Protest For Tibet, Get A Beatdown By The NYPD

I've seen Free Tibet signs on cars and whatnot my whole life, but I never thought the violence that stems from the Chinese occupation would reach just a mile from my home here in Manhattan. Unfortunately it seems to be the case that quite a few officers from the New York Police Department thought it would be a good idea to threaten and physically beating protesters simply because they oppose the Chinese being in Tibet.

From InfoWars:

Disgusting video footage of New York cops clubbing and arresting peaceful Tibetan protesters who were merely walking down the street has gone relatively ignored beyond Youtube.

While stories emerge out of China every day of police beating and killing Tibetan protestors in the streets, the same sort of behavior by cops in America tells its own story.

The footage was shot at a free Tibet peaceful assembly in New York on the 14th of March.

It shows the protestors holding flags and signs and peacefully walking down the street towards the UN building in the Turtle Bay neighborhood only to be accosted by police officers with batons.

One officer identified as "Delgado" is seen in the video pushing people as the group crosses the street.

Another officer, identified as "Serano" is caught threatening to kill two protesters as the cameraman passes. He later admits to the threat and apologizes for it.

As the group nears the UN building, cop cars and vans screech onto the sidewalks, cops pour out and begin to beat the protesters with clubs as UN security guards observe without becoming involved.

A non uniformed officer, who seems to be directing the entire operation, then orders the cameraman to step back and move away.

"Look at these cops, clubbing people in front of the UN, unbelievable, protesting to free Tibet, cops clubbing people in their legs on the sidewalk, in front of the UN in America, unbelievable, this is not China." the American cameraman announces in disbelief.

The officer identified as Serano then forces the cameraman away from the melee, telling him to shut the camera off and that he will not talk to him because he may be a reporter.

Several officers then follow the cameraman asking him about his recording of the incident.

Right here in Manhattan.

Shame on the NYPD.

And shame on YouTube, it seems the video on InfoWars has been taken down.

Councilman Avella Speaks Out Against Tibet

If you had to put the adjective "reformer" next to a noun like "New York City Councilmember," you would likely come up with Tony Avella. Tony has fought against the horse drawn carriages in Central Park and now he is appealing to the corporate sponsors of the Olympics based here in New York to boycott the Beijing summer games. Many people have heard about Steven Spielberg dropping out of his Olympic role, well now NYC's Avella is engaged and will be participating in today's protest against the Chinese government for their atrocities perpetrated on the Tibetan people as well as commemorating the anniversary of the 1959 uprising.

From The Gothamist:

City Council member and probable 2009 mayoral candidate, Tony Avella, is the latest politician to ask for America's withdrawl from the Beijing Olympics if China will not grant Tibet independence. Under China's rule for over 50 years, Tibet has made no headway, even with the support of human rights groups, activists...and Richard Gere. When we interviewed Robert Thurman, co-founder of the Tibet House, earlier this year he touched on the Olympics, saying:

The thinking is that if you give them a big P.R. thing to do like the Olympics, they won’t want people to see how they’re beating up the Falun Gong or whatever it is they’re doing lately. This is a fallacious concept but within that it’s true that the Chinese are trying to clean up their act so they won’t be embarrassed during the Olympics. Unfortunately, what the Chinese consider ‘cleaning up their act’ is to wipe out people who might do human rights protests; they don’t mean stopping the human rights violations.

Today a rally in Manhattan is taking place commemorating the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against China. Avella is in attendance and will most likely use this event to introduce his resolution, which demands New York City-based corporate sponsors boycott the 2008 Olympics, and that the International Olympic Committee move the games from Beijing. He stated, "That's the only thing that will make them do anything — international pressure."

If we were able to boycott the 1980 Olympics, we can do it in 2008. Bush may not care about the plight of the Tibetan people enough but many Americans certainly do, especially when they resonate with what the citizens of Tibet want.

Thank you Councilman Avella for the principled stances you take and to show you our support, I'd like to ask anyone who is free at 11:30 AM on Thursday, March 13th 12 PM Friday March 14th to show up at the steps in front of City Hall to help him in his other quest, for clean elections here in New York. I'll be telling you about it again, so if you forget today don't worry.