Friday, October 28, 2011

Too Late To Turn Back Now

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is now in support of the the Occupy Oakland goals. Great. But it comes after the police riot that seriously injured Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen and turned the demonstrations into confrontations.

So far, the eruptions of tension and arrests in the Occupy demonstrations seem to have come from overreaction on the part of some members of the law enforcement community. Yes, they have a tough job, but they’re also professionals, and part of keeping the peace is not by using excessive force to do it.

As the demonstrations continue to grow, the officials need to realize that it’s gone beyond just a bunch of hippies playing bongos after curfew. It’s bigger than that, and the more they try to control it with threats of force, the harder it will be to keep it from spreading.