I'm on deadline today, so I won't have time to suss this out till later, but this CNN video of peace activist Liz Hourican being tackled by law enforcement is disturbing for a couple of reasons.
The first is that, based on what's in the video, there was no need for such force, as Hourican had already been pushed back by others, so why tackle her?
The second is that Hourican, a veteran activist, is hardly a threat to anybody. Indeed, she's well-known by the folks at the Phoenix PD's Community Response Squad, who've never had issues with her to my knowledge.
She may be rambunctious, but that is her prerogative. And the First Amendment protects her like a Kevlar vest. Moreover, Senator McCain is an elected official, and his constituents have the right to protest him without being manhandled.
I'll look into this when I can and report back. I don't want to make snap judgments, but I am, obviously, very concerned by this footage. There's already a Facebook page associated with the incident, which you can look at, here.
