Comments

1
I'm press! I'm Press! Bwaahahahahah
3
hahahahahahhahahahahahahah!
4
I speak for the majority of Seattle when I say fuck you all and your stupid white privilege that thinks you can walk around smashing shit up, yelling and throwing shit at the police, dumping shit in the streets, and fucking with everyone around you and not expect to deal with law enforcement.
5
I support the police in this situation.
6
So Bill's got smashed by randos and the Seattle PD pepper sprayed the press without direct provocation.

Sounds legit, SPD.
7
Notice how the protesters are dragging their feet in response to the police pushing them out of the down town area? When the mayor issues an order to the cops "Clear the streets of protesters" and the protesters reject that, then yeah expect the cops to use non-lethal methods of crowd control.

Instead of walking a block ahead, keeping his distance from the police, Finkbinder decided to be just a few feet away, yelling, chanting, provoking, basically dragging his feet, attempting to slow the police down as much as possible. Instead of slowing them down, he wore out their patience and got pepper sprayed right in the face like the good little trooper he is.
8
Oh, gawd, I owe Barnett and Finkbinder an apology for giggling. What is wrong with me? Maybe if the march had had some goal beyond goading the police into their Consent-Decree-inspiring worst, I'd be worried. I do hope their eyes recover as quickly as Dorli's.
9
Good lord, are you and Brendan begging for a contract with Alex Jones and InfoWars??

Seriously shameful reporting BTW - re-reporting a part of a report from KOMO with no context and based on one account of someone who is speculating and acting like it's the word of God.This isn't CNN, kiddo.

Also, the police have a lawful directive to throw things and use force against those breaking the law. Protesters have no such legal protection against attacking Law Officers carrying out their duties.

Better luck next time!
10
Finkibinder shows up in a lot of videos, egging on the cops until he finally got the response he was hoping for. Well done, SPD.
11
What I saw was mohawk guy strike an officer, and get pepper sprayed in the face, after the dickhead in the beginning obviously tried to provoke a confrontation.

And people wonder why our department has a rep for excessive force? they have to deal with dipshits like this on a daily basis.
12
Why would these people be so upset at the cops? The valiant SPD has to protect themselves every day from mexican piss, wood carvers, teen girls in crosswalks, drone-hating commies, 80 year old women, the press and more.

Why do you make the cops hit you, Seattle? Why?
13
I am so proud of our brave police officers.
14
Finkenbinder is a f***ing media hound. The less attention paid to him the better.
15
Yeah...maybe the pepper spray wasn't completely necessary, but if you block the cops they have these options:
1. Do nothing at all and let the protesters take over.
2. Arrest you.
3. Shove you out of the way.
4. Pepper spray you.
After what happened last year when they went with option #1, it really shouldn't be a surprise that they did 2-4.
I don't condone the pepper spraying...it's lazy and unnecessary, but I'm not a fan of letting douchebags break windows either. What ever happened to good street theater? Get creative and get the message out there...unless your message is just smash shit...which it seems it was last night.
16
Is the use of pepper spray in response to normal conversation appropriate? Why is the Seattle police department constantly sabotaging itself with the DoJ? I am so sick of McGinn's lack of leadership, he has had multiple chances to step up and address this properly.
17
At second 18 he clearly grabs for the cops bike despite clearly being told multiple times to get back.

18
And yet the Latino marchers downtown didn't get peppersprayed, while the entitled white angries on Capitol Hill didn't. I wonder why that is? Is it perhaps because one group is civilized and dignified and with a clear and obvious point to make, while the other is deliberately and cluelessly provoking the police?

On the other hand, the white anarchists actually got what they wanted, which was to be sprayed and beaten. I'm sure Finkbinder's biggest disappointment on the day is that he doesn't have stitches to show off. I'm sorry too.

@12, this does not resemble those abuses in the slightest.
19
@13 Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Oh my god, Phoebe! That's one of the funniest things I've seen on Slog! Thanks for the laugh.

"I'm proud of our brave police officers."

Clad in armor and beating the hell out of unarmed people. That could be straight out of The Simpsons.
20
@16: "normal conversation" - really?
21
What giffy said @17. The cop response was reasonable here.

