Thank-You 9th District Police

I don’t usually post reactions to recent events - I'm not the quickest blogger in the world. But I want to broadcast a public thank you to the officers of the 9th District for how you handled the demonstration last night: cool and professional. I bet you’ll handle the NATO protests the same way.

I think there are some good reasons for peaceful demonstration, and some of them will be represented this week-end. That’s why last night was insulting.

I read they were protesting capitalism and the ‘police state.’ From the sidewalk it felt like they’d marched in to protest the neighborhood in general. And to amplify some jumbled video they saw on You Tube. I saw that video – it didn’t sound to me like the scene it’s supposed to have captured. It sounded like edgy banter encouraged along by the guy making the video. I could be wrong, I wasn’t there, you can probably hear what you're inclined to hear on that recording.

I was there last night. Thanks to the police for calmly deflecting what sometimes looked like a lot of 19 year olds hoping for a fight. And thanks to the neighbors for not taking the bait.