the police behave. Time and time again I have witnessed POLICE violently attack and bully people. I have watched them expertly manipulate crowd mentality until that crowd turns on them, and then go crying to the media about being attacked by “rioters.” I have looked at the statistics and I know that the job of a police officer is a very safe one. I have observed the the terminology used by police officers to describe average citizens, and it is frightening. I have watched as brokers on Wall Street robbed people of billions upon billions of dollars and how they are still treated with respect and deference, while a guy who robs a handful of cigars is called a thug. I have seen my taxes go to police officers who, in the town of San Luis Obispo, make $130k to $180k a year and were able to do so by tricking the citizens of this town.


I cannot understand why people who claim to be small government would support this kindof coercion and use of force, unless their personal fears had been played on. Police are not some kind of force for good and justice that go around playing hero. They may pretend to be, and they may play on your good intentions, but that’s not the truth. They are WELL armed enforcers of the will of the state. In addition to arresting criminals, they are here to make sure that you follow every ridiculous law passed by progressives and well-meaning busybodies.


0

I don’t disagree with your comments about the salary of the SLO police being ridiculously high considering where they live and when compared to the other police departments around the. I also agree the police are the enforcers for those who hold power. But I do not believe the typical officer go to work each day thinking, “I hope I get to beat somebody up today!”

I have known a few sheriff’s deputies over the 35 years and they all hoped nothing bad happened during their shifts. They we/are decent folks, typically conservatives, who often times were just as critical or suspicious of the power structure as many others who contribute to this site.

In the last two months two deputies were killed by a gunman in Sacramento County, a police officer was killed in Pomona during a gang sweep and a deputy in Ventura was killed on a traffic stop of a motorist. They went to work on their last day trying to do the right thing and someone killed them. To act as if there is not risk in their profession is an insult to the families they leave behind.

Instead of beating up on the police we need to focus on the people who hold the power; the banks, the corporations and their bought dogs the politicians.


0

Damn! You have it ALL figured out. What an absolutely awesome intellectual you are. Sheesh. Sucks to be us.


0

Quips the totally anonymous rude poster who has nothing intelligent to offer himself.


0

There is nothing wrong with being an anonymous poster. It is your choice that you use your name. It is not a requirement.


And…just because you use your own name does not make you the Baby Jesus, either.


Your post is no more valid–just because you use your own name–than others who remain anonymous.


It is the CONTENT of the post which determines the validity of your opinion.


0

16 unarmed black persons have been killed by cops in the USA this year alone …including a young mother and her two children.


Those are only the ones we know about.

We live in a shameful, racist, stupid nation where too often the ‘thugs’, bullies, goons, and criminals are out-of-control cops.


Even the limbic brain white people that frequently post nonsense here would admit that they are fearful if and whenever they’re pulled over or confronted by cops, if they were truthful.

But they won’t, because they’re scared cowards, and it wouldn’t fit the narrative of their myth.


Obviously, there are ‘good’ cops that don’t behave so badly. Until they stop backing up and supporting the ‘bad’ cops among their ranks, they really aren’t so ‘good’.


0

How many police officers have been killed this year? How many people have been killed by armed people in your line of work? Most police gunfire incidents start in mini-seconds and are usually initiated by some type of furtive move by an offender. Obey the police and there are usually no problems. Cop and attitude along with a threat or furtive move and the incident will escalate to some type of conclusion hopefully where the police officer wins and goes home after his day at work unharmed.


0

“usually initiated by some type of furtive move by an offender”


Whether offender, victim, by stander, man, woman, or child, anyone when nervousness exhibits furtive behavior, even if they are not, anything can be rationalized as furtive behavior by an articulate criminal or LEO or for that matter by anyone else that wants to suspect so.


0

26 police officers have died this year. Most of them as a result of traffic accidents. Second is suicide. At least one cop was killed by his partner after a night of heavy drinking.


The two cops killed by the Cliven Bundy extremist and his wife, and I think one other example are the only ones killed in conflict this year.


