"They declared an unlawful assembly, and this is when the crowd broke down the construction fence."
"The protesters challenged the line, marching towards the police with our own shields in front."
"The protesters returned one volley of firecrackers, small projectiles, and funny things like balloons. A very weak attack, 3 officers may have been hit by something"
In plain English, the Occupoopers were a bunch of lawless idiots who deliberately attempted to illegally take over a building, deliberately engaged in illegal vandalism and violence, deliberately provoked and attacked the police, and ultimately got exactly what they deserved, yet still feel entitled to whine about it and act like they're the ones who were wronged.
In fact, considering the Occupoopers were attacking the police by charging at them with shields and throwing fireworks and other such items at them, the cops showed a remarkable amount of restraint in dealing with them. Under such circumstances, if I am up- to- date with police protocol, the Occupoopers could be considered as posing an active threat, which would have made it justifiable for the cops to take their own measures up a notch (If not to openly drawing their guns, at least to using more active means of dealing with the Occupoopers than what they actually used).
The very fact that the Occupoopers were so eager to get violent confirms that the police were right to engage in the crowd- control measures the OP whines about. In particular, the fact that the cops have printed profile books of the Occupoopers is not only unsurprising, it actually makes a good deal of sense. Considering that most of the Occupoopers undoubtedly had rap sheets as long as my leg even before the Oakland chaos started, it would make sense that the police would want to keep tabs on the most dangerous of them, to know who they're dealing with.
