Last week, under the heading of "The little Thing," I talked about the report that a new 350-member anti-terrorism task force was being established by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton in the NY police department, one armed with high-tech weapons and machine guns. And it was going to be patrolling ordinary protests as if they were some sort of terroristic threat.
Apparently, it develops I wasn't the only one who noticed that reference to protests being within the purview of an elite anti-terrorism force and the NYPD backpedaled furiously. Oh, no, it was all a misunderstanding. Y'see, when Bratton said members of the so-called Strategic Response Group would be armed with machine guns, he didn't mean that Strategic Response Group. No, he meant some other Strategic Response Group which has some other name. Or some other thing.
Anyway, it turns out - for now, anyway - that the Strategic Response Group which will be dealing with demonstrations is not and is separate from the anti-terrorism force and will not be outfitted with machine guns and thank god for small favors
Instead, the not-the-anti-terrorism unit will consist of 550 specially trained officers to handle the demonstrations and protests.And to handle "any sort of civil disorder."
And to "respond to citywide mobilizations."
Which still sounds like demonstrations are placed under the heading of "civil disorder" rather than of "an expression of First Amendment rights" but hey, at least this way you'll only be clubbed, maced, and tasered, not machine gunned.
Sources cited in links:
http://gothamist.com/2015/02/03/nypd_announce_new_machine_gun-free.php
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/550-specially-trained-nypd-officers-handle-protests-article-1.2101319
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