I was really hoping to avoid writing about the Occupy Oakland horrors currently going on in the city I used to call home. But last Thursday, Oakland Police apparently injured yet another war veteran — two tours, one each in Iraq and Afghanistan — simply trying to walk to his home, rupturing his spleen in the process and refusing him medical attention for eighteen hours! It turns out the man, Kayvan Sabeghi, is a co-founder of Elevation 66 Brewing, a new Bay Area brewpub which opened in nearby El Cerrito this past September. As a result of his beating, Sabeghi ended up in intensive care fighting for his life, but nobody knew about it until Friday, because the police that beat him bad enough to give him a lacerated spleen and a few broken ribs ignored his pleas for help, instead hurling insults at him and calling him a heroin addict, an alcoholic and a diabetic, none of which were true.
So that means the police injured not only another war veteran, but also a small business owner — in right wing parlance a “job-creator” — who according to what I’ve read posed no real threat to the peace at all. What’s perhaps most disturbing of all is the comments on news websites where many are suggesting his story is not true, or he deserved it or simply applauding the police for hurting him. That people can be so cruel is not exactly news to me, but it’s still pretty hard to stomach.
The Daily Kos posted a story, now updated three times, on Friday, which includes an interview with the victim’s sister. There are also reports on the UK’s Guardian, Reuters and the Huffington Post.
The El Cerrito Patch also covered the incident, as they’d previously written about his brewpub, Elevation 66, in Made-In-El Cerrito Beer: Elevation 66 Brewer Describes New Pub’s Approach. In addition to the brewpub’s website, their Facebook page also has updates about Sabeghi’s progress. Let’s all wish him a speedy recovery. And if you’re hankering for a beer, perhaps a trip to El Cerrito is in order.
Great post, comrade.
Thanks!
The amazing thing to me is how many so-called libertarians are against free speech (and all that other stuff Frank Zappa printed on those old Straight Records sleeves) and are just fine with the power of the (police) state when it comes to anyone in the vicinity of an Occupy site
Bob T.
hopefully he recovers but this article is very biased and one sided. I find it hard to believein this day and age of cellphone cameras in every hand, police would beat a man for “simply trying to walk to his home. There is a ot missing form this story. “Was Mr. Sabeghi refusing direct orders from an officer? was he resisting arrest? was he a threat or threatening the officer(s)? This is exactly the propaganda that is fueling violence, people read this garbage and believe it then protest on concocted premise.
Jay Brooks your journalistic integrity is suspect and you should be very careful of the real ramifications of creating propaganda regardless who your reading audience is.
I appreciate your concern, but this is exactly the sort of biased skepticism I was talking about with the many rude, and I thought downright cruel, comments on other websites reporting this story, most of them more legitimate news sources then me. When Reuters, The Guardian, and countless local TV stations are reporting the same facts I relayed, I think I can safely stop thinking there may be some kind of “propaganda” going on, whatever that even means? Sure, maybe he hurt his own spleen just for the publicity. Maybe his sister is lying to every reporter in town. Maybe his business is in collusion as they continue to post updates on his condition. But that just makes no sense. If I, and every news organization was “duped,” then we were all duped, in which case I’m not too worried about my “journalistic integrity,” which as far as I can guess means writing something you don’t want to hear. Because I merely reported facts already in circulation by major news outlets, adding only the beer and brewery connection because that’s my beat. You don’t know it’s not true any more than anyone else, yet you refer to the story as “garbage,” offering no reason, evidence or proof of that assertion. Are you afraid it might be true or are you afraid of what it might mean if it’s true? I think at this point it’s more telling that you, and so many others, seem so unwilling to believe his story and will do whatever you can to discredit it or cast doubt upon it for no better reason than you want to keep some precious status quo. Or is there some other reason so many people against Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland want so vehemently to insist it’s not true?
You took my comment and twisted into something that is completely different. Its not WHAT you write and WHERE you get your facts from….its HOW you present it. your loaded statement of the day is “So that means the police injured not only another war veteran, but also a small business owner — in right wing parlance a “job-creator” — who according to what I’ve read posed no real threat to the peace at all. ” THAT is propaganda not journalism.
