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08/26/2005 Archived Entry: "Paper lambastes Utah sheriff for rave raid"

A LOCAL PAPER LAMBASTES THE SHERIFF for that outrageous "rave raid" Good for The Daily Herald. As more news comes out, it turns out that the "missing" permit -- the excuse the sheriff gave for "watching" the concert -- wasn't needed at all. The sheriff was wrong.

This is a good, and much needed, editorial. But one thing gives me chills: Although victims of the raid have described scenes of brutality, ninja masks, full-auto weapons, roughly confiscated video cameras, arbitrary arrests, and foul-mouthed orders accompanied by physical violence, almost none of the media are questioning why a SWAT raid was called, instead of less theatrical and dangerous police procedures.

They question whether the sheriff was right or wrong to bust the party. But they don't question why uber-violent methods are being used -- against a crowd of partying kids, fergodssake! Almost none of the mainstream media mavens are saying, "Wait a minute. The really big question isn't whether the party should have been busted or not. It's why police are conducting their daily business as if they were killer commandos and the rest of us their enemies."

Have we really become so inured to Hollywood-style, war-style mass-violence? Do we really accept that all cops should be Rambo and all law enforcement actions (or should I say aktions) treated like a Delta Force raid on an enemy camp? If the concert promoters had failed to get a needed permit would the helicopter, black face masks, and machine guns have then been okay?????

Ask the right questions here, people!!!

Posted by Claire @ 04:23 PM CST
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