The Catskill Chronicle

By Mort Malkin

Dissent, protest, rallies, disobedience, riots. Dissent is a slippery slope — ask any law ’n order official. The establishment knows, whatever the cause, civil unrest and protesters must be controlled. It is so much easier for public servants (officials, authorities …) to use force, a little violence if need be, instead of addressing the root causes of the dissent. So first, they adopted a slogan — law ’n order. Then, followed the strategy: nightsticks (“truncheons” sounds more realistic), detention, and pre-emptive arrest.

When the force used to suppress dissent is unwarranted, excessive, or lethal, and the incidents are photographed — political/social change often emerges. It is enough to give the establishment unease (dis-ease).

In modern times — our own lifetimes — the civil rights movement in the early sixties brought such change. In 1963 the youth marches in Birmingham, Alabama so upset the Public Safety Commissioner, Bull Conner, that he used high pressure fire hoses and police dogs to enforce the law. He didn’t figure that the TV networks would make such a big story over such minor violence against unruly kids.

Nor did Bull Connor think he’d be at the leading edge of history, but the sixties thereafter saw a series of events that played large in the civil rights struggle that is not yet over. That year, Martin Luther King’s brother’s home and the headquarters of SCLC were bombed by the KKK. That August the Civil Rights March on Washington took place. Back in Birmingham, the Civil War continued with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, resulting in the deaths of four young girls. Two years later, Selma Alabama was the site of “Bloody Sunday” when Sheriff Jim Clark and his mounted deputies, backed by state troopers, wielded cattle prods and plain old clubs against peaceful marchers dressed in their Sunday finery.

What would the President and Congress do? Why, establish a commission, of course. And so, the National Advisory Commission On Civil Disorder — the Kerner Commission — was appointed. In its 1968 report the Commission addressed the causes of all the civil disorder. The report blamed “white racism” and our “nation moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.” The Commission underlined the excessive use of force by the police. It warned that such an over-reaction would “incite the mob [people] to further violence.” Then, in straight line reasoning the Commission recommended research to develop “a middle range of non-lethal physical force.” Even so, many in Congress denounced the Commission as soft on crime. In response, our civil servants passed the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act . The law ’n orderists defined Law Enforcement as arrest ’em and Criminal Justice as just lock ’em up. Addressing the causes of unrest would be soft on crime.

Just two weeks after the Kerner Report was released, Martin Luther King was assassinated. Riots followed in over 100 US cities. The official account of a lone gunman was greeted by general disbelief. Everyone knew that Dr. King was more of a threat to the established order than just a civil rights activist. He had come out against the war in Vietnam, and was about to organize for the poor. He might go on to challenge the economic system of capitalism. A dangerous man.

JFK was assassinated in 1963 and MLK in 1968. In 1970 the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students protesting the Vietnam war. Other hi-profile violence occurred throughout the period. The US gained a reputation for violence and lawlessness. Hate, politics, and conspiracy became intertwined. It was not the violence of our mighty military in Southeast Asia but the law enforcement authorities right here on American soil. The government in Washington, DC was becoming uneasy — something had to be done. The idea of non-lethal weapons to keep protesters from inciting riots became attractive.

The first shot of adrenaline had been administered by the Kerner Commission which suggested paint ball guns and flypaper streamers (no satire here).  Congress established the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice was set up to evaluate chemical irritants, rubber bullets, and shock batons. The Army Human Engineering Laboratory started the testing. Bet you didn’t know your tax dollars were so well spent. Then, the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act was passed with Ronald Reagan’s blessings. George HW Bush continued by appointing Dick Cheney as Secretary of War (er, Defense) and Cheney formed the Non-Lethal Warfare Study Group.

Into the 90’s, the separation between civil and military became more and more obscure. Government authorities (officials, public servants…) needed to take off the kid gloves (and put on brass knuckles) to confront demonstrations by The People. A new joint effort was called Military Operations on Urban Terrorism (MOUT). The first big test was in Seattle where 40,000 people rallied against the free trade policies of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The police used pepper spray, CS grenades, stinger rubber ball grenades, and rubber bullets. Yet, the tactics and mobility of the protesters were superior, and conference delegates of the developing nations refused the entreaties of the WTO. The police needed to increase the incline of their learning curve.

In 2004 at the Republican (New York) and Democratic (Boston) National Conventions, additional measures were taken: free speech zones, containment pens, mass detentions, and pre-emptive arrests. In Pittsburgh at the G20 meeting, the sound cannon (LRAD) was added to the police armamentarium. The city police, in partnership (conspiracy) with other law enforcement agencies — state and federal — were ready for the dissidents. Protesters were armed with with dangerous cell phones and lap top computers, but they were kept in disarray.  For further description, please see the Gadfly column “Detainees At Home and Abroad.”

Right now, the next generation of police weapons is being readied — mind altering chemicals. In Penn State, that great institution of learning and Division 1 Football — the Institute for Non-Lethal Technologies has investigated Valium, Prozac, opiates, and Fentanyl as calmative agents. Meanwhile, the Army was working on the XM 1063 non-lethal personal suppression projectile which can dispense the chemicals among boisterous crowds. Never mind the Chemical Weapons Convention barring such weapons, and even such research.

You can’t have democracy and the rule of law until you have order.