0

Just out of curiosity, how many unarmed White, Asian, Native American, or other have been killed by cops in the US this year?


0

One white kid in Minnesota, but we don’t really know how many more for sure, as there are no comprehensive national requirements for PD’s to report these kind of records.


This should be something that is required. The FBI could handle it.


0

Here’s an interesting observation, and it goes a long way to demonstrate who is more hateful and likely to commit violent acts against the other.


Words used int his comment thread to describe police officers:

LEOs

police officer

agent provacteur


Words used in this thread to describe protestors:

protesters

inmates

criminals

wackos

dumbass

thugs

misguided students

flaky liberals


0

Let me add, ALL of the media reports mostly rely on LE official reports or versions.


“But frequently the police are very aggressive and they begin striking people, including women, in the crowd when they don’t move (or respond) fast enough, even if they can’t move. And then a few people stand up to the police (not necessarily-they just don’t know what is going on-and their response is intolerant-in the old days batons and PR-24 are immediately drawn like samurais warriors-the batons, then the choking), and the tear gas starts flowing.”


0

Obviously, the violent “protesters”, who had the original intent to break the law by BEING violent, fits the description of haters.


I’ve yet to see the police break windows, turn over cars, and throw Molotov cocktails…


0

Lets see how accurate you are….

protesters…actually some were rioters and arsonists

inmates….some will be soon

criminals…when they broke the law…yes

wackos…protesting violence by they themselves being violent…yes

dumbass…for hitting a cop

thugs…when you beat a person with a hammer as he’s attempting to stop looters…yes

misguided students…after all it is Berkeley

flaky liberals…hypocrites is more accurate.


LEOs…..yes

police officer….yes

agent provacteur (learn to spell)…you forgot armed as he/her should be


0

The people in these crowds have nothing productive in life to do. They are either misguided students with wealthy liberal parents or flaky losers that just want to piss and moan because they have nothing. The Ferguson melee hurt black business owners but no one hears that story. The dead thug’s parent yelled to burn the town down. These idiot protesters have misplaced passion for an empty cause.


Read the testimony of all the witnesses (mostly black) that the media didn’t interview. They tell a story of a thug trying to wrestle away the gun of a law enforcement official.


0

Did YOU read the testimony? That’s not the whole story they tell.


0

Are you so naive to think that you’ll get straight stories out of people who will have to spend the rest of their lives living around the area where the incident occurred?


0

So first there is mischaracterization of the testimony, and then when that is called out for being untrue, then it’s that they didn’t give honest testimony.


0

They should read the testimony of the two WHITE street repairmen that witnessed the incident. Neither of them live in Ferguson.

They testified that Michael Brown had his HANDS UP and was not approaching Darren Wilson and about 35 feet away when Wilson unloaded his clip and murdered the unarmed 18 year old.


0

So….why didn’t the Grand Jury see things the same way?


0

Eye witnesses tend to be unreliable. The best possible types of evidence are forensic and/or scientific.


0

Yes, I read the testimonials, and compared those narratives to the PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. When you match forensics to what is said, you toss out the stories that fail to pass the facts sniff test.


City, state, and federal investigations ALL concluded the same: Brown was a dumbass that picked a fight with a cop, and lost.


0

Federal investigations have NOT concluded anything yet.


0

QUOTING RUSSJ: “The people in these crowds have nothing productive in life to do.”


———


What kind of evidence can you possibly have to support that opinion?


I think it just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy to make nice, tight little boxes labeled “me-good” and “them-bad” by witch you interpret events in the world.


0

As I think about it, no government & no corporations in the US will resolve any of these problems unless they go through the AA 12 Step Program themselves (and they don’t really want to) .

One of the most important step is to go back to who they wrong and make amends (Which they dare not do)…this is NOT done through EEOC which is a sugar pill mockery for the unaware and undeserved as well as unfair for the rest.


0

From the linked article:


“Browne’s account conflicted with a report from KTVU that alleged the tense scene began when one of the officers pushed a protester after their identities had been revealed.


