For a long time now, May the 1st has seen an international turnout for progressive/social causes - most notably worker's solidarity and immigrant/worker rights. 'MayDay', or International Worker's Day, has also seen something else turnout: an absolute orgy of police terrorism and [in more recent years] a draconian escalation of the police/surveillance/security-state apparatus. Such a situation has only been further amped up under an Obama regime and this May Day is proving to be (has proven to be) no different. Dramatic reports of police thuggery have been pouring in from Turkey, as well as other countries.
In a country with a particular history of police-state authoritarianism, capital Istanbul has probably seen some of the most outrageous acts of government-backed police terrorism of any city which had significant May Day actions today. In a mad frenzy of bloodthirst, out-of-control state-pigs did everything in their [state] power to turn an otherwise peaceful mass demonstration into an out-right orgy of violence. Turkish state-pigs fired upon unarmed civilians indiscriminately, using a barrage of less-than-lethal/lethal weaponry including: tear gas, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, and bean bag rounds. hundreds of activists were swarmed upon by wild cops with dozens of arbitrary arrests having been made.
Let it be known that this sort of state-sanctioned terrorism against a Turkish citizenry is well-documented, so what took place today ought to be of no surprise to anyone. Every citizen, from all over the world, absolutely MUST take the initiative to defend themselves against such state thuggery... by any means!
http://revolution-news.com/workers-world-unite-live-blog-iii/
Reports of terrorist police thugs have also been coming in from Ukraine, largely between state police and Russian separatists. Gestapo cops went wild in Germany. As a matter of fact, various cities around the world have experienced heightened incidents of police terrorism, as well as crack-downs. Cop thugs in Seattle spent most of their overtime bullying around non-violent marchers and making at least half a dozen arrests - very typical... this is Seattle, after all.
Wilding cops in Seattle, May Day 2014.
Meanwhile here in Portland, things were comparably (some might argue, disappointingly) peaceful, compared to May Day actions in other cities. A very polite, liberal, city-approved march saw hundreds, possibly up to 2,000 attendees and Occupy Portland vets take to the streets in downtown, complete with police escorts and "peace volunteers" in yellow mesh vests making sure everything was kept nice and cordial. Kinda like a parade. Members of the International Social Organisation, Anarchist Black Cross, Antifa, and Black Bloc provided the only radical element in the joyous crowd (and commanded the most attention from cops). Admittedly, Things weren't nearly as violent as had been in past Portland MD marches. A similar march in capitol Salem had also taken place today and most likely was even more family-friendly.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/May-Day-demonstrators-around-the-world-5445043.php#photo-6243676
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