Protestor awarded $5,000 after being pepper-sprayed in face
A judge has awarded a protestor $5,000 in compensation after he was pepper-sprayed in the face by police. The judge found that the pepper-spraying of Simon Oosterman at a GE Protest in 2005 was unreasonable and breached police guidelines. The arrest of Mr Oosterman was captured on camera, but he was just out of view when police pepper sprayed him. Mr Oosterman then had to be carried off by police. In awarding Mr Oosterman $5,000, a judge found the actions of the arresting officers were unreasonable and breached the bill of rights. "I wasn't given warning, it was too close to my eye," Mr Oosterman says. "Iit should be a metre away. It was 20 centimetres and there were other options that were available for those officers." The judgement also criticised police for breaching their own guidelines which prohibit the carrying of pepper spray at protests unless there is specific authorisation.
Bah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! And the Judge warned the cops that next time they will be charged with exemplary damages on top of whatever fine they get for misusing pepper spray and that warning comes in the week when Police have to pay out to another person they wrongly pepper sprayed. The Falwasser family should take a private prosecution against the police and make them pay for their abuse of Police powers with his cell block smash down. $5000 – that’s one spicy Police meatball!
The policeman concerned should have been given a medal for his efforts. Anti-GE protesters are Luddites who are happy to see people starve as a consequence of their deluded beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI don't approve of police using pepper spray unnecessarily...
ReplyDelete...but Oosterman deserves it.
If you watch the video he quite clearly deserved it.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth was the point of him resisting arrest? and what other options do the Police have, spend 5 minutes wrestling with him while his mates intervene, hit him with a baton, punch him, throw him hard onto the ground?
Out of all those pepper spray would seem to be the lesser use of force and have less chance of injury to both him and the Police involved, and in his case it certainly worked.
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ReplyDeleteBoys, boys, boys, I love how none of you have Acknowledged that the Police broke their own engagement rules, from getting permission to take Pepper Spray to a protest, to how close to the face they used it to using it when no danger was posed to the Police Officer. Please tell me the right wing have better reasoning than the whiney petty points you’ve thrown up here? The Police breached their OWN standards of using Pepper Spray, not once, not twice, but thrice children, how is demanding that the Police obey their very own rules somehow denigrated to comments that claim Oosterman is a luddite, deserves it, was better off being pepper sprayed and was lucky to being a pinko. Is this the best you can do kittens? I salute you, there aren’t many people who in their pig dirt ignorance can fly in the face of reason and still hold your petty hatred for Oosterman in tact for your own perceived senses of superiority.
Now that’s a party trick.
Bomber, your blog after blog after blog...
ReplyDelete...criticising the police demonstrates your anti-police bias.
Never a good word for the police, just bad.
Some people only see bad in, say, Maori.
Those people are rightly called bigots.
So if the shoe fits bomber.
Now I didn't say the police where right, they weren't.
What I said was it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
I know some genuinely nice people amongst the cocks who who vote National, and I know some cocks amongst the genuinely nice people who vote Greens.
Oosterman is one of them.
Life ain't black or white.
Oosterman is Bomber`s mate, but no mention of that fact anywhere
ReplyDelete...
ReplyDeleteBomber, your blog after blog after blog...
...criticising the police demonstrates your anti-police bias.
Never a good word for the police, just bad.
Some people only see bad in, say, Maori.
Those people are rightly called bigots.
So if the shoe fits bomber.
This is ridiculous, explain when I agreed the cops had a reason to be concerned over the Urewera 17 issue? I am critical of the mis-use of police power and giving police more unchecked power - that is my right in a democracy, yet you use that as some means to paint me as a bigot against police, purile, very purile. And this is your justification for cheerleading the Police breaching 3 of their own procedures? I see why you keep your comments anonymous, I'd be embarrassed trying to rationalise your comments with this line of reasoning as well.