Privacy SOS

Snatch and grabs on video

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We've written a lot about the militarization of the police; it will continue to be an issue we highlight here and in our advocacy work for years to come.

One particularly offensive military to police tactic is the dreaded "snatch and grab" — amounting to the identification of key activists in a crowd and their preemptive arrest. Why wait for a troublemaker to get a crowd going when police can simply swarm the person and "extract" them? Pre-crime dissent policing, anyone?

The video above purports to show Oakland Police snatch and grabs in full effect at May Day 2012. The police department admitted that it was planning on using the controversial tactic, but said it was in response to community concerns about their prior response to Occupy Oakland in the streets — tons of tear gas and other "less than lethal" weapons. 

Watch the video above, and click here to read more about the militarization of the police.

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