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The camara man assaulted me

At the welcoming/convergence center in Sacto, I went to block a channel 13 news camera that had been obtrusively focusing on some protesters hanging out in the parking lot. As soon as I was within range, the camera operator shoved me, hit me, and smashed his camera into my face.
I was in shock. I started to walk away, but turned around and said that what he had just done was assault and I wanted to know his name. At that point, he laughed and started to walk away. I followed him and grabbed the identification hanging around his neck it said Herman A Lopez. He visually threatened to hit me again. The reporter he was with asked me what my name was and then they preceded to follow me around. I went around the building and enteered a group of people. They went over to the side walk and continued filming for several minutes. I decided not to call the cops because I didnt want to bring them to the welcoming center. People were chanting at them and someone mooned them, at which point they left.
The cops were there 25.Jun.2003 19:23


The cops are hanging out outside right now, and someone just told me that they's been there for a few hours. That means they saw what happened and I'm pretty sure that if i had been in the least bit violent back-or initiated an assault on the camara man-that I would have bee arrested. What is this world that we live in?

The Cameraman assaulted me 25.Jun.2003 19:43


You been out in the sun too long today. Kick back take it easy. You guys need to realize that you should make friends with the press. Your PR sucks, it is immature. You embarass me and everyone that is on your side. The press can take your photo any time that they want as long as you are visible. It is one of the freedoms that we have in America. Second, the protesters have been blocking and bumping cameras all week. That can be considered assault too. I know, I once knocked a camera out of an anti-abortion protester's hand and would of been charged with assault if the cop didn't tell me to take off before he had to charge me.

I Agree with Deacy 25.Jun.2003 23:09


If every time somebody bumped into someone else it was assualt- you wouldnt have any of your protesters on the street. You sure dish it out, but you cant take it.

Got what you deserved 26.Jun.2003 07:33


With the exception of FOX40 the local television media has been pretty fair to you. The cameraman gets paid about $12 an hour, he is one of you. He was a guy just doing his job. He was pushed and blocked all week by you guys, you think that he wasn't getting pissed off too? You can only get shoved and bumped so much before you have to do something. Instead of showing solidarity with the working class, you have created an elite group of yes-men or yes-people. Instead of trying to get your point across to the press, you treated them with comtempt, forgetting that you were guest in our city, forgetting that maybe, just maybe you were in a different place that just may have given you a mouthpiece that you wanted. But you had to be unflexable. You believe that the press is your enemy and by doing that you ignore the best tool available to you. It is like you want to dig a garden, but refuse to use a shovel. Learn to use the system when it is convienant to you & quit acting so elitist.

corporate whores 26.Jun.2003 09:44


take your whining elsewhere. you are of no use to anyone interested in truth or justice. your only purpose is that of maneur.

FUCK OFF, TROLLS! 26.Jun.2003 10:05


how do you manage to stand your idiocy! you arrogant, self-serving shits! your own posts confirm the illegal actions of the police and your attempt to equalize bumping into someone with punching them and hitting them with a camera is total crapola! if you weren't so fucking pathetic you'd be posting to a right-wing site, but, you're probably not welcome there either because you are just too full of shit!

go away from indymedia! you want to crash this party?! what the fuck is your problem?! i'd fuck you up, pigs!

Elitist Pigs 26.Jun.2003 10:33


I have supported indymedia and the protesters before you came to town & will continue long after you leave town or decide to take that job offer from your daddy. I offered advise and support to those coming here. I was at the marches too. I've also been involved in anarchy, protest and politics before you were probably born. Of course my years of experience mean nothing to you rookies.

"ARROGANT, SELF-SERVING SHITS?" Look who is talking. Are you all that fragile in your beliefs that you cannot take criticism from your peers? Of course you will answer, "you are not my peers!" That's right, you invented direct action...

Tell you what, you threatened me, called me a pig and you want to fuck me up? Meet me at 8th and G Street at 4:45pm today and we'll see how dedicated you are to the cause. I have been involved in fighting the system too long to be called names and accused by little whiny trust funds jerks like you.

re: Decay 26.Jun.2003 10:46

re: Decay

Yes, I was too hasty. To be honest, I didn't read your comments very carefully. I've been SO FRUSTRATED at all the right-wing crap posted to this site! I'm sorry for insulting you; I can see in retrospect that I was wrong.

re:Decay 26.Jun.2003 10:56


It's okay, I know you are frustrated, hot, hungry and ready to go home, but you have to understand that just because someone doesn't agree with everything that you all say or believe in doesn't make us the enemy. We are not going to win this fight against corporations by fighting between ourselves. You guys won just by your dedication to the cause. The general public know that frankenfoods & the corporate takeover of the world's resources are bad, they are not fooled. Have a safe trip home.

