The intrepid (and handsome) Jesse Fruhwirth has struck again!
As you may recall, following the eviction of #OccupySLC from it's base camp at Pioneer Park, a Government Record Access and Management Act (GRAMA) request was submitted to the SLCPD. The first of the details have emerged, although by no means all of them.
You remember Jesse, right? He's the guy who metaphorically kicked a chainsaw through the face of a certain owner of a certain vacant lot in downtown Salt Lake City with the Power of Journalism.
Jesse addresses one of the primary justifications given by Salt Lake Police Chief Burbank regarding the eviction of #OccupySLC - namely, that "163 arrests" had been made during the Occupation. Quoth Jesse:
46% of the criminal cases in Pioneer Park were for simple alcohol or tobacco possession (47 liquor cases, 33 for tobacco). 10% were for crimes believed to be charged only on the night of the eviction (curfew, disturbing the peace, obstructing police and trespassing). 9% were assaults of various types. 7% were for warrants (thus not necessarily linked to any criminal activity that occurred in Pioneer Park). 5% were drug cases (3 cocaine, 2 marijuana, 3 paraphernalia). 5% were related to sickness or mental health. 3% were for public intoxication. 1% were for sexual assault (2 cases).
As Jesse points out, citing the above statistics for Pioneer Park as though they constitute some kind of crime wave is ridiculous on its face, and more ridiculous when you realize that about half of the "crimes" that constituted the surge of lumenproletariat misbehavior spurred by #Occupy are nanny-state, petty drug and alcohol violations.
If this is the SLCPD's justification for their display of force and dominance - which was the police equivalent of a treeful of rabid baboons shrieking and clubbing themselves senseless with branches - well, the word "overkill" springs to mind.
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