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"Some reports indicate that stones were thrown at police from the crowd of protesters. " Joel Send a noteboard - 03/10/2010 03:38:19 PM
I wasn't there, but if that didn't happen it shouldn't be in the article, which also captions one of its photos "Demonstrators were prepared for water cannon. " That COULD be meant to indicate they just happened to have some protection because it was rainy, but that's not mentioned in the article, and in the context of what IS mentioned (water cannon fired at protesters) the implication is that, first time or not, the crowd expected their use was at least very likely. I mean, why buy vehicles with water cannon you'll never use?

Based on the article it's very hard to say if the cannon were justified, though the way I read the article they were expected, justified or not. Which makes what happened to the children even more inexcusable; it should take more than 3:1 odds for pre-teens to overrun armed police in vehicles, so you shouldn't need water cannon to prevent it. However, the minister who cited parental responsibility also has a point; whether the parents brought them or they arrived on their own they had no business being there since it seems something like this wasn't unexpected. They're kids. That they might choose to attend a potentially dangerous protest (which, ultimately, is all of them, because it only takes one agent provocateur to provide an excuse to bust heads) is an excellent example of why they have parents to say they can't. Of course, it's quite possible at least some parents didn't know their kids were there. However, if parents don't know where their 10 year olds are, that's not really the governments fault, though obviously any violent government action against children very much is.

Very sad, and the government, by all appearances, very much overreacted. The parents, however, still share some of the blame. If the kids had been caught in a drive by at a crack house I'd feel the same way: The bulk of the blame lies with those who injured them, but their parents bear some of it for not keeping a close enough eye on their kids that they don't end up in that situation to begin.
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Stuttgart, Germany, September 30th 2010 - 01/10/2010 03:32:58 PM 1168 Views
That is shocking. *NM* - 01/10/2010 04:23:29 PM 454 Views
Yeah really sad that it had to come this far *NM* - 01/10/2010 04:43:07 PM 403 Views
That's horrible. - 01/10/2010 04:57:39 PM 814 Views
There's an even better one - 02/10/2010 01:13:29 AM 958 Views
the parents should be ashamed for bringing their kids there - 01/10/2010 06:11:04 PM 931 Views
er... I thought you missed some vital points (or I forgot to mention them) - 02/10/2010 12:53:20 AM 1006 Views
know I just noticed point in your article you over looked - 02/10/2010 04:27:47 AM 933 Views
Yeah, I'm gonna have to kind of agree with you. - 02/10/2010 07:34:12 AM 782 Views
the article was wrong on both points - 02/10/2010 10:16:46 AM 820 Views
That's irrelevant. - 02/10/2010 10:59:35 AM 770 Views
Re: That's irrelevant. - 02/10/2010 11:43:43 AM 1403 Views
Youths can organise themselves; we're talking about children. - 02/10/2010 01:11:01 PM 844 Views
Re: Youths can organise themselves; we're talking about children. - 02/10/2010 02:40:46 PM 1484 Views
No, I, uh, I think we're still not talking about the same thing. - 02/10/2010 04:04:36 PM 873 Views
I think I got that one about the police - 02/10/2010 04:25:59 PM 1532 Views
I went to lots of demonstrations when I was a kid - 02/10/2010 10:23:04 AM 818 Views
. . . as a child? *NM* - 02/10/2010 10:46:52 AM 380 Views
I think I was 12 on my first one. - 02/10/2010 10:49:33 AM 893 Views
You're gonna have to share this story. - 02/10/2010 11:00:58 AM 798 Views
I was a political kid! - 02/10/2010 11:03:36 AM 793 Views
Well, your freaky childhood behaviour aside. . . - 02/10/2010 11:08:36 AM 790 Views
Re: Well, your freaky childhood behaviour aside. . . - 02/10/2010 11:10:21 AM 857 Views
Or they didn't have good reason to expect voilence. Which would seem more likely here. *NM* - 02/10/2010 01:14:41 AM 385 Views
It would not take a genius to know there would probably be violence. - 02/10/2010 04:38:52 AM 848 Views
Re: It would not take a genius to know there would probably be violence. - 02/10/2010 10:26:40 AM 1464 Views
I read this about it - 02/10/2010 01:18:16 AM 805 Views
it is really hard to tell the difference - 02/10/2010 01:30:24 AM 985 Views
Even then it is? - 02/10/2010 01:39:52 AM 864 Views
That really is quite shocking. *NM* - 02/10/2010 10:25:22 AM 411 Views
"Some reports indicate that stones were thrown at police from the crowd of protesters. " - 03/10/2010 03:38:19 PM 845 Views

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