It has been said that one picture is worth a thousand words.

No doubt the picture on page A3 of the Oct. 26 newspaper certainly makes a biased statement. A young police officer with short-cropped hair, buttoned up and pressed uniform with the left arm in the parade-rest (clearly a military posture) position and the right arm gesturing to a pile of rubble implies that those activists who occupied Oakland, Calif., City Hall were a slovenly bunch.

If all one did was look at the photo and read the caption, it would be easy to assume that the police got rid of a bunch of bums and miscreants.

But we need to read the story below the photo carefully. If we do, we see that the mess was not left on the street because the protesters wanted to leave it that way. They were viciously attacked by an armed gang firing rubber bullets and tear gas and swinging clubs at them just before day break.

The mess may have been left behind by the protesters, but the mess was created by the police.

I shudder to think what the police would have done had the protesters decided to not leave. Eventually real bullets and perhaps tanks? Remember Tiananmen Square?

As the occupy movement gathers steam, we shall see more and more of those who proudly display the motto, “to serve and protect.” I guess in Oakland, at least, we now know exactly who the police “serve and protect.”

Certainly not the average citizen, but rather their corporate masters.

Peter P. Sirois

Madison

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