I was in attendence at an anti-war rally in Hollywood and I have to say that the conduct of the L.A.P.D. was shameful. There was no trouble of any kind at the rally, which was schedualed before the election, Until the Police showed up. So this wasn't a protest just to complain about the second straight fixed election, but to serve notice that the war in Iraq was still Illegal and immoral those facts wouldn't change even if the Pres. had. There were several thousand people at this rally which culminated at the Hollywood Armed Forces recruiting station. The police decided to arrest one of the protesters and after he was hand cuffed the police poked him in the ribs with one of thier billy clubs. This started an event when one wasn't there at first, but it only got worse. There was a girl complianing about the police brutallity but was no threat to the officers. One cop heard her yell police brutality and he took his bicycle and jammed it into the girl pinning the girl up against a parked suv. This upset her friend and she jumped upon the hood pf the suv and she screamed poilce brutality! From this piont on I know what I'm saying is on video tape because once she sceamed several video cameras popped into the air, via booms stands and even sticks. These people all filmed the rest of the story. At this point two cops grabbed the girl on the suv hood and pulled her legs out from under her, with her head thumping off the suv. Right after that I saw another officer push a man who was holding his son and wasn't saying a word. He was pushed into some bushes and nearly fell over with a young chind in his arms. The cameras were like a deterrrant and once the police knew they were being filmed there concuct changed abruptly. I wish it ended there but the incompitence of our civil servants really took a sad turn for the worst. A woman came to the front of the rally crying and hysterical, she was very distraught and it was hard to clearly hear what she was saying. She mentioned her daughter was killed in Iraq, she began to shake and one of the girls protesting tried to console her. This poor woman who was in more pain than most of us dare to imagine evenually fainted right at the feet of the police officers. The officers did NOTHING ! This woman was in need of an ambulance and not one of the officers there would do anything about it. I even saw two of them laughing at her. This made me sick and very angry. The rally continued in the parking lot of the army recruiters until the riot squad showed up. The announced on a P.A. system that we (the protesters) must leave the parking lot and the crowd was complying slowly with there wishes. At this point I saw the most discusting part of the wholr day, an enderly woman was walking out of the parking lot and one of the riot police began poking the elderly woman in the back with his night stick. They were being filmed but when one of the other cops noticed someone was filming this he began poking the man with the camera really had with his night stick. It was vial if the cop poked me that's one thing, I was yelling at some of the cops and I was facing them. They chose instead to poke an elderly woman facing the other way than to poke an adult man facing them. This was a very cowardly day for the L.A.P.D. and a look into the future. I hope all those who were duped into thinking George Bush Will protect you from terrorists by taking our civil liberties wake up! Bengamin Frankin once said anyone who sacrifices thier liberties for security deserve niether. Two years from today are those of you on the right still going to try to blame all the Bush has done on Bill Clinton? Why don't you cut out the middle man and elect Jerry Farwell Pres. He will be more than happy to force your narrow-minded view of Christianity upon those of us who combine thier faith with reason. Who will you blame in two years for the war and poverty? Welcome to George Bush's Police state Of America. James Kurka