Wildly Distorted Picture of Protesters
Reported by Melanie - August 29, 2004 -
Former NYPD Detective Joe Coffey was a guest on Fox News today (August 29, 2004) at 10:23 a.m. ET. Interviewed by Kiran Chetry, Coffey was there to talk about the people protesting in New York City.
Coffey said that todays protesters are a lot like those from the Vietnam era, that "they're misfits,' and "drug addicts," and "weirdos." He said "they're pretty easily identifiable" and are "social misfits" and "pot smokers." After Chetry expressed concern at how the potentially 250,000 demonstrators might be processed by police if arrested, Coffey assured her that the technology has greatly improved since the l960s.
Chetry and Coffey talked about how the protesters "want to accomplish something," some might want to throw Molotov cocktails into military recruiting offices but that the police have "pinpointed" them and they "know who they are." Coffey said one tactic used in the l960s was protesters would throw red paint in the faces of horses so the horses would rear-up, and then a photographer would snap a picture which would look like the horse was about to trample the protester. He said the police will subdue them. Chetry said a some New Yorkers are concerned and Coffey said he didn't blame them.
COMMENT: I was an anti-war protester in the late l960s and early l970s. At that time I was a clerk at the candy/cigarette counter in a drug store and a college student. I was a regular kid. I don't remember specifically but I probably carried a sign. I cared that our boys were dying in Vietnam. I knew people who went and one who did die. I thought people were dying on both sides for reasons that weren't worth dying for. I protested too because I thought it important to add my physical presence to the crowd; the more people the stronger the statement.
It is outrageous for Fox News to paint a picture of the protesters of today as wierdo social misfits and pot smoking drug addicts. They're pushing people who care deeply about this country into a tiny corner and closing the door. Too bad Fox's viewers might never know that those protesting are people just like them.
Additionally, maybe one protester back in the 60s threw red paint into the face of a horse. The way Coffey told it, a whole lot of people did. Shameful spinning going on at Fox.
