With a force of roughly 38-thousand officers, New York City has the largest police department in the country. These days, the NYPD is facing mounting accusations of using its strength and heavy handed tactics against Occupy Wall Street protestors.
That is until one US Marine Sergeant and Iraqi War Veteran put himself on the line to defend demonstrators and their right to free speech.
Six weeks into the Occupy Movement, nearly one-thousand unarmed activist have been arrested in New York City. Protestors have been thrown to the ground, beaten, netted like flies and pepper sprayed. The NYPD’s tactics have been harshly criticized, yet the most profound and public condemnation recently came from US Marine Sergeant Shamar Thomas, as he defended demonstrators from cops during a rally in Times Square.
“Why you doing this to our people? I’ve been to Iraq 14 – months for my people. They don’t have guns. Why are you hurting these people? it doesn’t make any sense. How do you sleep at night? There is no honor in this,” said Shamar Thomas, a US Marine Sergeant Iraq War Veteran.
The lone man that stood up to dozens of New York cops comes from a family of honor. His grandfather, step father and mother served in the US Marines. Sergeant Thomas and his mother were in Iraq at the same time in 2006. Sergeant Thomas completed two tours in Iraq before returning to his homeland, where he now aligns himself with the activist he says are being targeted by aggressive authority in uniform.
End The Lie
