Criminal law, Politics, Society

Video: Oakland Police Officer Shoots Photographer With Rubber Bullet Without Any Apparent Provocation

As fellow law professor sent me this video of Oakland police shooting a photographer. The video raises serious questions of the unjustified use of force.

In the video, the police appear to be standing without challenge when, around the 33 second mark, an officer suddenly shoot a photographer who is a good distance from the police line.

I cannot imagine the claim of justification in this case when the use of rubber bullets present significant potential harm to citizens, as shown below.

Kudos: Professor Alberto Bernabe (John Marshall Law School)

Source: Lowering Bar

397 thoughts on “Video: Oakland Police Officer Shoots Photographer With Rubber Bullet Without Any Apparent Provocation”

  5. Yes, what Woosty said (to OS) and … politicians acting in the best interests of their constituents is exactly the kind of progress OWS is seeking.

  8. Citing excessive force and free speech violations by police during protests in Oakland and at UC Berkeley, the Berkeley City Council this week refused a mutual aid agreement with university police and nixed agreements with other police agencies on regional domestic surveillance.

    Council members used news reports of police using excessive force at the Occupy Oakland protests and at previous protests at UC Berkeley as reason for not renewing the agreements that usually are approved each year without fanfare.

    In addition, the council did not renew an agreement with the federal government on detaining illegal immigrants at the city jail.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19299488

  9. http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/11/09/oakland-city-councilmembers-shouted-down-by-protesters-at-press-conference/

    Quan Meets With Encampment Members, Says ‘Consensus is Camp Must Move’; Councilmembers Shouted Down at Press Conference
    November 9, 2011, 2:46 pm • Posted by Jon Brooks

    Occupy Oakland protesters shouted down city council members at a press conference near Lake Merritt today. Councilman Larry Reid can be seen on the left, wearing a black baseball capPhoto: Kelly Wilkinson/KQED

    KQED News intern Vinnee Tong was at the Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza today when Jean Quan showed up, along with Sharon Cornu, Deputy Mayor for Community & Governmental Relations. Quan said she was there to talk to people informally. Vinnee Tong did not see any police accompanying the pair.

    About a dozen people from the encampment crowded around Quan and talked with her, Tong says. Quan said she wants the protests to continue minus the encampment.

    One man, who said he was a medic by profession, told her “we need jobs, we need jobs.” Another man said he was upset about the police response to the protests and Quan told him the city is in the process of hiring an independent investigator.

    Here’s one interesting exchange Quan had with a member of the Occupy Oakland encampment, caught on tape by Vinnee Tong. Listen to it here:

    Audio: Jean Quan tells Occupy protester that “camp must be moved”

  11. It is a very interesting fact that the words used to describe something affect the way it is conceived. I theorize that a big part of the problem is the fact that these weapons are labeled as “non-lethal”. Once someone accepts that label, they conceive the weapon as “safe” A shot with a normal gun to the foot would also (probably) be non-lethal, but we don’t see too many cases of police shooting people in non-lethal areas of the body because they have been conditioned to think of the use of guns as “deadly force”. Deaths due to tasers or other “non-lethal” weapons become – by definition – anomalies, or “freak accidents”.

  12. The 1%ers and their minions are trying to shift the emphasis of OWS from themselves to the police.

    It’s a desperate ploy and not working well at all.

  13. “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”

    Now where have we heard that before?

  14. What is happening in Berkley is exactly what Greenwald described in the video Shano linked to above. “In these challenging times,” Birgeneau wrote, “we simply cannot afford to spend our precious resources and, in particular, student tuition on costly and avoidable expenses associated with violence or vandalism.” Birgeneau means people erecting tents and peacefully protesting.

    What he does not mean is police violently attacking people and ripping down their tents. They can spend money on that entirely avoidable expense!

    Also, I will note that I have seen many videos where police go in and rip apart tents and other infrastructure the people have set up. It looks a lot like what happens in a war zone. The well armed utterly destroying the village. The political lackeys are in process of using financial mechanisms to destroy the cities of the people. This is the armed wing called out to do the same.

  16. 2 taken to hospital, 66 arrested. Students now trying to erect a tent in violation of police orders. Rubber bullets used during confiscation of other tents.

  18. The police are now in full riot gear and are still attacking the protesters in Berkely. This night will be interesting. A stand off at 10 pm.

  19. OS,

    Probably, had they known, they might have tried to confiscate it but may not have been able to if the cameraperson had a planned escape route. I’ve seen that video several times as I’ve been looking for more info so I suspect it’s on its way to viral.

    OWS is getting very savvy … brains are outwitting brawn … I’m impressed

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