CONNECT
Examiner / Op-Ed
Published: Sunday 9 October 2011
Yesterday, activists where shocked and outraged to learn that not even veterans are safe from police aggression when employing their Constitutional rights, the very rights they had once laid their lives on the line to protect.
Veterans Protesting at Smithsonian Met with Pepper-Spray
All too often, when there is criticism of U.S. military actions it is the service members who receive the force of the backlash. They are called criminals, they are accused of being brainwashed, and it is they that are punished when something goes wrong. However, many sometimes feel that when they do speak out against U.S. military action, they do so without support and with the threat of being accused of being traitors hanging over their heads. Veterans, on the other hand, are better positioned to be the voice of military personnel.
By giving first hand accounts of atrocities they’ve witness and the perceived senselessness of those atrocities, they leverage the fact that they have followed orders and have fought to defend freedom of speech and the right to protest. Nevertheless, yesterday, activist where shocked and outraged to learn that not even veterans are safe from police aggression when employing their Constitutional rights, the very rights they had once laid their lives on the line to protect.
Approximately 50 members of Veterans For Peace (VFP) participated in a march this afternoon from Freedom Plaza to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. The museum was featuring an exhibit on unmanned drone bombers that a group of about 250 people from the October2011.org encampment at Freedom Plaza intended to protest.
'We had marched from the Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square occupations, taking over the streets of DC. The museum knew we were coming. Some of our group got in and dropped a banner. Hundreds of us did not. Instead, we were greeted at the door with cans of pepper spray.' We intended to hold signs and sing inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, protesting its promotion of unmanned drones, missiles, and bombs, including its sponsorship by and promotion of weapons corporations. We don't have any museums promoting health coverage or education or retirement security.' This was the statement given by David Swanson is the author of 'War Is A Lie.'
VFP Acting Director Mike Ferner said, 'I was at the first entranceway, holding the door open for people to enter. I saw a police or security officer in a white shirt hold his hands up, telling people to stop. The marchers continued and the officer began pepper-spraying everyone. From everything I saw until that moment, there was no reason for the pepper-spraying. The door of the museum clearly said 'free admission.' It did not say 'Free admission if you are quiet' or 'Free admission unless you have opinions contrary to government policy.’
Veterans For Peace is one of several groups organizing the October2011.org encampment. VFP is an organization composed of U.S. military veterans from WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars and every period in between.
In an email sent to supporters last night Swanson said:
We're ready.
We're nonviolent.
We're not scared.
We're not discouraged.
We're not fooled.
We've got demands as clear as a blue sky:
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy K Street
Occupy Everything
And Never Give it Back!
_____________________________________________
**Announcement**
Military personnel, their families and veterans to ask President Obama, “Where’s Our Beer Summit?” Sunday, October 9th, noon
WHAT: Where’s our beer summit? President Obama met with Sgt James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates Jr. in August 2009. Military families and veterans who oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan want to have their 'beer summit' and talk with Obama. Do we not count? After ten years of war in Afghanistan and eight years of war in Iraq, veterans, military families and military personnel want to know why US forces are still in both countries and have a beer to discuss this with President Obama. Currently the American public is overwhelmingly in favor of troops leaving both countries, especially in light of our economic crisis where funds for veterans’ care are needed because of the continuing casualties and families are devastated by long-term care for their wounded. 'We want some answers, and President Obama is the commander-in-chief; he owes answers to those who sacrifice much everyday and have sacrificed in the past for this country. Col Ann Wright (Ret.) says, 'It’s high time that President Obama met with military families, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and veterans from other wars who don’t agree with his polices on war and their effects on veterans and families.'
WHO: Military Personnel, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans
WHEN: Sunday, Oct 9, 2011; March starts at 11:30 AM, arrive White House at 12:00 noon
WHERE: Veterans and Military families will march from Freedom Plaza to Lafayette Park, and then to the front of the White House.
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ABOUT Mercedes Diane Griffin Forbes
Mercedes Diane Griffin Forbes is the Founder and Executive Director of the Mercedes Parra Foundation for Women and Children, whose mission is to promote gender equity and equality by working to ensure sustainable social development. Formerly, she has worked as the Managing Director of the Institute for Humanist Studies and as the Women of Color Policy Associate for the National Minority AIDS Council.
12 comments on "Veterans Protesting at Smithsonian Met with Pepper-Spray"
No, the 9-11 GI Bill is only transferable to seosups and children. So that means dependents. Anyways, there is a lot attached to the transfer eligibility to transfer the GI bill if he had wife/children. He would have had to serve 6 years with a 4 year contract signed or 10 years or more. However, still you are not eligible for the Gi Bill benefits.The other scholarships I am aware of are for dependents only. Why would you think people should give you money for your sibling serving? That is reserved for the direct family (dependents) of service members.