Sounds peacful to me 27.Jun.2003 00:13



I'm sure by "I'd fuck you up, pigs" you really meant that if you had the opportunity to meet face to face you could engage in a meaningful dialogue, work to find common ground, and together, work to end the violence that seems to permeate the culture.

Now that's what you really meant isn't it...

You wouldn't want to "bump" into me, I can guarantee it.

To the Weak and Feeble Oz 27.Jun.2003 16:03


Oz says: You wouldn't want to "bump" into me, I can guarantee it.

That is correct, since "bumping" into a filthy asshole would certainly leave a nasty shit stain.

Ouch Toto... 27.Jun.2003 18:39


Your mother must be so proud...

Anger therapy might me a good route for ya...

On Assaultive Corporate Whores 28.Jun.2003 08:22


I have no idea what the rambling string of comments following this post are all about. But I am struck by the fact that thousands of police officers swarmed the city of Sacramento, and yet they somehow failed to protect anyone from assaultive corporate camera operators. If "decay" will read the post clearly, s/he will note that someone assaulted another person outside the welcome center. Blocking a camera is ENTIRELY different from shoving, hitting, smashing, or in any other way laying hands on another person.

I, too, have witnessed protesters blocking corporate cameras. (And BRAVO.) But never did I see any protester, black clad or otherwise, lay hands on the corporate whores.

And no, "us guys" don't need to make friends with the press. We ARE the press. Not the corporate whores, but the actual, real, People's Press. Fuck PR. Follow your heart, and tell your story. You don't need to kiss up to the corporate media, and it won't help anyway. They will ALWAYS lie to support the agenda of their corporate masters. If they don't, their editors will.

This is not to say we need to be assholes to the people trying to do that job, but we certainly don't need to suck up to them. And we don't need to allow them to film us when we don't want them to, nor do we need to allow them to film other people who don't want to be filmed. Very often, they work with the oppressors. Don't believe me? Call MOBA media and ask em how many orders they've filled for Homeland Security. Maybe they will actually tell you. Ask them how often they share their footage with "the authorities" when they have anything compromising. They are NOT your friends.

Actually Cat Woman 28.Jun.2003 09:20


The local Sacramento news media was pretty fair about the protest. I talked to a lot of them during the marches and they were entirely pissed off about the police presence and much of that was reflected in their stories. Granted they will use a sound bite of the most radical thing that someone says, as I once learned, but as a mislead president once said, "Hold your friends close, but hold your enemies closer." You must learn to use the media or they will use you. Saying Fuck the media is not going to help the cause, no matter how much you hate corporate media, it is here and you need to know how to use & exploit it.

actually decay 29.Jun.2003 10:23


The corporate media is never fair about anything. They have a great deal of power, which they constantly misuse. They have the power they have because people suck up to them and apologize for them and allow them to narrate the story of our society. The Sacramento news media was not at all fair or balanced. Did you see the report where they talked about the arrest of the seed balls? They showed people shooting projectiles with wrist rockets and claimed people had done this in Seattle. Bullshit. In fact, the people shooting the rockets were cops, and the media never called them on the stretch. But you claim they were fair, apparently just because they didn't get up there and say all the protesters should be shot.

Personally, I've been shoved and harrassed by corporate media people more times than I can count. This has been true in Portland, and it was certainly true in Sacramento. For the record, I have never laid a hand on them with the exception of that fucking corporate dick who pushed my child on Day x. I agree that there's no sense in being violent to corporate media people. And yes, many of them do agree, in principal, with "our side." However, like the police, they continue to work for the wrong side. Journalists with a conscience don't last in the corporate world. We have the right to block their lenses when they poke them into our faces, we have the right to tell them off rather than let them use our words against us. If you want to talk to them, go ahead. I never block a camera that's on someone who actually wants to be filmed. But lay off the pompous advice to those of us who already know better than to talk to them.

It's very important that we take back our own stories and stop pandering to some chimerical "mainstream" throught the corporate lens. They invented that "mainstream," as surely as they invent shallow stereotypes to discredit those who dissent from it. Have courage, rise up, and stop worrying about what the couch potatoes will think.

Hey Catwoman 29.Jun.2003 17:52


Whatever, your hatred is suffocating you. Your stubbornness cripples you. What do you want news to only be on your side? That sounds like corporate news media in reverse to me. The media has to, but doesn't always that true, report the facts. Now you might not like the facts, but that's the facts. You need to see things in all the shades of grey, not just black and white.

