Occupy Dallas says thanks to veterans !

DPD Chief Puts Officer Who Shoved Protester on Restricted Duty, Opens Investigation

This morning, Brantley spoke with ​Stephen Benavides, the protester who spent several days in jail on charges that he assaulted a police officer and resisted arrest. We also posted that video now making the rounds in which Benavides can clearly be seen being shoved off a planter by an off-duty Dallas Police officer working for Bank of America. Moments ago, on its Facebook page, the department addressed that video. Here is the statement in full:

Last night, the Dallas Police Department discovered a new video of the Occupy Dallas demonstration that occurred on November 5, 2011. The video shows a Dallas Police Officer, who was working off-duty for Bank of America, push a demonstrator off a planter in front of the building. Chief David Brown has ordered the officer placed on restricted duty and initiated a formal investigation into the officer's actions. The restricted duty assignment will also prohibit the officer from working off-duty employment until the departmental investigation is complete.

read on 

City Hall Stephen Benavides, Protestor Accused of Assaulting Police, Says, No, the Cops Got Rough

Stephen Benavides, an organizer with the United Steelworkers, was one of eight arrested Saturday at the Occupy Dallas protest at the downtown Bank of America tower during Bank Transfer Day, aimed at encouraging the use of not-for-profit credit unions over for-profit banks.

But while the other protesters were jailed on the misdemeanor charge of "improper use of a sidewalk" (Schutze: WTF?), Benavides was charged with assaulting a public servant and resisting arrest. We first wrote about him back in 2009 when he served as the chair at UNT's ACLU student chapter, pushing to allow same-sex couples to run for homecoming court. He bonded out Wednesday on the felony charge, and he spoke Thursday afternoon with Unfair Park about what he says was supposed to be a peaceful protest gone very, very wrong.

"When we left that day, the intention was not to have a confrontation with the police," he says. "When everything happened, it was just a complete shock."

read on