Boo hoo.

"Yeah, my arm hurts but I'd like to get outta here so I can smoke mah weed"
LOL wow!

Bandana? Is he one of those face-hiding idiots then, or was he thinking it could help against tear gas?
The cop was right, you can't be getting choked and also be talking.
WHAT AN IDIOT.
Gee, from 'intensive care' as DamosA put it, to hopes of getting out of the hospital today for his weed.
If you guys are gonna get a poster-child of police brutality, at least try to get a better one.
They shoulda beat his ass some more for being guilty of stupidity in the first degree.
And I fucking knew he'd be trying to scam some money out of the rest of us now. Fucking figures.
It sure is funny how your legs can all of the sudden stop working too, huh?
Of course, there is no way he coulda been looking for this to happen, right? I'm sure he did nothing to incite them, right?

In the eyes of the State of Oregon, medical marijuana patients have full and equal protection for their legal treatments, Chrissakes. That admission might affect his social credibility—to some people—but not in the state courts.

In real life (the one in which internet trolls are too timid to actually say anything out loud), medical marijuana is okie dokie with strong majorities of Americans: http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4r1hUXeRA0

SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THE DUDE FELL OVER ON HIS OWN, THEN THE POLICE PULLED HIM OUT OF THE CROWD AND GOT HIM MEDICAL TREATMENT. THIS ISN'T TO EXCUSE POLICE BRUTATLITY WHEN IT DOES OCCUR... BUT IF THIS IS THE WORST TREATMENT THAT ANYONE GOT DURING THE POLICE ACTION, THEN I COMMEND THE PPB FOR HANDLING THIS WHOLE THING WITH THE UTMOST OF PROFESIONALISM.

Graham, he didn't fall over - he was going limp, as they were instructed to do.

@FRANKIEB: YOUR READING COMPREHENSION IS ABSOLUTE SHIT. "I got caught in the crowd and my back got pushed up against a concrete trash can and I fell on to the ground."

HE FELL OVER ON HIS OWN, REGARDLESS OF DIRECT POLICE ACTION AGAINST HIM.

Well this is certainly OUR Scott Olsen! Good job, Portland cops... COWARDS!

"In the eyes of the State of Oregon, medical marijuana patients have full and equal protection for their legal treatments, Chrissakes. That admission might affect his social credibility—to some people—but not in the state courts."

I don't think anyone is laughing at him for smoking pot--I'm sure people who post here are overwhelmingly pro-pot. The reason I'm laughing at him is because he's in the hospital being treated for a grievous injury he suffered at the hands of the cops (so bad he's contemplating a lawsuit!), but he's planning to leave, STAT!, because they won't let him take marijuana for a pre-existing condition.

GRAHAM - no, I read it just fine. I just don't buy it one bit. Do you really believe it?
Fell down from the crowd, legs suddenly not working?
It seems much more likely he was going limp as they were told to do.

This entire "movement" is getting ridiculous. I'm looking at all the garbage and toxic residue left from the Occupiers. How can they think it's okay to completely destroy two public parks, to the point where they have to take soil samples to see if it's going to become an EPA Brown Zone.

Not cool. If they are going to make a statement why do they have to ruin our local parks, create thousands of dollars in garbage and toxic waste removal, and create extra stress put on our already short government resources.

We get your point!! This just makes me angry that all these people would leave such a disaster area behind in the name of "Democracy."

If they really want to make a statement, stop fucking with our public spaces and find another venue to make their statement that doesn't take money away from public schools, transportation, and other integral programs in Portland. How is it a statement when I can't even get the MAX to work or school? What is that going to achieve for us 99% people trying to make a living? It's a total asshole move on these people not considering the outcome of their protest.

I just don't understand how this is going to help the 99% who live in Portland. How do these people have so much free time? It just seems very arrogant and it also seems like these people could give a shit about anyone who isn't a "protester." I don't want to have a felony or arrest record, and good luck to all of you when you try to get a job in the future! Thanks for your consideration!

