This past Saturday night, a group of about 100 people rallied at ComFest and marched down High Street voicing their opposition to the Iraq war and occupation. They were just about to end their march and head back into ComFest when some officers of the Columbus Police Dept. decided to demonstrate what a true Police State we are becoming and pepper spray the crowd. The marchers were given less than 20 seconds to get out of the street.
Many people not even taking part in the march were choked up by the canisters of pepper spray. Silly them for thinking they could hang out on the streets and sidewalks we own and not get assaulted by the cops.
This is what democracy looks like? Or this is what a police state looks like?
Those officers had NO reason to use that kind of excessive force. It’s a wonder they didn’t break out the tasers they’re so in love with. Sorry to tell you, CPD, but we have the whole thing on tape. Contrary to what today’s pathetic Dispatch article would have people believe, no “masked protesters” assaulted any cops. This was confirmed by a friend of mine who was there for the whole thing. Don’t you think there would’ve been an arrest if that happened? And the marchers were not given “more than 10 warnings.” Listening to the video you can vaguely hear some warnings in the background, but only the very last warning can you actually understand.
This past weekend was the Pride Parade as well as ComFest, and I, along with other members of Columbus911Truth.org, was busy passing out over 4,000 flyers promoting the Truth Film Festival happening this Saturday at Studio 35. What does this have to do with the ComFest police incident? Plenty. One of the films we’re showing is “America: Freedom to Fascism” and it’s all about the disappearance of the Constitutional Republic that was once our country, and the emergence of a fascist dictatorship. 
The Police State we saw on Saturday night is a perfect example of this. Not every one of those marchers was guilty of disorderly conduct, only a few were doing stupid things like throwing newspaper boxes into the street, and yet the whole crowd was sprayed? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
A rising police state is only one of 14 points of Fascism. Wake up America, while there’s still time. Unlike the protesters at ComFest, we’ve been given plenty of warning.
To go along with those 14 points of fascism, here’s another write-up of the incident and 14 minutes of video taken by my friend, Peace General Bruce. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, fast-forward to about 7 minutes into it and you’ll hear the final warning given, see some of the pepper spray being shot at the marchers, and see the coughing and blinded crowd that was left behind.
Please repost this story everywhere you can, don’t let this become yet another story swept under the rug by the Columbus media!
06.27.07 Update: Here’s another tragic example of the consequences of an unchecked Police State, the execution of an Army reserve veteran who just wanted to be left alone before he was shipped off to Iraq. (HT to Tobi.)
