Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to clear protestors from Istanbul's Taksim Square and Gezi Park on Saturday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had issued a warning to the group earlier in the day to leave or face expulsion, saying "If it is not emptied, from now on, this country's security forces will know how to empty that place." The protesters ignored the threat, countering that none of their demands had been fulfilled. The PM has pledged to hold a vote on whether to redevelop the park where the protests started, instead of making an executive decision, but apparently it was too little, too late. Since the unrest started, there have been four deaths and around 5,000 people injured.

Via:

"Thousands of peaceful protesters, choking on the fumes and stumbling among the tents, put up little physical resistance, even as plain-clothes police manhandled many to drive them from the park. Just moments before, the park had been full of protesters young and old, as well as families with children.

Many ran into nearby hotels for shelter. A stand-off developed at one hotel on the edge of the park, where police opened up with water cannon against protesters and journalists outside before throwing tear gas at the entrance, filing the lobby with white smoke. At other hotels, plain-clothes policemen turned up outside, demanding the protesters come out.

Some protesters ran off into nearby streets, setting up makeshift barricades and running from water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets into the early hours of Sunday. Plumes of white tear gas rose from the streets.

As news of the raid broke, thousands of people from other parts of Istanbul gathered and were attempting to reach Taksim. Television showed footage of riot police firing tear gas on a highway and bridge across the Bosphorus to prevent protesters from heading to the area."

Tayfun Kahraman, a member of Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest movements, told The Associated Press by phone, "Let them keep the park, we don't care anymore. Let it all be theirs. This crackdown has to stop. The people are in a terrible state."

France approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and gay adoptions -- and Socialist President François Holland is expected to sign it -- despite those in the country who remain fiercely opposed to it and attacks against gays rising as the debate has raged. Polls show a majority of the French favor equal rights for same-sex couples, but center-right politicians have embraced the protests as a way of opposing Hollande. Anti–gay marriage protesters have begun calling their movement the “French spring,” with about 45,000 marching in Paris in a mostly peaceful protest that included some wrapping themselves in the French flag and others carrying children or pushing baby carriages with the sign “All born of a mom and dad.” Meanwhile, there have been several high-profile attacks against gays in the country, including the beating earlier this month of a Dutch man who was walking hand-in-hand with another man in Paris.

NYT:

Opponents shouted slogans against Mr. Hollande and wrapped themselves in the red, white and blue of the French flag. Some carried children or pushed baby carriages under a slogan that read, “All born of a mom and dad.” Opposition leaders condemned any targeting of homosexuals. The numbers on Sunday were down considerably from the 300,000 who marched last month.

But on Monday, Manuel Valls, the interior minister, accused protesters and political opponents on the right of “unleashing homophobic speech.” Speaking to Europe 1 radio, Mr. Valls conceded that opponents of the bill were “numerous,” but said they represented “a minority compared to the millions” who voted for Mr. Hollande as president a year ago, when he promised to pass a same-sex marriage bill in his first year in office.

Also on Monday, the president of the National Assembly received a letter threatening “war” and attacks on Socialist lawmakers if the lower house approved the legislation, the French news media reported. The letter was said to have contained gunpowder.

In general, politics has come to overshadow the moral and religious questions around the bill, which Roman Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders oppose. The bill promises “marriage for all” and more contentiously, polls show, would legalize adoption by same-sex couples. The bill does not mandate state aid for artificial insemination or other assistance in procreation for same-sex married couples, however, which many French oppose. Such a bill may be proposed separately.

France has had a "civil solidarity pact" -- a form of civil union -- since 1999, which gives couples some rights and protections, but falls short of marriage and is more often used by heterosexual couples who see it as a form of "marriage light."

Over half of the countries in the European Union have either some sort of civil union, if not marriage, that is open to same-sex couples.

It's only been a day since Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's security forces and anti-Morsi activists signed an agreement to end a week-long string of violence, but the two groups are already back at each other's throats. Security forces outside the Islamist president's palace walls fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters armed with Molotov cocktails Friday, as Morsi warned demonstrators to back off. In a message on his Facebook page, the president warned that his officers won't hesitate to act "firmly to apply the law."

More at Bloomberg News.

Video footage of New Years at Zuccotti Park.

A group of 14 Occupy Wall Street protesters filed a lawsuit in federal court this week claiming that the NYPD violated their Constitutional rights by arresting them during an impromptu march near Zuccotti Park in the early hours of New Year's Day. Attorneys for the plaintiffs claim that the NYPD used an "illegal 'trap and arrest' tactic" to detain the protesters with the orange netting that has become an ever-present threat during Occupy events. "Whenever the police unlawfully arrest peaceful protestors, it chips away the people's Constitutional right to protest for redress of grievances," attorney David Thompson stated in a press release.

Nearly 70 protesters were arrested that evening, many for trespassing or the catchall charge of obstructing governmental administration. The suit asks for damages and other forms of relief.

