Police 'Tank' Spurs Wild Speculation at Occupy Tampa Rally

The only reason you would need to roll in a 12 ton 'tank' or whatever you may like to call it instead of just having a few ambulances standing by would be if people all brought their guns. Like a Tea Party rally. The only logical reason anyone can come up with was it was done to intimidate.

"Rescue 2"
"Freedom is Slavery"
Pretty much the same contexts in this case. I especially love the part in the article that states, "can be used for search and rescue during a natural disaster or terrorist attack," as opposed to, "will be used," for such duties. Extra kudos for playing the fear card (terrorist attack), too. I'm sure "search and rescue" is just one of its many roles that also include intimidating a demonstration, as J notes below.

I would like to see the policy that states Tampa PD may not drive the APC in to a crowd of protestors in an attempt to disperse them, or to "rescue" someone, an officer for example, that was "harmed" in the process of brutalizing their fellow citizens. The rescue claim will be used, and it will certainly be baseless, but it will be used to justify attacking US citizens.

Please.

If you drove that thing into a riot in order to "rescue" someone, you'd end up scraping body parts out of the treads for weeks. This isn't some band of hikers stuck in a ravine.

...so what, exactly, do they need a heavily armored vehicle for, if not intimidation?

"protestors are making such silly conjectures" of violent police tactics. What rock have you been living under Tom Servo?

What an ignorant and biased article.

You can't see how rolling that into a peaceful protest might freak people out? Really? Don't you suppose that was its intent?

"it is just a vehicle that's built tough for transporting people in extreme conditions and circumstances."

So why was it there? Is it appropriate to threaten running people over with a tank? 'They are not threatening people!' Really, then it wouldn't be intimidating people peacefully exercising their 24/7/365 Rights would it?

And if the police determine things are getting out of hand running people over with a 12-ton vehicle to quickly make their escape is alright with you too? Because as you say that is what this vehicle parked in front of the protesters is made to do.

I know the Chinese government has their Tommy Servos too.

#1. At 12 tons, even a "benign," as the author seems to think, APC is quite capable of killing scores of people in the matter of minutes. #2. Tanks in China never fired their main guns - didn't need to - they just ran people over - see #1.

#3 Not sure what rock the author is living under - but the police in America have been militarized, and exercising an increasingly violent demeanor toward people they are supposed to be protecting.

And #4. It is probably because the protesters are VERY well informed about the depravity and violence fostered by the system these police officers are protecting - that they feared the worst - let's see A MILLION dead in Iraq, tens of thousands freshly mass-murdered in Libya, and a US fueled conflagration consuming Syria. Now why would US protesters, facing these Wall Street megalomaniacs on their home turf feel slightly, and very justifiable paranoid?

This is purely my own speculation, but I'd wager that the reason the TPD will not comment on the purpose of the APC is because it's purpose is keeping the protestors speculating as to just how far the cops will go this time. Interestingly, this is dictionary definition of "terrorism," btw, although the word seems to have become unhinged from it's meaning in recent years.

There really is no logical utility use for such an armored vehicle there, no matter what you call it. Having tank treads on paved roads is not an advantage, and there's no sign of any protestors packing uzis.

As one MST3K fan to another... you're making us look bad, Tom.

Why does Tampa Police need a 12 ton APC? Why do they need it here?

It is an M-113 APC.
It is NOT amphibious!
It has no business at any protest in the USA!
This is another example of the psycho-bully police and their intimidating tactics!

The commentator has a lot to say about the "silliness" of occupy. With all the violence, none of the officers breaking the law being held accountable, and the hatred (even in the journalist's tone) why should we not believe the hatred and violence would accompany the intimidating TANK brought out to show in Tampa? BTW Quit sharing the news if you can't be impartial, leave it to those who want to seek the truth at all stages of the game!

Tom Servo - you are the most naive journalist I have ever encountered. The job of a journalist is to uncover and expose the truth, not to write opinionated articles, defending police units who bring armored tanks into U.S. civilian cities. You're just another pawn for the super rich, writing exactly what they have hired a follower like yourself, to write, "anti-occupy" articles. I'd love to see your take on the footage we have seen, of police attacking unarmed people with their fists, clubs, rubber bullets, tear gas and tear gas canisters. I'm sure you would be just as dismissive, of cops beating on innocent, unarmed people, as you've been in regards to tanks rolling through our cities. You are a total hack.

OWS...,APC?, Rescue 2 for who?!... people?, TRP?....when you really should ask yours-self #$%$ It is a TANK! A TANK DESIGNED to RUN over everyday American Citizens! It wasn't designed for some off road rescue people mission. IT WAS DESIGNED TO RUN OVER PEOPLE on The Streets of this country! And to Intimidate and destroy the people defending the shreds of Democracy of This country. The writer of this article should be ashamed of this blatant propaganda and manipulative and clumsy narrative!

