What If They Scheduled a Riot and Nobody Came?

In our not-so-distant history, protest in the United States was handled by local law enforcement that treated demonstrations and marches as mere nuisance, mediating and directing as needed. Today, observing the interaction between Occupy movements and law enforcement suggests something different is afoot. Present Occupy protests are now being defined by a bewildering set of law enforcement strategies – and current practices display a worrying new trend.

While riot police are not necessarily an everyday feature at any given protest, the sheer frequency with which we are witnessing their presence on city streets throughout the United States is enough to give average citizens cause for concern; the excessive force being routinely deployed is alarming.
~ from Occupy and the Militarisation of Policing Protest by Ayesha Kazmi ~

It really has become a disquieting occurrence. On one side, we find a large (or not-so-large) crowd peaceably marching and chanting. On the other side, we see a phalanx of mainly men dressed as if headed out to Armageddon. This second group sports helmets with visors, body armor, shields, batons, and various sorts of weaponry. One side looks as if they are ready for Woodstock, while the other looks like they are preparing for World War III!

As I've noted before, this overkill in policing tactics -- which we have witnessed for nearly a decade -- is a not-so-veiled attempt by the state to goad the masses to commit random acts of violence. In some instances -- like in Oakland -- it has bore some fruit. Aggressiveness and brutality from one side tends to breed the same from the other. And this is precisely what the state wants.

It doesn't need to be wide scale retaliation either. If, despite all the goading, the main body of protesters in any given location refuses to take the bait, it only takes a small handful to achieve the desired result. If 99 individuals eschew a violent response and one solitary soul heaves a rock towards the police lines, that's the only pretense they need to brutalize the entire group.

We already know what the mainstream media will seize upon! Recently, in Oakland, there were thousands upon thousands of peaceful protesters, yet the mainstream media immediately become transfixed on the handful who threw rocks and bottles, broke windows and set fires. Hey, it's news, they chortled. We need stories that are interesting and mayhem sells!

Of course, the state cherishes the pictures of unruly mobs. Fires, broken windows and overturned police cars provides them with all the ammo they need to turn public support their way.

We need to restore order, they prattle.

These hordes are out of control, they screech.

Violent masses must be met with sanctified state violence, they declare.

We'll only misbehave for a short while, they promise, until we quell the insurrection.

Sadly, it's all a ruse. State misbehavior will become legitimized. It will become routine. It will become the expectation of the frightened masses.

Dystopia will become the new reality!