Police fire percussion stun bombs and rubber bullets at the Marcha da Maconha protesters, São Paulo, Brazil, May 21, 2011
Prohibited from holding a “March for Marijuana,” cannabis advocates in Brazil’s largest city had agreed with police to protest instead in defense of freedom of expression. But minutes after allowing the march, the Military Police brutally attacked the unarmed demonstrators with stun bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets.
About 1,000 people showed up for the rally Saturday in São Paulo’s financial heart. Television images showed riot troops charging toward the protesters when they tried to march down the busy Paulista Avenue.
Protesters, journalists covering the event, drivers who happened to be traveling in the opposite direction of the march and people who were simply walking down the street at the time became victims of police violence, reports Ricardo Galhardo at Último Segundo.
Henrique Carneiro, a professor of history at the University of São Paulo who was taking part in the march, was injured after being hit in the head with a percussion stun bomb and had to be taken to the hospital.
“Marcha da Maconha” advocates protest a judge’s decision to ban their march. They instead marched for freedom of expression, but were brutally attacked by police anyway
Four of the protesters were arrested.
Students Lucas Gordon and Julio Delmanto, both members of the group ‘Desentorpecendo a Razão’ (Stretching Reason), which organized the march, were arrested and taken to the 78th Police Precincte with allegations of “disobedience.”
Arthur Tobias was reportedly arrested after police officers overran him, and a boy identified only as Cunha were taken to the 4th Police Precinct.
The original aim of the organizers was to hold a march for the legalization of marijuana, the “Marcha da Maconha.” However, Judge Teodomiro Mendes, of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, on Friday afternoon banned that march.
At that point, organizers agreed to instead hold a march in defense of freedom of expression, only to be attacked by the very police who had agreed to allow the demonstration.
So picture this: a 19-year old Wisconsin Marijuana / Hash dealer just got some new product, tried it out and couldn’t wait to share it with his “associates”. So he sends out a text message simply stating, “You want to buy some hash?” Little did he know, the number he texted went through to a 10-year old boy who happened to be playing with the phone at the time. Here’s where the story gets interesting, the phone actually belonged to the 10-year old’s grandfather who just so happened to be a State Trooper. So the State Trooper sets up a deal through text messages and arrested the dealer on the spot. That is some high stuff if I’ve ever heard it before!
The man’s vehicle and residence were searched, Clarke said. Troopers found a baggie in the vehicle containing 5 grams of hash. The searches also turned up drug paraphernalia believed used to smoke marijuana and a prescription bottle with 1.5 grams of hash, Clarke said.
The case has been referred to the Waukesha County district attorney’s office. Charges of felony possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia are being sought, Clarke said.
The fact that I know he was probably high and he got himself arrested makes me furious! He’s giving us a bad name out there! But this wasn’t the first time we saw a pothead get himself arrested because he was high, so I guess I have to shrug it off. Check out the full story here.
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