"Apparently, a large number of the Occupy Tampa's supporters can't be bothered to do a little research" does not equal "On the Occupy Tampa Facebook page, a handful of people have left comments that liken the presence of the vehicle....." It does expose a biased opinion and PROPAGANDA!

Looks tpd is trying to use OWS Tampa as a warmup to crush opposing views during the republican convention next summer. Guess they could not wait until Christmas to play with their new toys.

I have been down to OT and I can say i know for a fact the people down there are NOT comparing what they are doing or going through to Egypt...NOR are they claiming police brutality...what is going on down there is definitely on a much smaller scale compared to other places, however..it has not stopped the harassment and unjustifiable arrests of several people who DID NOTHING WRONG! The police see them as a nuiense and are want them to quit so they have been going out of their way to give them a hard time.....It's a shame that anyone can call themselves a "journalist" simply because you write something and yahoo give you a platform.....the difference between this WANNA BE JOURNALIST and real Journalist...is integrity. this wannabe is simply a sensationalist propaganda republican BLOGGER ! if you want to read the work of a REAL journalist...check out Jeremy Scahill, or Namoi Klein...at least they care about their work and the reputation of their name! I will be sure to put this guy on my DO NOT READ list and will be sure to spread the word about his lack of Journalistic integrity.

First, if this was indeed a "rescue" vehicle, it would be painted an innocent White & Red color scheme -- or neon/rescue yellow (like all other "rescue" vehicles. After all, why (the such a HOT and HUMID place like Florida,) would you paint a vehicle such a dark color? So-called "rescuers" are going to give their "victims" heat-stroke in this "rescue" vehicle. If this sucker pulled-up in front of YOUR house -- would you feel like they were coming to YOUR rescue? (Or, preparing to bull-doze their way through your living room?!!!!)

Second, "tank" is a generic term these days for a tracked-vehicle. Technically-speaking, a "tank" is usually/traditionally a tracked vehicle with some sort of turret and a fix-mounted canon/gun. Question: When the military deploys thousands of inflatable tank-like replicas in the desert before invading Iraq -- did the Iraqis thing they were tanks? Did US forces WANT the Iraqis to assume they were tanks? OF COURSE. Were they REALLY tanks? Nope. They were just blow-up toys of Uncle Sam. But, to the "general public," they were sure tanks!!! This, is this APC (armored personnel carrier) a "tank?" Hmmmm.... Well,it's NOT owned by the "rescuers" such as the fired department. Instead, it's owned by the "Special Operations Division" of the "Specialty Teams" by the "Tactical Response Team." TACTICAL response team. NOT the RESCUE response team. (aka SWAT team.) e.g. these people aren't trained to "rescue" people. They aren't firemen, EMTs and paramedics. They are a heavily-ARMED attack squad. The word "rescue" on this vehicle is nothing more than urban/political camouflage. They SHOULD just paint "SWAT" or "TRT" or "Run Away!" or... "TANK!!!" This vehicle is more "tank" than "rescue" vehicle. So, QUIT splitting hairs about whether it's technically a tank. If the public says that it looks like a tank, then it's indeed a tank!

Third, this vehicle (as well as Rescue 1" weren't purchased from some civilian rescue vehicle manufacturer. Nope, they were bought from the US Military (gifts or "grants," actually.) Rescue 1 even saw service with the US Marines during that "rescue" called "Desert Storm." (aka Gulf WAR.)
Rescue 2 (the tank-like armored tracked vehicle) was paid for --via a FEDERAL security grant. It's so comforting to know that Uncle Sam is gifting tank-like vehicles into our communities. I guess Uncle Sam's next "gifts/grants" will be some rescue-rfiles? Rescue-ammo? Rescue-troops? Rescue-helios?...
Personally, I'd rather see Uncle Sam SELL these used/surplus tracked-vehicles to Kuwait or some other country "in need" of defending themselves. And, let the Tampa SWAT team fund their own vehicles/defense systems. If the PUBLIC wanted a "rescue vehicle," we would have funded it for the Fire Department.
I wonder if re-gifting is allowed? Maybe we could re-gift our "tank" to University of California, Davis students? Maybe that "tank" would help protect the students for being pepper-sprayed by the cops?

"Unfortunately, I was unable to get any comments from any TPD officers on the "Rescue 2" and why they felt the need to bring out to the protest."

"Perhaps the TPD was anticipating a riot and wanted to have the vehicle present in case people needed to be safely transported away from the scene. Another likely reason may be that the police simply wanted to psychologically intimidate protestors to deter the possibility of things getting out of hand."

I'd call that speculation, as well. Exactly what the author has accused the Occupiers of. Hmmm, hypocrite much?

OMFG its a military matter moved within our own boarders