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Chicago Police Investigated For Pepper Spraying Obama Supporters

By TChris, Section Misconduct
Posted on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 06:50:51 PM EST
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The Chicago Police are under investigation for multiple complaints of using pepper spray against election night revelers celebrating Barack Obama's victory. One incident sparked a lawsuit.

A family filed a federal lawsuit charging officers in unmarked squad cars pepper-sprayed and shouted racial slurs at their young children as they drove on the West Side.

There are unconfirmed reports of as many as 50 pepper spray incidents in the same Chicago district.

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    Chicago Police Investigated For Pepper Spraying Obama Supporters | 3 comments (3 topical)

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    Sick (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by eric on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 07:12:34 PM EST
    It is one of my greatest hopes that Obama can find a way to turn the tide on the police, to make them serve the community they work in and not be against it.

    Good luck, I know.

    The only hope in (none / 0) (#2)
    by JamesTX on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 08:18:19 PM EST
    this area is to continue to fight and put pressure behind the progressive agenda in general. It is like peeling an onion. We aren't to the police part yet. There are about 100 deeply seated conservative lies that the population perceives as obvious truths that will have to be dismantled before we can even begin to talk about reining back police power or reforming criminal justice. Obama isn't much on reining in abuse of police power at this time because the popular "Wyatt Earp", "white-hat cowboy" police images are still very real, even among many of the progressives that helped us achieve this victory. The Reagan era crime attitudes are like the "old fat" of the conservative belief system. They will be the hardest to get to and the hardest to lose. Conservative leaders built their initial populist movement on the platform that the police of the 60s and 70s were powerless against drug criminals, gangs and sex criminals. They announced that peaceful people were being over-run by crime and criminals. The solution, they told the population, was a roll-back of civil rights and unlimited empowerment of police, complete with new statutes that nulled out important constitutional amendments that had never before been toyed with. Of course, the "rampant crime" and "powerful, unstoppable criminal" myth wasn't true then, and it certainly isn't true now, but it worked in unifying their population and energizing the cause. The population was at that time young baby boomers entering the young-family and child-raising period of their development. In their traditional habit of unfettered selfishness and complete short-sightedness, they wanted to protect their new families more than they wanted to maintain a free democracy. The crime myth was then built up into a movement in the churches. Back then, they could easily define crime as anyone who didn't go to their church or have kids in their local school, because that is all the young boomers cared about. So it was the obvious place to start a massive reshaping in popular beliefs -- with a single-issue, self-centered generation. The attitude runs deep in the conservative identity, because they have repeated the lies so long that it will take some time for boomers to be able to release those ideas while saving face. The attitudes are even popular among a great many reasonable people who simply never had the opportunity to question the media's massive rhetorical assault that was used to create the Reagan revolution. Trying to dispute that old tuff-on-crime attitude right now is like trying to tell people gas is too cheap. Even though they have finally come to enough consciousness to understand the dangers of unchecked executive power, and they rail against abuse of executive authority in the abstract national context, it is only in that abstract, national level context that they are willing to challenge the authoritarian principle. They are still willing to hand their local police any amount of power or money they ask for, and they are willing to look the other way when abuse occurs. They identify with the police and believe that abuse of power is in their best interest (they think police only cheat when they deal with outgroups that threaten their own ingroups). Things take time.

    Not at all surprised (none / 0) (#4)
    by Terradea on Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 07:27:21 AM EST
    I live in Chicago and I can tell you that, while there are many good, ethical police officers here, there are too many bad, racist, misogynistic creeps who wear a badge. I've experienced first hand the arbitrary criminal behavior of these thugs.

    I called when, after evicting a deadbeat tenant, this tenant tried to steal from me and damage my humble property. The cops arrived, and it was immediately apparent that they were friends with the tenant (a man) and did not like a woman (me) telling them anything. The cops proceeded to ignore the law, hold court right there on the sidewalk, and issued a judgment for the deadbeat tenant, all contrary to the law, the lease and common sense.

    After filing a complaint, telling my story (with photos!) and asking for some sort of action, I was was told "The officer in question will be investigated by his own boss." Right. These "officers of the law" are without restrictions, oversight or ethics. I doubt if that will change anytime soon.

    Chicago Police Investigated For Pepper Spraying Obama Supporters | 3 comments (3 topical)

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