Im sorry just because you are a war veteran does not mean you can never be the type of person to disobey a police officer in a protest, nor should we assume he is completely innocent because of his past service. Again i do hope he recovers, and it is a shame…but please dont add fuel to the fire by writing ammunition just because you read on some other newspapers people had different views than you.
Thanks for the clarifications of your criticism. You’re right, to a point, about twisting, but then without knowing what you believed was my “propaganda,” I fairly believed you took issue with everything I wrote. Even so, I think that statement is simply my opinion, based on reading over a dozen varying accounts of the incidents where not one of the reports offered a plausible, or indeed any, reason why such force by the police on a citizen was justified. Even the rather critical Chronicle piece didn’t indicate what, if any, threat he posed to a group of riot police. And his insistence that he was merely trying to reach his home, which according to some accounts, was within view, seems to emphasize that point, that he posed no threat to the police or the peace. Based on the totally of the information I read, that’s what I believed, so that’s what I wrote.
It’s also true that a veteran is just as likely to disobey the police as not, and his being a veteran does not, of course, make him automatically innocent. But as a veteran, I understand that serving your country is not something everyone chooses to do. People join the military for a variety of reasons, though most of those I suspect are with the best of intentions, at least in part. But it does seem particularly unjust to me when people who defended our way of life are then hurt by the same people they were abstractly protecting. Maybe it’s not fair, but it does seem worse to me when a veteran is beaten by the police than a non-vet. When it happens, it seems to fly in the face of their service somehow. It seems to devalue their service to their country. But that, too is just my opinion. But the real question has to be, veteran or not, whether any person “disobeying” the police in the United States should expect to be injured at all? And I think most people would agree that the answer to that question is a resounding no. Threatened? Maybe. Arrested? Perhaps. Beaten up? Never. We should aspire to be better than that, as individuals and as a society.
Oh, and it wasn’t necessarily that people commenting had different views than me, it was that they were so cruel. Many basically said he deserved it or they were glad the police hurt him. That’s not a difference of opinion to my way of thinking, but a breakdown down of civility, empathy and humanity. Even accounting for the fact that without visual cues, many people writing on the internet tend to express ideas they wouldn’t say out loud to a person standing across from them, I was shaken by some of the things people wrote. And it’s possible that made me more sympathetic to his plight, and perhaps we shouldn’t “assume he is completely innocent because of his past service.” But I still don’t understand why we should be so skeptical either, veteran or not. Why are so many so quick to think it didn’t happen? Why is his story so unbelievable and so polarizing to so many? Why are so many quick to blame the victim? To me, those are troubling questions. When most people are beaten up enough to land themselves in the hospital, and intensive care, and they recount what happened, is it usual to not give such a person the benefit of the doubt that they’re telling the truth? Shouldn’t we at least assume he’s not lying in the absence of anything suggesting otherwise? Or at least until it can be proven otherwise? Doesn’t taking any other course of action add insult to injury?
In the end, reading the other comments to my post, I don’t think I’m adding any fuel to any fires. When all is said and done, I’m a beer writer. What I say or think about politics doesn’t really matter. Though freedom of expression and freedom of the press may be under attack by forces opposing the Occupy Wall Street movements, I still have the right to my opinions. At least for now.
quite a long response….actually almost as long as your entire article (which says a lot). Based upon what you reference as your opinon you are an “occupier”. Not that i care what you believe, but since your article is pro-occupy id emplore you to do a piece to see how many of these “occupants” who are peacefully using their freedoms actually took the time to vote today.
Id think that is much more important to their cause than the bogus info that is run rampant thanks to the internet………..
I’m hardly an occupier, but I am sympathetic to their cause. I’m too old to be an activist and jaded enough to think it’s usually futile. I agree everyone should vote. I did a couple of hours ago. But even if some of the protesters didn’t vote, it doesn’t necessarily invalidate their argument. When you honestly think your government has failed you, it’s hard to see how that might change by your single vote. Besides, having the right to vote or not vote, means you get to choose whether you want to or not. To me that’s true freedom, even if I wish more people did bother to vote.