You can't really fall back on "I'm press" if you're walking arm in arm with a guy who attacks a cop, now, are you? You're interfering with a public servant doing his job. You're in the way.
22
Phoebe you are nuttier than my poop this morning. I'm fine with the blockade on the sidewalk and not letting it get to property damage. If you're walking in the street and speaking in a conversational tone, I don't think you are asking to be pepper sprayed even if you are challenging authority. It surprises me that people are willing to give up their freedom of assembly because of broken windows at the Nike store on May 1, 2012.
23
Having known Finkenbinder for some time, I'm surprised that anyone is at all surprised by his antics. I'm with #10 and #14, he constantly finds a way to get into the media eye, decry 'the system', and then turns around and gets his free medications which keep him alive that us taxpayers pay for. The guy is an absolute drain on anything intellectual and civil.
24
22, I'm glad I never have to have a conversation with you if you think that's a conversational tone.

Finkbinder attacked the cop, got sprayed. Tell me again about the "more important issues" he was raising?
25
@24, he's challenging the police officer, but I don't believe the police officer felt any threat from the person in the pink Mohawk and pink dress. I know everything in Seattle has to be up for debate, but devil's advocate is not just assuming an idiotic position and then arguing fiercely for it. There are guidelines on pepper spray, and we will see how the SPD and DoJ react to this.
26
They pepper sprayed people who really needed to be pepper sprayed. The yearly petulant tantrum from privileged, hipster white kids who don't know the meaning of hardship doesn't win anyone over. (Except of course other privileged, hipster white kids who think the world owes them something simply because they exist.)
27
Now now people, let's settle this.

They're ALL assholes.

There. Now kiss and make up.
28
@25, he grabbed his bike. Try that on me and see what happens.

Eight police officers were injured. Tell me again how non-threatening the angry pink seven-footer is? What's he supposed to do, ask him "excuse me, sir, would you like to continue this fascinating conversation over a couple of brandies?"
29
I'm intimidated enough just by angry pink seven-inchers. An angry pink seven-footer? Mercy.
30
"People who needed to be pepper sprayed", @ 26? Man, May Day sure exposes the authoritarian tendencies in otherwise liberal Slog commenters.

Seems like the SPD got what they wanted, too. Local news sure did. Everyone should be happy today.
31
gawd we could watch this all day....

32
so is cum a cure for pepper spray?
33
I fear the day that these vandals team up with the negroes; we must do everything we can to keep them appeased. This is also one more prime example of why these people must be disarmed immediately. We should reward these brave, heroic officers with all the cameras, drones and weaponry they need to protect us.
34
"Excuse me officer, I'm with The Stranger! try not to pepper spray me..."

"Sure think, Asswipe.
Let me unholster my Glock...."
35
@30 I think you mean the anarchists got what they wanted. The march that set out to be peaceful experienced no problems with the cops. The march that set out to have a confrontation got it.

This is not some elaborate conspiracy to discredit an ideology that no one takes seriously. It was assholes being assholes and getting exactly what they deserve. The only problem was that so few of them were arrested.
36
@10 you should follow that snark up with a donation to the SPD since you're so happy with their service, show them how much you care with your wallet and not just anonymously on the internet. People should know how much you care about the job SPD is doing, they could really use your positive reinforcement in the form of money. You do support them, right?
37
@30, the SPD does not "want" to get injured in the street by raving dipshits. The raving dipshits did, in fact, want to get pepper-sprayed, because it supports their narrative of "poor oppressed us". Unfortunately, that narrative is bullshit, and whatever components of sense it contains are utterly obscured by the fumes of privilege that are coming off of them, as well as the innate inarticulacy of this kind of protest.

The raving dipshits would do well to take a look at the immigration-rights protesters and learn from them. But they never will.
38
The 'correct' protester response would be to lie down in the road. The 'correct' police response to that is to drag you into a paddy wagon and arrest your protestin' self.

Unfortunately... I think protesters in this country no longer believe that the police will act in good faith and not kick/abuse/pepperspray the shit out of anyone sitting in. see also, Occupy Berkley.
39
We need more laws! laws are good! except when the police enforce them.

Also protestors shouldn't have civil rights cause you hate their clothes.

