The Arrowhead
Massive protests against NATO summitFriday, June 01, 2012 By Tommy Cavanaugh
On May 20, 2012, people from around the world flooded into the city of Chicago. A few of them were major world leaders attending the NATO summit but many of them were there to protest against the same NATO summit. The protests took months of organizing and was a major event involving international organizations. The varieties of groups there were all united in the fight against NATO and war. The protests started early in the day around 10 a.m., with thousands of people gathering in a park to listen to music, speeches, and to meet fellow protesters. At about 2 p.m., the march from the park to the end point – which was three blocks away from the NATO summit – began. The march poured into the city streets with more than 15,000 people marching. The march remained peaceful despite the media frenzy worked up about so-called “violent protesters.” When the march reached its destination there were speeches giving by ex-military personal who symbolically threw back the medals they had earned, in protest of what they see as appalling acts of war-mongering. As the planned protest came to an end, in came the same old story associated with the Chicago Police Department. The police – armed in full riot gear – beat protesters, who were only armed with bandanas and hoodies, to the ground with their batons. There was even an instance where a police vehicle ran over protesters in the street. Many protesters were injured and sent to the hospital with broken teeth, broken ribs, and other injuries. Despite the denial by the police that such brutality had occurred, footage ran on the news of police beating, with full force, unarmed protesters while they lay on the ground. With such brutality occurring in the USA, it has made some wonder this: Is NATO truly justified intervening in foreign countries to ‘protect civilians’ when they brutalize their own? |