Emphasis on the so-called, please. Anyone who supports this sort of police action is no libertarian. Calling your pet pig “Rover” doesn’t make it a dog…
p.s. you write “Based on the totally of the information I read, that’s what I believed, so that’s what I wrote.” but considering you have not cited one source you read, yet you based your enire article on other sources, is VERY amateur and suspect. You should at least have the beef to back up the bite!
It’s a blog post, it’s meant to be opinion, not cited and footnoted. That’s the medium, although I did in fact link to several of the sources I read. It is the amateur (unpaid) blog of a professional writer. When I’m paid, I dot my eyes and cross my tees, when I blog for myself, I don’t have to, because it’s just one man’s opinion.
your quote: Why are so many quick to blame the victim? To me, those are troubling questions. When most people are beaten up enough to land themselves in the hospital, and intensive care, and they recount what happened, is it usual to not give such a person the benefit of the doubt that they’re telling the truth? Shouldn’t we at least assume he’s not lying in the absence of anything suggesting otherwise? Or at least until it can be proven otherwise? Doesn’t taking any other course of action add insult to injury?………………………….anyone who has gotten their ass handed to them will claim to be a victim. its called PRIDE. considering this man was a Vet im sure he has a HUGE sense of pride (and rightfully so) … so when he took his personal opinion to the extereme, and the police officers who have families to go home to at the end of their shifts did what they had to do…..i can see how hed say he was a victim rather than “ok i took it too far and got my ass whooped”
How is someone who’s had their “ass handed to them,” i.e. injured, NOT a victim? A victim is defined as “a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency.”
I just got home from Mammoth Lakes, and read Jay’s post and the several replies.
First, my hope is for Kayvan to have a speedy recovery. My second thought is that I must finally now go visit his pub, as several friends have spoke well of it before.
Lastly, I believe Jay is very correct in making his point when he asks writers like Subjective Reader, “Are you afraid it might be true or are you afraid of what it might mean if it’s true?”
That is a very important question regardless of how we feel about some or all of the #OWS message and/or protesters.
Both Jay and I undoubtedly agree with Subjective Reader that the property damage some have caused in Oakland is regrettable, but Freedom of Speech was not something we Americans gained easily. And that incidents of police brutality and excessive force will and have occurred is a fact of life.
What is clear is that Kayvan Sabeghi was severely injured and no one should be suggesting he deserved it. No one.
Wow guys.
Late to check in on this, but “Subjective Reader” surely has pegged (him/her)self, & has no clue about Kayvan – I DO!. I live a mile away from Elevation 66, go there at least once a week, & have talked to him many times after the incident when he’s been behind the bar. He’s a very mellow guy who I think happened to run afoul of an overly-aggressive cop in Oakland & then more at the jail. What amazes me about this discourse is that nobody mentioned that Kayvan made KTVU’s 10 PM news a few days after the incident (complete w/cop-provided video clips of his jail time) – the newsclip probably still is available on KTVU’s website.
I went to Elevation 66 the 2nd day it was open (9/2/11) & was quite impressed. Its bar denizens are eclectic & good for conversation, as are the proprietors & staff. The food’s good (especially the house-made potato chips), their 6 “house” brews are clean & tasty, & they have 5 guest brews (CA only so far) plus a cider on tap. Growlers to go are coming, & they have wine. Happy hour (2:30-5 PM), brews are $3.50 (pints for guest brews; imperial pints for theirs; exceptions are the high-alcohol ones, which come in 12-oz stemmed glasses). AND, it’s public transit friendly – a short 3-block walk from El Cerrito Plaza BART & < 2 blocks from AC Transit's 72 line's nearest stops (Fairmount & San Pablo for the locals; Carlson & San Pablo for the Rapid).
Jay – if you've not been there yet, you should put a visit at/near the top of your "to do" list!