At least slog is really consistent.
40
I agree; these vandals should to take a cue from the "good" undocumented protesters who clearly realize how fortunate they are to even have the opportunity to serve us. Let us all agree that the well behaved workers should be justly rewarded with an extended moment of leisure today as we collectively punish these unproductive vandals in every way possible.
41
There is apparently a range of offenses that are not serious enough to warrant a proper citation or arrest, but are serious enough to deserve immediate punishment with beatings, projectiles, and chemical burns.
42
@Fnarf: I just watched the raw video from my camera frame by frame. At no point does Finkbinder touch the police. He gives them the finger, then the cop in front of him says something and slaps at his hand. The officer next to that cop sprays Finkbinder in the face and the woman behind him. Then a third cop sprays her from a distance and nearly gets me.

Stop making shit up.
43
@42 It is hard to get a good shot of it, but it happens right here
http://imgur.com/oH2gUbx
44
Here, I made an image gallery for y'all from the six seconds of the video where it goes down. Even supposing Finkbinder did something, the second two pepper sprays are indefensible: http://imgur.com/a/3NGJh
45
@44 It is perfectly defensible. He was impeding their movement while whining about being press and grabbed at the one cops bike. After the first spray he, and I think that was ECB, continue to obstruct their movement and appear to be moving back toward the cops.

The guy is an asshole who sets out to cause trouble.
46
@45: Dude. I'm the one "whining about being press." Cuz I am and was.

K, I'm done here.
47
@46 Ah, from the video I thought it was finkminster or whatever his name is.
48
The National Lawyers Guild statement accurately describes what I saw going on. The DoJ is not going to allow the unprovoked use of force. Escalating a situation in order to use violence is the essence of the SPD problem. Yesterday, is another attempt by McGinn and the SPD to disregard the authority of the DoJ. They are wasting a ton of taxpayer refusing to make the changes that will be required. Even those on here who value property over rights, can understand the error in that.
49
@28 "@25, he grabbed his bike."

That is factually incorrect, Fnarf. Watch the video again.

Here is what what we see in this video:

From 0:05-0:10 we see Ian directing the rest of the crowd to comply with police orders to continue moving up the street. We hear him say, "let's go this way, go this way, go to the sidewalk" while police furiously bellow "MOOOOVE BACK!!". (I was not there, but in this video it sure looks to me that it was the police who were needlessly escalating the tension of the situation.)

The camera pans away for a moment, and then back to Ian. At 0:18 we see Ian facing a police officer and flipping him off while Ian continues to walk backwards in compliance with police orders. (I'm pretty sure flipping the bird is protected free speech.)

In this moment Ian does not appear to have broken any law. He has not "grabbed an officer's bike". He is complying with police orders to move back so he is not obstructing anything.

Yet just a second later one officer snatches at Ian's hand while another officer does indeed empty a load of pepper spray directly into Ian's eyes. Immediately thereafter several other officers unload their pepper spray in the faces of everyone in the vicinity of Ian, all of whom were complying with police orders to move back.

Of course a single 38 second clip is but a momentary glimpse into the activity of the day, but anyone who is using this video to justify police aggression is simply not being objective or honest.

Sometimes I agree with you and sometimes I don't, Fnarf, but in this thread you're picking the wrong side. This May Day coverage is bringing the crypto-fascists out of the woodwork, declaring every last protester an "anarchist", condemning "them" for property damage (come on now, if "they" were all anarchist smashists don't you think we would have seen a hell of a lot more damage then we did?), and crying for the cops to crack as many skulls as possible. Do you share those views?

Also, who is a "angry pink seven-footer"? Ian Finkenbinder is well under six feet tall.
50
Feel good video of the year!!!
"I'm press! I'm press! I'm press!"
LOL
thats some funny shit... I could watch ECB take it in the face on a loop for eternity!
51
@42, I'm not making anything up. I think you are, if you think that what Finkbeiner is doing in any way resembles "compliance with police orders".
52
Finkbinder had it coming if only for his appalling sense of fashion. That get up deserves far worse than non-lethal force.
53
@18
I concur 100%!
54
unfortunately, I think what we have here is a disagreement over at what point in a confrontation the PD are right to use things like pepperspray that will be very hard to resolve. A lot of policework in these situations comes down to the officers' "best judgement" and it seems like regulations would have to become detailed to the point no regular person could be expected to remember them to change that. Perhaps it would benefit the PD to educate the public on the standards they use so we're all more clear on how they interpret flipping them off and dragging your feet (but nominally complying) as a pepperspray situation. And then we could judge these events based on more facts and less "here's how I THINK the police are allowed to do things."
55
"COME ON. COME ON! TAKE A SHOT!" So SPD was encouraging someone to assault one of them. Why would they do such a thing? Things that make you go HMMM. Can you imagine how it would have played out if the person that the cop was screaming at obliged his request?
56
46

you aren't 'press'

you injected yourself into the situation.

