philly

So Nutter just announced that former DC To Cop Charles Ramsey will be Philly's new Chief of Police come January. I went to school in DC during Ramsey's tenure. I was there as his riot police beat the shit out of protesters during the a16 IMF/WB rally in 2000. It was the first time I got into the thick of things with a camera. I was rammed by a cop on a Harley, pepper sprayed (the real police-grade stuff) and witnessed some serious beat downs. Here are four shots (poorly photographed as our scanner is currently on the fritz) from my series of about a dozen. I got an A in my photo class that semester with this being my final project.

That's a set of cops breaking down a barrier. The cop at left is jumping over the barrier to break it down from the other side. The cops at center are grabbing protesters by their hair and dragging them away. A bus full of IMF/WB delegates are waiting to roll through once the path is clear.

At center, you can see feet horizontal to the pavement below, his thighs are at left. He's being yanked away by his hair.

There's a cop in riot gear streaming some serious pepper spray. Notice how thick it is at the middle of the stream - you can't see though it. The protesters were prepared. Many with Army/Navy surplus gas masks. Others with goggles. Most with hankerchiefs soaked in vinegar. A stream of this landed on my face. Not too bad, but enough for the area above my lips to burn for a good bit.

This is a South Korean journalist. He had his head smashed by a cop's baton. There was a pool of blood about a foot in diameter below him. Medics were all over the place.

I went back for another day and missed presenting to my class. I made arrangements ahead of time with my professor to show the photos at another time. I presented to an older class and they loved it. It was pretty cool to see people react to my photos for the first time.

I'm not saying that Ramsey is going to have riot police around all day everyday. But this is a taste of what he's capable of. I don't recall anyone being killed at this demonstration. This was also a nationally organized protest. The Black Flag Army (some serious, militant anarchists) were there so there was definitely provocation at times. But that didn't stop the cops from launching tear gas into random pockets of people. It was quite nuts to be on the campus of George Washington University as it transformed into a partial urban warzone.

I recall changing rolls of film in my old Canon AE-1 + 50mm prime while on the run, hands shaking from the adrenaline and, sometimes, fear. I shot several rolls of film. I'd say under 6 rolls of 36 exposure film. Kinda crazy to think of that now. If I were at a similar event now, I'd have 2 bodies (D70, D200) with 4 lenses (12-24mm, 17-55mm, 50mm, 80-200mm) and 16GB of CF cards (good for 1500+ shots between the 2 bodies of differing resolution) and my laptop to d/l photos so that I could shoot some more.

How will Nutter's crime plan mesh with Ramsey's style of enforcement? Time will tell. Philly needs to change to fight the amount of crime in the 5th largest city in the U.S. - how violently it will fight crime is a different story. I'm hoping for the best, but know (partially) what to expect for the worst.

This is sort of a Braveheart moment when William Wallace is meeting with Princess Isabelle

Princess Isabelle: The king desires peace.

William Wallace: Longshanks desires peace?

Princess Isabelle: He declares it to me, I swear it. He proposes that you withdraw your attack. In return he grants you title, estates, and this chest of gold which I am to pay to you personally.

William Wallace: A lordship and titles. Gold. That I should become Judas?

Princess Isabelle: Peace is made in such ways.

William Wallace: Slaves are made in such ways. The last time Longshanks spoke of peace I was a boy. And many Scottish nobles, who would not be slaves, were lured by him under a flag of truce to a barn, where he had them hanged. I was very young, but I remember Longshank's notion of peace.

I really like Braveheart.

From The Next Mayor [who may or may not be blocking my comments on their site for some reason].

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 @ 1:35 pm. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or trackback from your own site. Your comments will be moderated [if you have never previously commented] but will appear as soon as humanly possible.