Sounds like we have another HOT HEADED POLICE OFFICER on our hands. Cops get so trigger happy these days...

Another example of how how cops are unevolved primates with weapons. Proper corrective action is to say "sorry". I gues thats all that crimals should have to say too. Sorry I stole you purse. Or sorry I robbed you. Or sorry I smoke marijuana. Or sorry I went over the speed limit.

personally I think that this is funny, I don't think that the police officers should get in any kind of trouble. they have to put up with idiots like that every day,crying about there "rights",that the liberals hand feed them like baby food, it's good to see them get even a little!!!!

Nice Police State you got there !

I am not surprised. Law Enforcement in this country is totally out of control but then what do you expect when you hire directly from the military where violence of action is drilled into you? Our government gives them a blank check and their own departments and mentality is to turn a blind eye to abuses.

Internal Affairs is a joke.

Apology not accepted and as usual I imagine the police unions are forming the blue wall to deflect criticism. Much like they did for LEOs in Chigaco who got charges thrown out because of statutes of limitation. Funny Murderers, rapists, and robbers dont seem to get that treatment.

Law Enforcement, whether it be state or federal should not be shielded from prosecution. In this case, rubber bullets or not, an unarmed woman was shot, then further victimized by mockery.

There should be prison sentences for this type of abuse.

Let's send shooter to Iraq and then let the lady in the red dress laugh back at him. He hee

I'm not surprised by these officers actions. America truly needs serious police reform. In Florida children as young as 5 or 6 or tased with tasers. Puny young teens are beaten to death at state run bootcamps. That's some really crazy and callous stuff police are stooping to these days. It's getting more difficult to tell the guys from the bad. There appear to be some type of marriage going on between the two sides.

Shouldn't have happened. Whether you agree with her or not, it was not right for the police to shoot and, on top of that, laugh about it. It goes to the top, a serious lack of leadership to allow that to happen. Liberal or conservative, she didn't deserve that.

Shame on the cops!

It's easy for everyone to blame the police but when someone is in trouble who goes in. Police officers see things that if anyone else sees they would need to see a shrink. I have seen the things they see and it's not pretty. So if they need to crack jokes to vent then let them do it. I would rather have them crack jokes than have them break down when we need them the most. Shame on all of you who hates cops. You dont know what you have until you need them.

Rubber bullets, issued police as part of riot gear, are meant only as a defensive weapon and most assuredly not to shoot protesters who are not attacking them. It would seem this woman's sign has a lot of merit. Is Florida turning into a police state? What does this department do when they face not so friendly protesters?

And NO I am not the Mayor. There would be a lot more done than an apology if I were.

Until you folks learn how to raise your kids, rebel against the thug culture, and start calling a spade a spade stuff like this will happen. Act like you should and rubber bullets wont hit you in the head. I bet you folks are the first ones to criticize, yet the first ones to call the police to tell the neighbors to quiet down, 'cause your too damn scared to do it yourselves. Get a life.

yet again....the police get away with criminal activities just because they are the police. finding no criminal action is even worse...is it just because they were rubber bullets??? if your shot your shot...whether its a rubber bullet or not, she still got shot, and shooting her in the head is even worse. A great cartoon line applies here: "only a big fat rat would shoot a guy in the back." after half an hour of peaceful protest they shoot her in the back? its reprehensible enough to do that, but then to laugh about it the next morning?!?!?! i hope all the cops on that tape get fired, because they dont deserve to call themselves public servants if thats what they do on time paid for by us taxpayers!

Those police officers are cowards and thugs, nothing more. Everyone one of them. A decent person would have stopped that, and an officer who respected his duty to all people would have spoken up.

As I said, a bunch of cowards in police officer's clothes…what an embarrassment

The police conduct is reprehensible. The cops involved should be fired immediately. If I'm Ritter, I file a civil suit, asap.

Whoever condemns the cops is rushing to judgement. We don't know the circumstance of the shooting, and can't possibly know if it was merited or not. That the cops laughed about it is perfectly fine. Or do we not believe in free speech anymore?

Your story about the attorney/protestor wounded by Miami Police by rubber bullets
MAKES ME DEEPLY ASHAMED TO BE AN AMERICAN.

This story deserves more air time. We must make it clear that this is UNAMERICAN ACTIVITY.

There is no excuse for this kind of behavior out of our peace officers. Why exactly are we sending our soldiers all over the world. The last I checked it was for the right to freedom. Freedom of speach, Freedom to protest. It is my opinion there were not only patrol officers out of line there supervisors were as well. Don't you think there comes a time when we should all have to behave like a professional even if we don't feel like it. If we make excuses then were no better or worse off than the countries our soldiers are fighting and dying for. This police department should be ashamed of thereselves. There supervisiors should revisit why they are in the positions they are in and grow the heck up. Our children still have current events in school. This should be a good topic for them to talk about.