If people are willing to disregard their own safety by taunting the police, which is what was going on, disobey the orders of the police, then why should I care about them?
They put themselves into that situation, wanting to play 'victim of oppressive government'.
These cops are also our fellow Americans, doing what they were ordered to do by Mayor Adams.
Is it really so hard to think of cops just wanting to do their duty and go home?

I think we should remember the words in that great Welles film 'Touch of Evil' here:
"Being a Policeman is only easy in a Police State"
Those guys should have earned your respect by their restraint and discipline.
The Merc should post an article from a cops perspective through all this, instead of this idiot supposedly hurt.

@Dave J - No, I'm laughing at him for being a pot smoker.

Sorry, these people make the entire movement look like a joke. And he's seriously complaining about not being allowed to smoke pot in a hospital? Are you kidding me?

Well, I watched the video. The 'interview' seemed to be guided by handlers, with softball questions.
The same cops he was telling how much he loved them, tears in their eyes and all, are the same cops he also says are not deserving of a badge.
He says he has one mark on his shoulder in the 'interview', not what I was imagining by a long shot.
Obviously, his relaxation stones bullshit didn't work out so well for him.
He's trying so very hard to be an empathetic charachter in this 'interview' but for me, I know BULLSHIT when I see it.

Anyone who was still in the park had been warned for many days that it would be closed down, and had seen hundreds of riot cops surrounding the park for what? Probably 8 or 10 hours?

No on can profess surprise that cops cleared the park. They knew it was coming and stayed there in order to be there when a physical confrontation took place. Are protesters children? Do they have zero responsibility for choosing to stay in what was clearly going to be a dangerous situation?

Shouldn't someone with a bad back for instance listen to one of the many many many warnings to remove himself from a potential melee?

I have too hard of a time sympathizing with people who literally lie on the ground and throw tantrums like toddlers.

I think what you meant to say in that last update was "sadly, bridges was not actually beaten."

Frankieb, how could you post something so vile.....I mean Garfunkel and Oats?! Let's not get carried away here.

What can I say, I got a thing for the brunette girl.

ONCE AGAIN, I'M AMAZED AT THE PPB. WITHIN WHAT? 12 HOURS OF ACCUSATIONS OF ONE ACT OF VIOLENCE THEY'VE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE AND PROVIDED VIDEO OF THE EVENT. I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER WAY TO HEAD OFF ANY POSSIBILITY OF A SCANDAL.

"What a pussy."


Says the person who's too chicken-shit to start a formal account, unregistered comment.

What if Justin is actually telling the truth, Frankieb ? What then ? IF he's yelling at the cops that he has a broken back, gee, maybe they shouldn't drag him off in such a manner. And to the fellow asking, "are protesters children ?" : How would YOU suggest we treat children ? The same way we treat protesters, with (sometimes) restrained brutality ? It has another name: Child Abuse.

I'm registered. And I say....IT DOES NOT MATTER IF I AM OR I AM NOT REGISTERED HERE.

you stupid pig fucking troll.

What medical condition required him to use a wheelchair BEFORE THE COPS LAID A HAND ON HIM? I noticed the wheelchair wasn't present in any of the below photos, including several that are deliciously NSFW.

http://www.reverbnation.com/justinjamesbri…

The dude is a poser...If he was rockin' the blue two weeks ago, then showed up at the OWS-PDX ass-kickin' party in a wheelchair, something is rotten in Denmark.

He was pushed up against the garbage can by the crowd because the police were pushing the crowd. He didn't go limp on the ground as a defensive maneuver, but because his back was re-injured. He could not feel his legs as the police dragged him off by them.

Despite the evidence on his body of the beating, putting that aside, policemen trained in 1st aid badly mishandled a spinal injury. EMT's refused to treat him without police Okee-Dokee. There will be damages paid and possibly punitive damages. Admit it, the police screwed this one up big time.

He was NOT in a wheelchair up to that day. His back injury was not severe enough to make him immobile until that day.

Admit it. The police screwed up big time. They will ending up making a settlement. My advice to Mr. Justin James Bridges, take it to a jury.