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said today that he wants to discipline 44 of his officers for misconduct in their handling of Occupy Oakland protesters at three major demonstrations in the past year. Jordan said at a briefing at City Hall that his Internal Affairs division has received 1,127 complaints about alleged officer misconduct at Occupy Oakland protests in the past year.

Jordan also revealed that one of his officers - not an officer from an outside agency - fired a beanbag that critically injured Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen on Oct. 25, an incident that galvanized the Occupy movement.

Via:

A scathing report released Friday by the Oakland, Calif., police department came down hard on certain Oakland officers for their part in three Occupy protests on the streets of Oakland last year.

It also said for the first time that it was an Oakland police officer who fired the bean bag shot that hit and critically injured an Iraq war veteran. That officer, according to Chief Howard Jordan, is also the subject of a criminal investigation connected to the injury to Scott Olsen.

The city's official report followed an unprecedented 1,127 complaints by citizens against officers during those protests that happened on Oct. 25 and Nov. 2 of 2011, and Jan. 28 of 2012.

They were part of the Occupy movement that brought tens of thousands of people to Oakland for a series of demonstrations that turned violent.

Chief Jordan said he wants to fire two officers, demote another, suspend or give a written reprimand to over a dozen for their actions during the violent protests. Another 23 will receive written reprimands and 3 others will receive counseling and additional training.

You can read the full report here( pdf).

Police have been caught setting up occupy wall street protesters last year in order to prosecute them more harshly under the law.

In December of last year, Occupy Houston made headlines as they blocked the entrance to the Port of Houston by forming a human chain using pvc pipes to lock their arms together in "dragon sleeves." This tactic didn't stop the Houston police from arresting them, however, and instead of being charged with simple misdemeanors, the use of those pipes -- considered "criminal instruments" -- the group face felony charges.

Austin Police Officer Shannon Dowell was one of three undercover APD officers within Occupy Austin, the same group that ended up in the Port of Houston. The APF officers designed and built those "dragon sleeves" that got the protesters in so much trouble.

Officer Dowell apparently had been bragging about how he set up the occupiers, and someone who overheard him tipped off the attorney for one of the protesters.

Via:

Occupy Austin members claim Dowell specifically encouraged them to ramp up their protest efforts.

"This man would attend our meetings, pull me aside and say, we need to do more aggressive actions," Dave Cortez said.

Those allegations infuriated the presiding Harris County judge. She said she was floored by the officers' involvement.

"It was determined that plain-clothes officers blending in was necessary for the safety of the participants and the community," Minnix said.

The Occupy Houston protesters are hoping to have charges dropped because of the role of the undercover officers.

Another court hearing is scheduled for later this month.

"On Tuesday, a group of more than 100 protesters shouting "Obama is a traitor" temporarily shut down the official bus service that ferries around delegates at the Democratic National Convention. The protesters, some of whom were lying down in the street, were surrounded by Charlotte police, who used their bicycles to build a barrier around the group..." Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola (host of TYT University and Common Room) break it down on The Young Turks.

Police in the California city of Anaheim, home of Disneyland, are facing allegations of murder and brutality after fatally shooting two Latino men and firing rubber bullets into crowds of protesters. Here is an interview with neighborhood children who were shot at with rubber bullets by police.

Occupy Wall Street activists gather inside Saks Fifth Avenue to oppose CEO Carlos Slim, who protesters say made his fortune on the backs of poor Mexicans. You can hear the undercover private security guard in the background telling videographer Allison to stop filming. Allison explains she's a reporter to which the guard replies, "That doesn't matter in here."

New York City has distanced itself from a high-ranking "white shirt" police officer, Deputy Inspector Tony Bologna, and will not defend him in a civil lawsuit as a result of the incident.

Via:

New York City has distanced itself from a high-ranking police official accused of firing pepper spray at Occupy Wall Street protesters, taking the unusual step of declining to defend him in a civil lawsuit over the incident.

The decision means Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna also could be personally liable for financial damages that may arise out of the suit, said lawyers familiar with similar civil-rights claims.

The 29-year veteran has asked a judge to reverse the city. "He wasn't doing this as Anthony Bologna, mister. He was doing this as Anthony Bologna, deputy inspector, NYPD," said his lawyer, Louis La Pietra. Mr. Bologna's union, the Captains Endowment Association, is now covering the cost of his defense.

On September 24, 2011, Bologna used pepper spray on Occupy Wall Street protesters (All young women) that were held behind orange netting. Bologna's lawyer claims Bologna didn't intend to spray the women and he expects to argue that the video doesn't show the "context" in which the deputy inspector's actions unfolded.

I think we got the context just fine. Young girl coraled standing crying along at the edge of the net, big bad white shirt with a can of pepper spray sees easy target. But, Tony Bologna's version ought to be interesting, even if it does smell to high heaven.

It will be interesting to see how willing the police will be to brutally attack protesters in the future now that they know the city will abandon them when it comes time to go to court.