I AM OUT RAGED AT WHAT HAPPENED AND THE LACK OF ACTION TAKEN AGAINST THE OFFICERS. NOT ONLY DID THEY ATTACK A WOMEN WITHOUT CAUSE BUT TOOK ALOT OF ENJOYMENT IN THIS ACTION. PLEASE LET VIEWERS KNOW WHAT LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT THAT WE CAN COMPLAIN TO IF WE DO NOT LIVE IN FLORIDA

THE POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED ARE CRIMINALS AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED. IF THEY ARE NOT HOW CAN ANY AMERICAN FEEL SAFE. NO ONE WANT TO THINK OF THE POLICE AS BULLIES WHO LOVE TO HURT THE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE PAID YES PAID TO PROTECT. PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS ISSUE DIE. THE PRESS CAN USE THEIR POWER OF FREE SPEECH TO PROTECT US ALL.

Liberal news media!! What a joke. I saw a broadcast on FSTV (dishnetwork channel 9415) reporting on this incident back in 2003. There was absolutely nothing on network news or the big cable news organizations that reported this story. I was appalled. Nobody I talked to at the time had any idea that this was evening happening in FL. People peacefully demonstrating against something they were against (we do have freedom of speech??) being pelleted with rubber bullets. But, it was all kept hush, hush until now. Conservative media hiding the truth about the police state in Florida!! The police should be punished, and I hope this lady wins her suit against the Broward County Sherriff's Department.

By the way, did ABC News report on this back in 2003?? I'd like to know. Can ABC News tell us why they didn't report on it then but are reporting on it now??

It is evident that these "peace" officers do not possess the judgement to be public servants, especially police officers. They should be fired. Anyone who disagrees should take 5 rubber bullet shots to the face and then tell me if they still disagree.

I was disgusted with this news story as well. I myself have witnessed many a police officer laugh at somebody who got on the wrong side of a standoff. However, I have now and always will side on the favor of the police officer. Day after day they put themselves on the line for the safetly of the general public and the response they get is one of ridicule. The men and women of law enforcement live their lives by the book, and do their jobs based on huge sets of rules and regulations.

I'd say the lawyer should be thankfull all she got shot by was a rubber bullet. My adive would be to never advance a police line.

Just goes to show you, most people who are cops.......shouldn't be.

Another example of how "compassionate" conservatives want to see the country ruled: Silence dissent with bullets. Protect the hired thugs.
Eliminate Liberty!

After watching this news story it made me sick. I agree with the others this story needs more air time and a follow up story done. From what I seen its hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. and as sad as it is, it seem like action is only taken and changes made when the news follows the story. its time that abc news.

If these cops think it's fine to shoot an unarmed woman in the head, then they shouldn't be wearing a uniform, period. They're lucky she wasn't severely injured-rubber bullets can very easily be lethal at close range.

Just because the cops have a tough job doesn't imply they can abuse their authority. The police are around to uphold the law...anybody and I mean anybody can be a gun wielding security guard goon. What makes someone a cop is their moral fortitude, and that's why they are to be respected and that's why we also hold them up to such scrutiny.

What most stuns me is that some folks on this blog are defending the actions of these cops. It's shamefully ironic that these people all identify themselves as being conservatives. Do fellow conservatives a favor and try not to show so much ignorance.

People saying the officers should get jail time for laughing??? That the officers are out of control??? We have so many reality shows showing just this very thing because the general population finds just this very thing funny. Let's get real...

Reminds me of the sixties all over again! Cops are not above the law even if they think they are... seems like she has a solid case to me.

This is what we are suppose to call professionals? I wonder how they act when they kill someone?
Must be really funny then!

Were looking more like C H I N A more and more every day. Will note be long before those bulets turn into led. Neocons s u c k.

This is America.

She had a right to protest.

The cops had a right to laugh.

Like it or not.

But what is in question here is whether or not the firing of the rubber bullets was warrented. We do not know enough to answer that question from this article.

Some may not like a common person exercising their right to free speech. Another may not like a cop blowing off steam at someone's expense, but come on, let's have a serious discussion of the incident, not voice our inflamed passions over perceived victimization until we know more.

In what circumstances should our peace officers be allowed to use "soft" crowd control?

If you mess with the cops, you will be shot. People have known this for a long, long time. Said protestor shouldn't have started it.

Was there any info about whether this woman was ok? It sounds like it isn't a big deal - 'rubber' bullets. But they are intended to inflict damage - just not kill.

Some of you are quick to condemn when you don't know the facts. A couple of officers may have used poor judgement and now all police are out of control. Who will you folks call if you are robbed or assaulted? Yes, you will call the police. And you will be the ones to demand that they do something immediately about your situation. You will complain loudly if they don't arrive on the scene in two minutes. And after they have protected you, your rights and your belongings, you won't even have the courtesy to say thank you.
I am proud to say I have several friends who serve honorably as law enforcement officers and I am thankful for people like them who put their safety on the line for not just me but for all of you who do nothing but complain about them. How about this, next time you are the victim of a crime, call a liberal politician or better yet, an ACLU lawyer. See what kind of help you get then.