you are an arrogant ignorant little piece of shit.
57
Fuck off cry babies. If this was a group of right-wing tea baggers blocking the streets over gay marriage then goading the cops by throwing shit then you would be snivleing that the cops did not do enough.
58
Hey, Unpaid Intern Dumb Shit,
When the cops say move, move.

And if you don't WANT to be sprayed, don't volunteer you work for the hostile-to-cops Stranger. That's making it an easy choice.
59
Ugh, I was fully expecting to sympathize with Untitled Intern until I watched this video. Yelling "I'm press" in front of cops like it's some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card seems like both crappy civil disobedience *and* crappy journalism.
60
@30

You are just figuring this out now? "Liberal" regimes have been at the forefront of authoritarianism for the last century.

Most of the posters here would gladly deny the Natural Rights of anyone who fails to share their opinions.

That said I want to buy the Officer that sprayed Ian "awesome" Finkbinder a drink.
61
Ah Monday morning QB peanut gallery is in full force. So here's the deal, whatever your personal opinion of Finkenbinder, it is irrelevant. Did he touch the cops or assault them? If the answer is no, then they had no right to spray him. The guy who sprays him isn't even within punching range. Just because someone is yelling at your or not moving fast enough doesn't justify that level of force. Police are professionals paid and trained not to let their emotions get the best of them. If you can't deal with people yelling at you or flipping you the bird, you shouldn't be a cop. Yelling is not sufficient provocation for pepper spraying. If that's the case I should be able to pepper spray anyone who yells at me on the street. Taking swings at the cops, throwing bottles at them, that's a level of force warranting pepper spray. This is just contempt of cop spraying. Last I checked the 1st amendment allows contempt of cops. I've been sprayed before (not at a protest, at training). It's serious nasty stuff, it's not like tear gas that goes away as soon as you move out of the cloud. It burns your eyes and stays on you for hours afterward. Water doesn't wash it off either. Love him or hate him, Finkenbinder didn't deserve to be sprayed. It's not clear he put his hands on the bike either, but even if he did a push back would be the most force warranted. Not spraying.
62
When the police ask you to walk away, then turn your fucking back and walk away. What the hell is wrong with people that makes them do otherwise - especially considering the SPD's reputation?
63
Maybe SPD's reputation is why they don't do otherwise, to confront cops who are bullies and use excessive force?

I'm not a cop lover or cop hater, I try to call shots as I see them. I've defended some cops who used justifiable force and condemn the ones who use excessive force. Pepper spray should only ever be used to thwart assaults or attacks, never to disperse a crowd, not even a non-violent but raucous crowd.
64
You heard Unpaid Fag. He's "done here". He's got a salad to toss back at Stranger World HQ
65
Sorry dickheads (with a special mons pubis nod to the serially factless Erica Barnett), but when cops are telling you to MOVE AWAY and you MOVE TOWARD them, you damn well better expect a response.

Here's hoping that it hurt like a bitch.
66
Today I learned I'm a crypto-fascist.
67
I wonder how much money Seattle will have to pay out for it's pigs this time?

There are a lot of cops who shouldn't be allowed to be within ten feet from a gun let alone walk around with one.

But go ahead; keep saying how cops protect us.

I remember the Rodney King beatings.

I hate our lil dying Empire with its police state. I feel much safer in countries with FEWER police, like Canada.
68
hysterical.

we had to watch it one more time before turning in.....
69
@37, i hear your point, fnarf, but cops are human. it has to be unbearably frustrating to be in that situation, one that they help create by their presence. part of them wants to beat hippies who are asking for it, taunting them, insulting them, throwing rocks. so the hippies asked for it, and were obliged.

the SPD has a recent history of documented brutality that puts the burden of proof on them. restraint would be to withdraw for once, not pull out the pepper spray.
70
@ 60, Nazism/Fascism is a right wing phenomenon, and all of the brutal dictatorships supported by the USA were right wing, too. So, those can't be considered "liberal."

