Violence at dead prez show at Evergreen?
- Thread starter shao sosa
- Start date
this from Greg Lewis...who was at the show...pretty interesting....
Peace all,
On February 14th, 2008, Dead Prez with Umi, Sis Hailstorm, Alpha-P, DJ B-Girl, Project Mayhem, and two other DJs from Olympia (sorry, I can't remember their names) performed at Evergreen State College in Olympia.
During Dead Prez's set, Olympia Police came in to the venue and arrested a black male, who was being accused by a white male of punching him and his girlfriend during a fight outside the venue approx. 30 minutes earlier. I didn't see the fight, I just heard about it. I was told by another student that the white male started it.
Except for this incident, the actual show was completely peaceful!
Everybody who took the stage was dope. Slap yourself right now if you missed it.
The local media, specifically [FOX affiliate] KCPQ-13, and [Cox Television affiliate ] KIRO-7 has been claiming on television that Dead Prez told the crowd, in essense, to attack the police. THIS IS A LIE and A MAJOR DISTORTION! If you follow the link, you'll see that KIRO-TV in particular couldn't even get the group's name correct, let alone give complete and accurate details of what really happened.
M1 of Dead Prez specifically told the crowd, who were already shouting "cops are in the building" and "fuck the police" on their own, to "make sure the brotha was safe" and to "handle the situation responsibly" . They then went back to doing their set.
Once the police got the black male outside and into the car, the mostly white crowd of Evergreen students started chanting, "let him go!" and surrounded the car. They also shouted slogans denouncing capitalism and white supremacy.
As more police arrived, more students started surrounding the car. I estimate the number at about 400, plus many onlookers; including alot of people with cameras. The police pepper sprayed a few people, myself included, and then tried to penetrate the ring of people around the police car. When they did that, people in the crowd started throwing rocks, garbage cans, etc. Then, a small group in masks ( I was told they were anarchists) bum rushed the car and opened the back door where the black male was seated in handcuffs.
The police stopped the rush, and then announced they were leaving. Then more students surrounded the car, shouting "when he is free, you can leave!".
According to a witness near me ( I couldn't see so well, due to pepper spray in my eyes and more people joining the crowd near the car) the police opened the door, uncuffed the black male, and he walked away!
The police then started a hasty retreat. One officer and his car got separated from the group and he was pelted with objects until he ran over with his fellow officers. The crowd scooted the car away from the wall and then turned it over. The gas tank was punctured and the computer was taken out of it. Calls went out to open the trunk and take their weapons, but no one did.
After the police left, some in the crowd started taking the car apart, while others tried to set it on fire. Olympia police returned and everybody started leaving and the police deployed more pepper spray.
End note:
Before people outside of Seattle and the hip-hop scene start thinking this was just a bunch of 'drunk college kids' or 'outside agitators', keep in mind that at the tail end of last year, Evergreen students laid their bodies on the line in an attempt to stop shipments of war materials (like Armored Personel Carriers and Tanks) coming back from Iraq at the Port of Olympia, in an effort to do something direct and tangible to stop the war (as they saw it).
At that time, police were accused of using excessive force, and the fall out from all of that hasn't really resolved itself yet; so many people are still very angry; I was told this by more than a few different people present last night. Someone else suggested that the students were attempting to assert community control over the police using direct action.
Hopefully, a positive resolution can come from all of this that everybody can be at peace with.
Greg
Peace all,
On February 14th, 2008, Dead Prez with Umi, Sis Hailstorm, Alpha-P, DJ B-Girl, Project Mayhem, and two other DJs from Olympia (sorry, I can't remember their names) performed at Evergreen State College in Olympia.
During Dead Prez's set, Olympia Police came in to the venue and arrested a black male, who was being accused by a white male of punching him and his girlfriend during a fight outside the venue approx. 30 minutes earlier. I didn't see the fight, I just heard about it. I was told by another student that the white male started it.
Except for this incident, the actual show was completely peaceful!
Everybody who took the stage was dope. Slap yourself right now if you missed it.
The local media, specifically [FOX affiliate] KCPQ-13, and [Cox Television affiliate ] KIRO-7 has been claiming on television that Dead Prez told the crowd, in essense, to attack the police. THIS IS A LIE and A MAJOR DISTORTION! If you follow the link, you'll see that KIRO-TV in particular couldn't even get the group's name correct, let alone give complete and accurate details of what really happened.
