SCAPEGOATS!

"And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited." (Leviticus 16:22)
(Painting by William Holman Hunt)

With calm restored to the city and the violent unrest of the past weekend behind us, the time has come to put aside any thought of fixing the problems revealed by the incident and to turn instead to the more important matter of fixing the blame. Despite the fact that 100% of the deaths and 96% of all injuries were caused by the Police, despite the fact that the Police operational commander was so completely out of control that he had to be relieved of his command by a magistrate summoned to the scene by one of his own men, despite a record of incompetence and illegality, of falsified warrants and prisoners shot in jail cells, we will now be asked to believe that the entire blame for the destruction and violence of the last few days belongs to a drunken, dimwitted taxi driver and a slogan chanting, smoke bomb tossing, diminutive female anarchist. There is little doubt that both these individuals are on the wrong side of the law and have a sentence to pay, and doubtless this will soon play out in court. But to lay the blame for the entire affair at the feet of these two buffoons is like blaming the nails for the crucifixion of Christ.

The Police could have ended the "riot" any time they chose. They were the only rioters. They chose not to.

What we have in jail are a pair of scapegoats. Two conveniently involved minor characters. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And in our haste to put the past few days behind us, in our eagerness to avoid the unpleasant task of holding those really responsible for events to account, we are all to ready to uncritically accept the sacrificial goat. But make no mistake. Choices have consequences. If you allow the Police to get away with murder this time, if you accept the unacceptable behavior this time, it will not be long before you no longer have a choice. You get what you accept.

At the very least, the criminal behavior of certain (by no means all) members of the Police, who's actions stand in stark contrast to the professionalism of the Naval security forces, should be investigated by the State's Attorney. Civil suits against the City, the Police and their Commander should also be considered. The real Heroes of Mayday were the ordinary citizens of Berlin who stood up and said "No! Enough!", and those who will not now accept a scapegoat in place of justice being done.