[mburbank]

I post this with a caution, this story is less than an hour old and while domestic stories can be verified more quickly than foreign, I still thought this was worth posting.

Rubber Bullets Used Against Oakland War Protesters
57 minutes ago


OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Police fired rubber bullets on Monday against hundreds of anti-war protesters blocking a road near Oakland's port, witnesses and officials said.

Local media reported several longshoremen were injured in what is believed to be the first police use of rubber bullets against demonstrators since President Bush launched a war aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on March 19.

Demonstrators were seeking to block access to American President Lines, a shipping company they claimed was profiting from the war in Iraq . Police at the scene said they used two types of rubber bullets to disperse about 750 protesters and that some arrests were made.




Certainly one expects the Police to arrest people who engage in civil dissobedience, but to fire on them? Rubber bullets have been found to be potentially lethal. I think this is an appauling disturbing overreaction. I await stories detailing what motivated the shooting (crowd dispersal after three warnings is the only reason given to date, the were blocking access to a shipping business), what the extent of the injuries were and who authorized the use of Rubber Bullets and projectile "bean Bags" as acceptable crowd control.

If there are any interested amateur researchers out there with more time than I, I'd also be interested to know when the last time US police used rubber bullets to disperse a crowd. My guess is this is the first time since kent state a crowd was fired upon to prevent a riot which had yet to take place. Pre-emption comes home.