The picture above shows a National Lawyer Guild attorney observer being run over by a New York Cop. (more on that story here)
But that’s not where I wanted to start. The first thing I want you to do is watch the YouTube Video that is found here. It shows a defenseless man being knocked out cold by a white shirted New York City Police Officer. Please watch this video and share it. This is what a totalitarian police state looks like. This is what an out of control government, scared to death by the rise of the people, looks like. This is what tyranny looks like.
Notice especially the way all the other officers become aggressive after the attack. Sadly this extraordinary attack is not actually all that extraordinary. Violent attacks by law enforcement are happening at protests all across the country, but the cops in New York seems to show a particularly violent form of brutality. As abhorrent as this act is, this cop will not be punished. He is a supervisor and like Tony Balogna, the other New York Cop caught on tape attacking citizens, this cop will get away with this crime.
We should all be wondering, “What kind of violent suppression would be happening if there were not so many cameras around?”
Next, we all need to be seriously asking, “What lengths will our government and the powers that own our government go to in order to crush this dissent?”
You see Ben, we’ve got to keep all these people suppressed. Whatever it takes, no matter what the consequences. We have got to keep them all down on their knees. And remember that old quote from Stalin, “First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
Presumably, little Timmy knows it wasn’t Stalin who uttered that famous phrase. It was a little known poet and it’s critically important in these times that everyone know from whence such a quote comes. You see, OCCUPY is not the first time a people rose up against tyranny and oppression. And the little tiff our American patriot ancestors had with the King of England was not the first time people rose up. But there is one common thread that runs through revolutions….the government and the powerful always, always, always attack intellectuals, writers and attorneys. Early on in every revolution, attorneys were persecuted and punished. And it is happening in this revolution as well. (more here)
The attacks on attorneys and those who dare to challenge the tyranny that clinches this entire nation in its iron fist are very real. The attacks come in varying degrees and manifestations. The most dramatic forms of persecution are Bar complaints and lawsuits. Very public, very, very expensive to defend. Demoralizing and crushing. And while these are direct and dramatic, the persecutions come in many other even more insidious forms that are not so obvious or public.
Any attorney who has ever stood up for consumers or for the little guy or fought for the First Amendment or to protect and defend The Constitution has experienced the kind of persecution that I’m talking about. As an attorney who has suffered all of these persecutions, and many, many more on a regular basis and on behalf of all the attorneys who have likewise suffered because they chose to fight, I honor the spirit and the courage that is the Occupy Movement. When I was persecuted for daring to stand up and speak, there were those that came to my defense. They offered their counsel and support. Their guidance and wisdom. Their leadership and resources.
And as attorneys who took an oath to defend The Constitution and to protect and defend the rights of those who were oppressed, I stand with the Occupy Movement and I stand behind their efforts to make their voices heard. I am calling on my colleagues, those good attorneys who remember the Oath of Admission they took when they became attorneys to rise up to defend and protect the rights of those who are making their voices heard.
We may not agree with all that they are saying. We may not agree with all that they are doing, but as attorneys that is not our concern. Our concern, as attorneys who took an oath to serve The People, is to zealously and aggressively stand up to protect and defend those who desire to make their voices heard.
For the good consumer attorneys in this state, who take their Oath seriously, stand with me and commit to provide real support to all those who are standing up….and remember:
