Further Brutality in Oakland– Portland in Solidarity with Kayban Sabehgi

November 5, 2011
By
This statement was drafted by members of the Media Committee in response to the recent news of yet another veteran in critical condition as a result of police brutality. 

Police in Oakland have sent yet another veteran to intensive care after attempts at crowd control on Wednesday night—this time as a result of a lacerated spleen after being beaten with a baton and tackled. Kayban Sabehgi, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, did not reach the hospital until 18 hours after being attacked.From The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/occupy-oakland-second-veteran-injured):

Sabehgi told the Guardian from hospital he was walking alone along 14th Street in central Oakland – away from the main area of clashes – when he was injured.”There was a group of police in front of me,” he told the Guardian from his hospital bed. “They told me to move, but I was like: ‘Move to where?’ There was nowhere to move.”Then they lined up in front of me. I was talking to one of them, saying ‘Why are you doing this?’ when one moved forward and hit me in my arm and legs and back with his baton. Then three or four cops tackled me and arrested me.”When his bail was posted the following afternoon he was unable to move for pain. The cell door was closed, and he remained on the floor until the evening.

The police in Oakland saw Sabehgi as a threat not for his actions alone, but because they associated him with a movement which they perceived as violent. We condemn these actions. It is an unforgivable error when the actions of a few are used to brutalize peaceful autonomous members of a necessarily diverse movement.

We do not roundly condemn the police as a whole for the actions of a few. We request the same consideration, for ourselves and for our fellow Occupiers in Oakland and around the world. Just as violent actions of individuals do not represent anyone other than those individuals, we know that violent actions of individual officers do not represent every officer.

Occupy Portland continues to stand in proud solidarity with all who seek to improve our society and its institutions.

Though process did not allow for this statement to be submitted as a formal proposal for official endorsement by the General Assembly, it was read to the GA and a temperature check showed overwhelming approval.

This entry was posted on November 5, 2011 at 1:02 am and is filed under General Assembly, News, Occupation, Solidarity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to Further Brutality in Oakland– Portland in Solidarity with Kayban Sabehgi

  1. Ben on November 5, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Stop denouncing our fellow protesters for their militancy! Like other commenters have noted in the past, you are being divisive. I foresee this issue coming to a head real soon.

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