In a statement released yesterday, Oakland Police admitted to having used bean bag rounds, a controversial projectile that looks like a tiny bean bag but is filled with lead. It was once banned in policing after causing a fatal incident in 1971.[...]
Adele Carpenter, who knows Olsen through his involvement with anti-war groups and is currently visiting him at the hospital, told The Guardian she was “absolutely devastated” that after doing two tours of Iraq and coming home safely, Olsen is now “lying in a U.S. hospital because of the domestic police force.”
Olsen was said to be in “critical condition” on Wednesday night as doctors worked to mitigate swelling on his brain. His condition was upgraded to “fair” by mid-Thursday, and later reports indicated that he’d begun breathing on his own, but still may need major surgery.
Olsen's friend Jordan [Towers] said he was at the march as well. Although he did not see his friend that night, he said the police were out of control. "It's been really disgusting to see them fire indiscriminately into a peaceful crowd," he said. "Being in the military, I know about escalation of force. The police started out at a higher rate of that escalation of force than what was necessary."
In a video published early Thursday morning, ex-Marine Scott Olsen, the 24-year-old who suffered a fractured skull in Oakland on Tuesday night and is currently in “critical condition,” is seen standing peacefully in front of a police barricade next to a uniformed sailor just moments before officers deployed chemical agents to disperse the crowd.While the video does not show what hit Olsen, it suggests that he was shot in the head by a tear gas canister at near point-blank range. Olsen did not appear to be provoking officers, who’d repeatedly announced their intent to disperse what they’d declared an “unlawful assembly.” Others speculated that he was hit by a beanbag round fired from a shotgun.
You can send cards and/or money to: U.S.M.C. Scott Olsen, Highland Hospital, 1411 East 31st Street, Oakland, CA 94602.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. There may be some delay before your comment is published. It all depends on how much time M has in the day. But please comment!