M1 of Dead Prez specifically told the crowd, who were already shouting "cops are in the building" and "fuck the police" on their own, to "make sure the brotha was safe" and to "handle the situation responsibly" . They then went back to doing their set.
Once the police got the black male outside and into the car, the mostly white crowd of Evergreen students started chanting, "let him go!" and surrounded the car. They also shouted slogans denouncing capitalism and white supremacy.
As more police arrived, more students started surrounding the car. I estimate the number at about 400, plus many onlookers; including alot of people with cameras. The police pepper sprayed a few people, myself included, and then tried to penetrate the ring of people around the police car. When they did that, people in the crowd started throwing rocks, garbage cans, etc. Then, a small group in masks ( I was told they were anarchists) bum rushed the car and opened the back door where the black male was seated in handcuffs.
The police stopped the rush, and then announced they were leaving. Then more students surrounded the car, shouting "when he is free, you can leave!".
According to a witness near me ( I couldn't see so well, due to pepper spray in my eyes and more people joining the crowd near the car) the police opened the door, uncuffed the black male, and he walked away!
The police then started a hasty retreat. One officer and his car got separated from the group and he was pelted with objects until he ran over with his fellow officers. The crowd scooted the car away from the wall and then turned it over. The gas tank was punctured and the computer was taken out of it. Calls went out to open the trunk and take their weapons, but no one did.
After the police left, some in the crowd started taking the car apart, while others tried to set it on fire. Olympia police returned and everybody started leaving and the police deployed more pepper spray.
End note:
Before people outside of Seattle and the hip-hop scene start thinking this was just a bunch of 'drunk college kids' or 'outside agitators', keep in mind that at the tail end of last year, Evergreen students laid their bodies on the line in an attempt to stop shipments of war materials (like Armored Personel Carriers and Tanks) coming back from Iraq at the Port of Olympia, in an effort to do something direct and tangible to stop the war (as they saw it).
At that time, police were accused of using excessive force, and the fall out from all of that hasn't really resolved itself yet; so many people are still very angry; I was told this by more than a few different people present last night. Someone else suggested that the students were attempting to assert community control over the police using direct action.
Hopefully, a positive resolution can come from all of this that everybody can be at peace with.
Greg
Yep my bad, I've made that mistake with Dead Prez before, I need to get that right.
My impression of most of those kids at Evergreen State are that they're the kind of people (mostly white, mostly middle class if not upper middle class) who are always desperately looking for a cause, even when no such cause exists. Then when they start trouble looking for any type of cause to cling to, the police simply do their job, and then these kids feel like they have been terribly wronged, which is the feeling they so yearn for in the first place.
They crack me up, I would have loved to been there, I might've broken a rib or two laughing at the whole scene.
My impression of most of those kids at Evergreen State are that they're the kind of people (mostly white, mostly middle class if not upper middle class) who are always desperately looking for a cause, even when no such cause exists. Then when they start trouble looking for any type of cause to cling to, the police simply do their job, and then these kids feel like they have been terribly wronged, which is the feeling they so yearn for in the first place.
They crack me up, I would have loved to been there, I might've broken a rib or two laughing at the whole scene.
I'll give you that with Dead Prez, never met them, just b/c I don't agree with their message I guess doesn't give me the right to be quite that judgmental.
But as for the Evergreen State kids, that umbrella I'm comfortable throwing out there. I've interacted with enough of them and my experiences have been similar enough each time that I have a good idea what that place is about. Obviously haven't met every student there, but when it's 3 people, 5 people, 10 people, 15 people and you come away thinking the same thing each and every time, that's enough to form a solid opinion.
But as for the Evergreen State kids, that umbrella I'm comfortable throwing out there. I've interacted with enough of them and my experiences have been similar enough each time that I have a good idea what that place is about. Obviously haven't met every student there, but when it's 3 people, 5 people, 10 people, 15 people and you come away thinking the same thing each and every time, that's enough to form a solid opinion.
you obviously cannot read. i was just wondering if what i was really seeing was that a car being fucked up was being considered violence. that's not jaw jacking you stupid son of a whore. and you're not invited to my place of residence but if you think it's that fuckin important i can meet you somewhere once my car is drivable and i'm not working. or you can send me money and i'll fix my bumper now since my fuck face neighbor hit it and ripped it off.