“What was the most surprising about that was the way the situation escalated,” said Carlos Villarreal, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. The presence of undercover cops at the demonstrations is “very problematic from a First Amendment point of view, from a free speech point of view,” according to Villarreal.”


Have any of you ever been to these kind of protests? Most of the people there are students and middle aged women, interspersed with some young males. Those young males do not begin with any intention of destroying anything. But frequently the police are very aggressive and they begin striking people, including women, in the crowd when they don’t move fast enough, even if they can’t move. And then a few people stand up to the police, and the tear gas starts flowing. At that point, most young testosterone filled males are PISSED OFF and things are going to happen. And the cops are in the same state of mind.


0

yes, i have been to these kinds of protests. it takes two to tango.


0

It may take “two to tango,” but it only takes one aggressive thug to make a victim trying to protect themselves from harm.


0

“But frequently the police are very aggressive and they begin striking people,

including women, in the crowd when they don’t move fast enough,

even if they can’t move.

And then a few people stand up to the police, and the tear gas starts flowing.”


As a young man I recall the indiscriminate brutality of LAPD at the Hollywood gatherings in the late 1960. And the police shootings at Peaceful University protest, I recall articles of non violent protesters not spared the national guard’s bayonets. It is very hurting to see – and I wander about our government criticizing the cruelty of other countries.


Because of my advanced age I know you are speaking the truth.

In a “black” racial situation, who are more aware of police tactics & escalation plans.

It becomes too dangerous for non blacks to par-take in the main points or serious principles of the protest to the media/ politicians.


Good to see a keen open mind aboard.


0

It’s a shame no one listens to people who have already seen it over and over enough times to remember it. They rely on their very short memories. They don’t understand the science of the brain and how it basically remaps itself over a 7 year period. This is te same reason public servants can play on drought fears to get their pet projects and cost increases pushed through


0

A brief look at a riot from the LEOs point of view. Your assignment for tonight is to safeguard this lady’s business so that she can go to work tomorrow and feed her children. While standing guard, a large rock gets thrown from the middle of the crowd and hits you on the side of your head. You immediately loose consciousness. The next thing you remember is awaken up in the hospital and hearing the doctor explain to your wife that you may never regain consciousness. “Very few do after a week in a coma. and even if he does regain consciousness, the extent of brain injury may not be known for weeks.” You try to tell them your alright, but can not form the words to do so.

Another week goes by and your partner tells you that they arrested the person that threw the rock, a 17 year old son of a Los Angeles Police Officer. He will be tried as a juvenile, punishment not disclosed and record sealed. You can not legally be told the name of this child that has disabled you for life and ended a career in an occupation you loved.


To all you that support such civil disobedience, I hold you personally responsible. You should be tried for inciting to riot!


0

You really think that people just randomly go up from the crowd and attack police officers? That is ridiculous. That is NOT what happens.


0

@mkaney, Your right! They do not “go up from the crowd….” They stay back (like the cowards they are) and throw rocks and bottles from the middle of the crowd, as my narrative said. My “comment” is not factitious. It is a true account of what happened to my partner the summer of 1970 during anti-war riots in Isla Vista.


0

Associated Press

“As hundreds of protesters began marching through downtown Berkeley, the unrest that marked protests Saturday night was touched off again as someone smashed the window of a Radio Shack. When a protester tried to stop growing vandalism, he was hit with a hammer, Officer Jennifer Coats said.”

Is this your idea/definition of a peaceful protest?

“Police said groups of protesters late Sunday began roaming through the downtown area, throwing trash cans into streets and lighting garbage on fire, smashing windows on buildings, and damaging and looting businesses. There also were reports of vandalism at City Hall.” This is a peaceful protest?

Oh…and how would you characterize this…..

“Television footage showed protesters smashing door windows and breaking into buildings and setting rubbish piles ablaze.”

PEACEFUL PROTESTS my #ss


0

You’re not actually paying attention to what I’m saying. None of this occurs until after what you see in the video


0
1 2 3