There were the communists, but communism isn't liberalism. Communism is anti-capitalist; liberalism is pro-capitalist, favoring regulations that keep things fair (unlike the laissez-faire bullies of the right).

So, it appears that you are just flat wrong, like Ipso No-Facto. (Hi, Ipsy, you dumbass!)
71
Man, such nasty people here. Isn't pepper spray, which can be lethal, be a substitute for using a firearm? Do some of you seriously think the cops should have opened fire there?
72
@70
Don't try to conflate classical liberalism with modern liberal-progressives. The majority of brutal dictatorships, and certainly the most deadly were leftist in nature.

Your description of liberal economics sounds a lot like Hitlers, quoth wikipedia "Hitler believed that private ownership was useful in that it encouraged creative competition and technical innovation, but insisted that it had to conform to national interests and be "productive" rather than "parasitical".[133] Private property rights were conditional upon the economic mode of use; if it did not advance Nazi economic goals then the state could nationalize it.[134] Although the Nazis privatised public properties and public services, they also increased economic state control.[135] Under Nazi economics, free competition and self-regulating markets diminished; nevertheless, Hitler's social Darwinist beliefs made him reluctant to entirely disregard business competition and private property as economic engines."

And lets not forget that it was the National SOCIALIST German Workers Party, and despite their great evil their murderous reign pales in comparison to that of leftist.
73


A for-profit publication that rails against the exploitation of the workers on May 1st – whose reportage comes from unpaid interns. That's rich.
74
Oh, you guys.

I have to admit, I was pissed when I saw some of the jackassery that is going on in this thread, but whatever. I have been to literally dozens of protests and have never touched a police officer. I'm not stupid. I don't like being arrested, I don't let being beaten, and I would never attempt to physically interact with police in a way that could result in my injury or in legal repercussions. No, I didn't touch that damn pig's bike. You guys are clearly having difficulty watching the video.

Here's what happened:

After having multiple flashbang grenades (which, btw, have tear gas inside) thrown at my legs, I turned around and saw the woman being ushered away from the line of police. She looked terrified, so I came up and tried to direct her and the medics assisting her to a safer place (you know. A safe place where there weren't armed thugs spraying burning liquid on people). I then turned to the police line and addressed an officer: "Are you proud of the riot you guys started?" keeping in mind, of course, that the protest was without incident until a brutal arrest pissed off the crowd.

At that point, one tried to punch me. It didn't work and I turned to him to tell him to keep his dirty fucking paws off me and then I got a face full of pepper spray.

The entire time, of course, I was walking backwards to avoid touching the police, and one commenter is correct: I was obeying the police directive to move back.

Also, the one idiot up there (@14)? Fuck you. We exist in a capitalist system and if the government didn't purchase my meds, I would die. I would rather, however, that they were free and that all HIV patients had equal access to treatment without the consideration of profit, and that's one of the many reasons I "decry the system." I suspect you actually don't know me as well as you let on, and if you actually are around me, uh, ever, feel free to come up to me, let me know that you were the asshole on the Slog who brought up my HIV, and tell me to my face what you think of me. Otherwise you are just, like the rest of the police apologist trolls on here, a cowardly shit who sits at home fapping to themself saying naughty words on the internet.
75
@ 72, ROFLMAO.... which of MY theories say that these things have to benefit the NATION?

Concern with the NATION is rightwing. Concern with the PEOPLE is leftwing.

That's why Fascism and Nazism are right wing, and therefore closer to you. (I ain't calling you a Nazi, so don't go crying Godwin's or anything.)

And while it's true that many Nazis early on believed that there was going to be real socialism in National Socialism, Hitler a) never believed in it, and b) purged those who did in the Night of the Long Knives. You know how to use wikipedia, apparently, so go there to confirm this.

Learn about your subject before you comment upon it.
76
What I think I just read went as such: "I shouldn't have to pay for things because I think there should be a different system in place."

Good luck Ian, keep doing what you do. Plenty of people have been entertained by your antics but please do not operate under the false assumption that you are doing anything to help your cause. You actively hurt the ideals you work for when you show up and act the way you have acted these past couple years.
77
@76 eew. Ian does a lot of great shit for a lot of people. You are just some turd floating in the toilet bowl of a slog commenting section.

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