Three things:

1) I was in Seattle during the WTO.

My wife's building was Ground Zero. Several of my friends photographed the protests. There was zero shortage of police brutality or over-reaching during the WTO protests; Seattle PD turned the Sand Point Way navy base into a temporary processing facility/prison camp for overflow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDi34Zysqjk

None of these people were ever charged, they were just held for 48 hours without any rights. What happened in Seattle that cost Paul Schell his job was a combination of over-reaching and excess brutality against peaceful protestors, which then led to a reluctance to act when the Oregon Anarchists straight up started looting:

http://youtu.be/uQfqYy9Oci8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JXPIBsxdk0

(He still coulda pulled it out, though. What really lost him his job was an inability to deal with rioting in pioneer square related to Mardi Gras, not protests: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kime)

2) I got to deal with over-reaching law enforcement in 2001:

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/7mjo2/long_beac...

Note that in this case, it was the cops who were cool, and the private security that was fucked in the head. The cops had a choice as to what they wanted to do. They chose not to be dipshits. That's the thing about being a police officer - you are not a member of a platoon on patrol. You do not have the ability to call in air support. Your job is to manage emergent situations as they present themselves and enforce the law.

There is no law that says "pepper spray people sitting on the sidewalk." That's a guideline.

3) I did a ride-along with the LAPD in 2009. For those unaware, the LAPD is among the most heavily-armed police forces in the United States (thanks to this thing from my old neighborhood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout) These are guys that roll out with a Smith & Wesson on their right hip, a taser on their left, a tonfa wherever they feel like carrying it an a Mossberg 12 gage and M4 carbine on the gun rack in the back of the car.

This was two days after the Oakland BART shooting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_G...

I asked the officer if there was any way anyone could mistake the S&W under their right hand for the taser under their left. "No, no way," he said. "The Smith is heavier, balanced differently, has a thinner grip, it's just totally different." Then he paused for a minute and said

"Still, everyone has a bad day..."

I should have said something. I didn't. I wanted to keep my job (I was on a bullshit reality show). But it was a breathtaking moment: "a bad day" to him is "accidentally shooting a subdued citizen in the back."

To this officer, people aren't people. People are obstacles to be tackled. That's not the way it started - it used to be "protect and serve." Now it's "work through my career so I can spend my pension." When you have four different types of deadly force to choose from, you have a moral obligation to make that choice, again and again and again, without blindly following "guidelines" that say "you know what? If they don't move, hit them in the face with an irritant originally designed to subdue a violent attacker."

These officers need to lose their jobs and lose their pensions. The police chief needs to lose her job and lose her pension. The UC Davis chancellor needs to lose her job and lose her pension. This is a case of the police turning violent because they can. Because it's easy. Because no one is telling them they can't.

That cop was wearing full riot gear. He was surrounded by cameras. His face was clearly visible. He faced no danger, he faced no emergent situation, he faced no crisis whatsoever. And his action was to give the Youtube Generation a hot blast of riot-grade capsicum to the face. Why? Because someone at a desk told him to.

Libya has fallen. It fell because the police and military said "fuck this, shit ain't right."

Syria stands. It stands because the police and military have been standing by Assad for so long that they can't rise up against.

Syria will fall. It's just a matter of time. The only difference between Syria and Libya will be the number of bodies and the length of the bleeding.

Alexis Madrigal would turn us into Syria. And for that he can burn in hell.