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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 1217 Views
That is shocking. *NM* - 01/10/2010 04:23:29 PM 473 Views
Yeah really sad that it had to come this far *NM* - 01/10/2010 04:43:07 PM 422 Views
That's horrible. - 01/10/2010 04:57:39 PM 854 Views
There's an even better one - 02/10/2010 01:13:29 AM 1004 Views
the parents should be ashamed for bringing their kids there - 01/10/2010 06:11:04 PM 977 Views
er... I thought you missed some vital points (or I forgot to mention them) - 02/10/2010 12:53:20 AM 1049 Views
know I just noticed point in your article you over looked - 02/10/2010 04:27:47 AM 976 Views
Yeah, I'm gonna have to kind of agree with you. - 02/10/2010 07:34:12 AM 829 Views
the article was wrong on both points - 02/10/2010 10:16:46 AM 865 Views
That's irrelevant. - 02/10/2010 10:59:35 AM 817 Views
Re: That's irrelevant. - 02/10/2010 11:43:43 AM 1453 Views
Youths can organise themselves; we're talking about children. - 02/10/2010 01:11:01 PM 887 Views
Re: Youths can organise themselves; we're talking about children. - 02/10/2010 02:40:46 PM 1529 Views
No, I, uh, I think we're still not talking about the same thing. - 02/10/2010 04:04:36 PM 916 Views
I think I got that one about the police - 02/10/2010 04:25:59 PM 1572 Views
I went to lots of demonstrations when I was a kid - 02/10/2010 10:23:04 AM 865 Views
. . . as a child? *NM* - 02/10/2010 10:46:52 AM 401 Views
I think I was 12 on my first one. - 02/10/2010 10:49:33 AM 939 Views
You're gonna have to share this story. - 02/10/2010 11:00:58 AM 840 Views
I was a political kid! - 02/10/2010 11:03:36 AM 836 Views
Well, your freaky childhood behaviour aside. . . - 02/10/2010 11:08:36 AM 830 Views
Re: Well, your freaky childhood behaviour aside. . . - 02/10/2010 11:10:21 AM 907 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 407 Views
It would not take a genius to know there would probably be violence. - 02/10/2010 04:38:52 AM 898 Views
Re: It would not take a genius to know there would probably be violence. - 02/10/2010 10:26:40 AM 1511 Views
I read this about it - 02/10/2010 01:18:16 AM 857 Views
it is really hard to tell the difference - 02/10/2010 01:30:24 AM 1032 Views
Even then it is? - 02/10/2010 01:39:52 AM 912 Views
That really is quite shocking. *NM* - 02/10/2010 10:25:22 AM 429 Views
"Some reports indicate that stones were thrown at police from the crowd of protesters. " - 03/10/2010 03:38:19 PM 888 Views

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