November 29, 2011 7:03pm
Talk about irony. Who knew that when I wrote this article, I would end up being the victim of another pepper spray incident. It was Black Friday and their was a 32" TV advertised in the Walmart paper. I normally don't shop at that evil empire but my mom insisted. In the rural south there are not many options for shopping. I knew when I walked in that the night would be full of drama but I didn't know how much drama. It was a total nightmare. The store was unorganized and the sales people seemed lost.
My mom, excited to go shopping, pulled my sister and I into going shopping with her. We thought, "This is going to be a nightmare." However, we could have never predicted how our night would unfold.
We were waiting in line at the Walmart in Kinston, NC, when people began grabbing for things ahead of time and pushing each other. The police sprayed pepper spray into the crowd. Children, elderly, and disabled people were in the area but police sprayed indiscriminately. Many had to be taken to the hospital due to reactions from being sprayed.
I was in line patiently waiting for my item since 8pm. I was nowhere near the people who were fighting and pushing and yet I had to suffer being pepper sprayed. That is not the way it is supposed to work. You can't punish the masses for infractions of the few!
The reaction from people is that, "Well people shouldn't have been fighting!" This people get what they deserve attitude is appalling. The ends do not always justify the means and in this case they certainly do not. It is as if police officers have forgotten there are other methods of crowd control! No one said the police should have done nothing. However, what they did do was inappropriate and they should know better. The choices are not take to extreme measure or do nothing. There is such a thing as proper protocol when it comes to crowd control and police are trained to know what to do in situations like this. Their actions escalated the event and caused more injuries. The entire situation was handled incorrectly and that is the bottom line.
I recorded this video because I was completely outraged at what was going on at the store. Luckily I did not get sprayed directly and only suffered a bit of temporary discomfort. What I am now is outraged that this happened and even more outraged that so many think that the police were justified in their actions. I'm sorry but how it can be okay to pepper spray hundreds of people to stop the actions of a handful is lost to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmEP8nUt4c&list=UUHD-W96Q3nCqKy0mgxCtV0w...
October 10, 2011 6:37am
http://www.kickthemout.org/cartoons/occupation-of-wall-street/
October 09, 2011 3:31pm
What is it with all this pepper spraying? I'm surprised someone hasn't strong-armed a can out of the hands of someone and given him a taste of his own medicine. Are we becoming a police state, where citizens can't peacefully express their opinions without fear of retaliation? Wake up, people. The next thing you know they'll be putting cameras in your bedrooms.
October 09, 2011 2:54pm
Also: "We don't have any museums promoting health coverage or education or retirement security." This was the statement given by David Swanson
We don't have any museums that promote education!? Someone call the President! Unless he was talking about "schools", which are not education. They are daytime child internment facilities mandated by compulsory attendance laws that actually undermine genuine education. Forced daytime attendance? In the "land of the free"? Why don't they protest *THAT*?
October 09, 2011 2:17pm
a.) These protestors had signs, which are expressly against museum policy because they can cause damage to the museum, its exhibits, and its visitors.
b.) there aren't better places to protest than those that promote learning, knowledge, and information about what is really going on in the world?
c.) This article mentions twice that police are involved here, which is factually incorrect. Bad reporting!!! "not even veterans are safe from police aggression" and "I saw a police or security officer in a white shirt" - Those were MUSEUM SECURITY GUARDS, not police.
d.) There is precedent for protestors like this coming in and causing damage.
Because of these actions, a presentation on Saturday had to be cancelled. Someone could have learned something. Thanks assholes!
November 29, 2011 7:15pm
You have little knowledge of what you are talking about, Travis. The Smithsonian, as well as the rest of the large museums in DC, do indeed have a police force. They are NOT security guards. I know this because my father is one of them and, for your information, they are extremely well equipped police officers with even direct FBI/Interpol/CIA access, not to mention better equipment than most police departments.
As for the cancelled presentation, wipe your tears away. The message by the veterans was a better learning opportunity than one presented by the corporate militia.
October 10, 2011 1:04pm
Travis, you sound like the vets that told the war protesters how you "fought for their right to free speech." But now your attitude is, "So now SHUT UP!" You are a real patriot, Travis.
October 09, 2011 1:42pm
Guess the old "Support the Troops" car magnets have lost their magnetism.
Besides, vets aren't troops, just more disgruntled former skill sets.
Seriously. pepper spraying anyone who is peacefully protesting, much less our! own! veterans!, is a heinous, cowardly act.
And didn't some dickhead from American Spectator magazine self-admittedly act as agent provocateur and charge the entrance of Air & Space? He brags about it at their site.
October 09, 2011 1:37pm
the problem is that this program was in wash dc and against something tied to bho so it had to be subdued
October 09, 2011 1:10pm
Get some good goggles for the pepper spray episodes.
October 09, 2011 11:47am
http://www.kickthemout.org/cartoons/occupation-of-wall-street/