we must observe more fully 29.Jun.2003 18:32


The corporate news media is not on our side, or on anyone's side but their own. Their bottom line is profit, not "reporting the facts." Why do you think the FCC's decisions and congressional debate have gotten no news coverage? The corporate media will not report any message that they themselves do not wish people to see. Any attempt by activists to convey their message by means of the corporate media is always, 100% of the time twisted to the corporate agenda (I remember fox news talking about how the protestors on day x must be happy to be arrested to get out of the rain, just think of all the underlying assumptions in that statement. The goal is not to have the corporate media on our side; that is completely impossible. The goal is to start showing people how corrupt they are, how they are willing to sell out people without question (or even request, as they have turned tapes over to the police without a police request), how they are pushing their corporate agenda to fuel ratings to sell air-time. That's their business, that's what they do, so suggest otherwise demonstrates a distinct lack of observation. The corporate media reports what they want, when they want, and ignore everything else. It's good business but it's terrible journalism. It is a mistake to think that you can convey a message through the corporate media, the only way to "use" or "exploit" them is to stop them from using and exploiting you and the people you care about. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be polite and respectful when doing so, letting them know that it is not something personal you have against that particular cameraperson. But blocking a camera is a non-violent act, and any violence in retaliation is assault. Anyone who is willing to assault a person over the blocking of a camera has already revealed their position, and it's not one that is going to be friendly to protests and protesters. I'm sure whatever was being filmed has long been in the hands of the cops, and was most likely volunteered. In the end, there is nothing elitist about removing elitist systems and structures; and if we desire to live in a fair and equal world, we can do nothing less.

Please 30.Jun.2003 08:10


Blocking a camera from a news agency is infringing on their rights of freedom of the press. You want the press to only print your viewpoints which makes you as bad as the corporate media that you rally against. You show your true colors. You don't want freedom, you want your agenda.

Give it a rest, Decay 30.Jun.2003 09:57

You're too fucking desperate

I've been watching this thread develop, and frankly, decay, you give the impression that you're sitting there in your underwear waiting desperately for someone to post something so you can respond with yet another reactionary little snippet of complete drivel.

Stop lecturing people who know better than you. Get off your butt, get out from in front of your computer, and go find out why people don't want to play the corporate media game any more. Freedom of the press? Man, you're pathetic. The press is not free, hasn't been for a long, long time. Not the corporate press, anyway. Even if some of the journalists are on "our side," they are not free to say so in print. They are not free to print the truth unless it supports their masters' corporate agenda. And we are not free so long as they tell lies about us and sell compromising footage of us to homeland security. Give me a break.

Catwoman hateful? Give me a break there too. Nothing in her statements was anything but reasonable, but you just couldn't think of a legitimate response. Think a little before you post your next reply. I'm sure you're capable of doing so, it just doesn't show yet.

As for your "you don't want freedom, you want your agenda" comment, wake fucking up. How is it that you can see that when it comes to independent media, but you can't see it when it comes to corporate media? Oh, I know. Because it's spelled out for you here. Nobody here claims to be objective, we only claim to tell the truth. In the corporate media, they claim a mantle of "objectivity" to support their agenda. The claim is false, but people like you can't see beyond what they tell you. You're the kind of person who gives corporate media the power they have, because you let them take advantage of you and then you sit there and berate the rest of us for not jumping in behind you.

Man, think for a minute before you write any more shit. You talk too much.

decay, your ignorance of the constitution is astounding 30.Jun.2003 10:47



How exactly does that apply to an individual blocking a corporate cameraperson?

And next time, why not try responding to the points raised rather than just spouting off? If you don't agree, just say you don't agree but leave the straw man crap behind, it just makes your arguments look even more foolish.

The snake eating it's tail 30.Jun.2003 12:04


Well I'm not in my underwear, but I do find this all very interesting. Afterall, this happened in my city, not yours. I find your lack of Public Relations distrubing. You all come off as a bunch of whiners with rich parents. The cameraman assaulted me sounds really wimpy. Big deal, you guys are supposed to be the front line fighters. You should take everything up a couple of notches and fight. The media, even corporate media is easy to manipulate, you don't see the opportunity because it is so fashionable for you to diss it. There is plenty of independant media out there that many people use to get their news.


Wow, you know me really well don't you? How do I let the corporate media take advantage of me? I get all my news through the raw feed, independant news sources like Alternet and Dailey Media News Feed. You see, you are the kind of people that give the corporate media the power that they have because YOU let them take advantage of you and they YOU sit there and berate EVERYONE for not jumping behind YOU. If you don't take advantage of them, they will take advantage of you.

I will not walk lock-step with anyone. You hurt the cause by your black and white beliefs. If you want a revolution you MUST get the average everyday stiff behind you, but you probably wouldn't accept them because you are all so inflexable. No room for questions, no room for desent. Everyone must agree with us or we will drum you out - shut you down. It is the snake eating it's tail theory. Hey Stalin had the same idea and so does George Bush. Are you better than that?

I was at the Sunday and Monday marches. I am on your side & have been long before you were born, unfortunately that is not good enough for you. I gave a lot of time and money for a better world free from corporations and over 28 years, I have seen groups like you, go back to college, take over their family business and drive BMW's. You will get together with your friends and laugh about those days when you protested, but I'll still be there marching. I have seen this time and time again. You know, after 28 years I still believe, will you?