Protests in Occupy Oakland are Deepening and Broadening, But Perhaps in the Wrong Direction

One of the concerns from within the Occupy Movement, as well as from outside observers is that police violence is redirecting the energy of the protests into clashes between protesters and the police toward an escalating Victim - Villain - Hero cycle in which violence action is percevied as essential action between increasingly large crowds of citizens and law enforcement.  Increasing reports of police violence and charges are police brutality in many cities seem to be fueling larger and larger crowds inflamed by the injustice of the use of violence by the police against non-violent protesters and reporters acting within their legal rights. 

The following video on UTube exemplifies some the violent behavior by the police in many cities now that is bringing a question to the surface of the Occupy discourse, "why are the police acting violently against non-violent citizens acting within their rights of lawful assembly and freedom of speech.  There appear to be many documented cases of citizens asking questions of the police regarding safety and legal rights with the police responding with unlawful violence.  Are these unlawful activities routine, but usually not seen?  Are these actions being condoned by politicians and senior law enforcement officials?  Or, is the intensity of the interactions between police and protesters making police respond emotionally in unpredictable and unlawful ways?

The concern is that these unlawful actions by police against citizens acting within their rights, coupled by provocateurs with unknown affiliations not condoned by the non-violent Occupy movement could spark significant threats to human security amongst both citizens and police, amidst a deepening and broadening social outcry.

One of the recent incidents can be seen in the following video of a reporter apparently acting within his rights repeatedly asking the police if his actions are OK and then being shot at close range with a rubber bullet by the police:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I0pX9LeE-g8

Is this acceptable, and possibly necessary behavior by the police as part of the tactics of crowd control?  If so, where are the boundaries of state-sanctioned violence against citizens exercising their rights of assembly and free speech?  There are strong concerns that these edges are going to be tested over and over again during the days, weeks and months ahead, in city after city inflamming larger and larger crowds, significantly outnumbering the police, and beginning to turn against institutions that are essential to the health and human security of Americans.

A broader discussion of the issue can be seen at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/scott-campbell-films-police-shooting_n_1082393.html