NYPD Snipers Snipped From New York Times

http://www.unknownnews.net/0215-1.html

NYPD Snipers Snipped From New York Times


by Helen Highwater, Unknown News
Sunday, February 15, 2003

Yesterday's on-line edition of The New York Times included a long news
report about the protests against a war with Iraq.

The article ended with this sentence:
The police did not disclose details of their security operation, but it
was mounted during one of the most intense national security alerts
since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and it included thousands of
uniformed officers in the streets, sharp-shooters on rooftops and
plainclothes officers in the crowds. [emphasis added.]

This deeply-buried mention of police snipers, positioned on rooftops
above a huge crowd in New York City, was edited off The Times website
within hours.

It was replaced with a rewritten, somewhat longer version of the same
article ‹ omitting any mention of police snipers on roofs and
plainclothesmen in the crowd.

(For curious readers, Unknown News presents both versions of this New
York Times article, side by side.)

Perhaps it is a common practice for police snipers to observe and
protect the crowd from above. A shot fired by a police marksman might
bring down a crazed gunman. Of course, gunshots ‹ from the crowd or from
a sniper above > would cause a panic or stampede as people sought
escape.

It's also possible, though unpleasant to ponder, that police snipers
might be used to "disperse" an uncooperative or out-of-control crowd.

We will, however, leave others to question the wisdom behind this police
strategy. Ours is a different question:

Is it common knowledge that American crowds are watched over by police
snipers?

It's something we've heard whispers of, rather like black helicopters,
but rarely seen mentioned in mainstream media.

We believe many Americans would be surprised to learn that police
snipers watch peaceful protests through rifle scopes.

In the kind of journalism we respect, facts which readers would be
surprised to learn are considered "newsworthy."

In this case, a newsworthy fact was reported, but only in the last few
words of a 27-paragraph article, and those words were taken off-line
less than two hours after publication.

© 2003, by the author.

------------------------------------------------
*Excerpt

Sea of Faces Extended for More Than Mile up First Avenue
>From New York to Melbourne, Cries for Peace

by Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, Saturday, February 15, 2003

The police did not disclose details of their security operation, but it
was mounted during one of the most intense national security alerts
since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and it included thousands of
uniformed officers in the streets, sharp-shooters on rooftops and
plainclothes officers in the crowds.

-----------------------------------------------
*Excerpt

>From New York to Melbourne, Protest Against War on Iraq

by Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, Sunday, February 16, 2003

The police did not disclose details of their security operation, but did
say that 5,000 officers were involved. It appeared that the police had
not anticipated such a large crowd. At 1:45 p.m., Chief Joseph J.
Esposito, the highest-ranking uniformed officer, ordered the
department's highest mobilization, a rare measure that brought 1,000
officers from precincts and other commands around town. The alert was
last used in November 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in
the Rockaways.

For entire article go to:
http://www.unknownnews.net/0215-1.html

Published by
The New York Times
February 15 and February 16, 2003
Originally published at:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?P28F129A3


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