Donna H., it is one thing to be upset about this incident and another to say you are ashamed to be an American. If you are that ashamed there are many countries that you can relocate to and one of the beauties of this awful country is that you can actually leave.

Boy...shooting a woman in the back and head and then sitting around bragging about it....seems more like weekend paintball then uniformed officers...what cowards!!

Captain Conservative, Since when did conservatism be associated with disrespect for fellow humans? Even if what the Sheriff did was legal, they could at least have some respect and not discussed it in such a fashion as they did.

You do not have to agree with the Police Officers comments. That is what is great about this country. You are free to say and what you think. We all have the same rights. Because they are police officers doesn't take way thier freedom of speach.

HONESTLY, I DONT CARE IF YOU BELEIVE IN WHAT THAT LADY WAS PROTESTING, IF SHE WASNT DOING ANYTHING WRONG/ILLEGAL SHE SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN SHOT. PERIOD! IT'S NOT FUNNY,OR AMUSING,NOR IS IT A WAY FOR POLICE TO VENT. IF POLICE WANT TO VENT, GO TO THE GYM, OR PLAY A SPORT. IF YOU DONT AGREE W/ WHAT SHE DOES FINE BUT DONT LAUGH AT HER. SHE IS A FRIEND,SISTER,AUNT,MOTHER,COUSIN, OR WIFE,SHE IS A HUMAN BEING! HOW WOULD THEY(POLICE) FEEL IF THERE MOM GOT LAUGHED AT AFTER BEING SHOT? WOULD THEY BE LAUGHING THEN? SHE GOT SHOT IN THE MIDDLE OF HER HEAD! SHE COULD HAVE BEEN SHOT IN HER EYE, THEN WHAT? WOULD IT HAVE BEEN FUNNY THEN? POLICE ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW! EVEN THOUGH SOME ACT LIKE IT. THEY SHOULD'NT GET AWAY W/ THINGS LIKE THIS. COME ON, AN APOLOGY IS ALL IS GETS? WHAT IS THAT? AND SHE'S A LAWYER! I WOULD BE SUEING SOMEBODY!

Based on what little we know about the case from reading this ABC News story, it seems to me that the police were absolutely wrong in shooting anything into the crowd of protestors. Yes, this is still America, and unless that protest turned into a riot, the actions were unfounded. The police officers who laughed about the shooting should also be protected by our ideals of "free speech", if there comments were made on their own time and out of uniform. As many people know, employers can and DO tell employees how to dress and how to behave at work, and it is totally legal. And certainly laughing about shooting a person would be against any reasonable code of workplace conduct. They should disciplined for poor judgement and nothing more. If I read through the lines of many of the previous comments, I gather we're upset more at the idea that policemen, with guns AND the authority to use them, might think shooting up innocent people is fun or funny, more than we are angry about them talking about anything afterwards. Personally, I think most policemen probably are good people, but unfortunately my experience with the police, as a person who has not ever gotton so much as speeding ticket, my experience of the police is so horrible that I could easily believe this story. I have been literally harrassed and physically threatened by policemen for NO REASON AT ALL, and not just once or twice, I'd say probably 10 times in the last 33 years. I have come to believe that most of them naturally develop a mentality where they see EVERY PERSON as a lawbreaker, because that is what they are around every day.

Police abuse? Where in this story does it state that the police acted incorrectly in reference to the action of shooting her with rubber bullets? I am sure prior warning had been given. What may offend some people is that the police seemed to take enjoyment from it.

Can't police like what they do, if it is in accordance with the law? Did they break the law? If not, then why is there a problem. It could be a problem if they acted inappropriately and took pleasure from that!

Yep. We are indeed doing that which our Ancestors gave their lives to eliminate: a Multi Class Society. Special Protections for no other reason than your employment, and what nearly amounts to immunity from Prosecution when they do err.

I will be the first one to say that Law Enforcement's jobs are tuff, but if their is no punishment for wrong doing there will never be corrective motion.

This sounds oddly like the onset of many monor Societal revolutions in human History....perhaps we're due for one ourselves.....

Don't we have more things to worry about than a couple of cops giggling about a video. I am sure there are more than a few folks out there that have viewed a video where someone gets hurt and laughs. get a grip.

So some pompeouos fat ugly attorney gets smacked by a rubber bullet in the noggen while protesting a free trade summit. Yall are missing the point. This is funny good stuff. I'd pay good money to have seen it. Miss piggy probably just picked herself up and drove home in her new BMW to her 3,000 sq ft home and cried to her small dog smoggems. I'm telling ya, good stuff.

Directed to poster "Mike Call", I have to wonder if the lady being shot was your sister or mother, would you still think it was perfectly fine for the police to laugh about it? They agree to serve and protect, nothing about this incident was serving the public or protecting the public. I want service without mockery and protection from criminals, not un-armed protesters!

Those police officers had every right to laugh if it was funny. Can't we enjoy humor once in a while? If I was at the demonstration and saw the way she was shot, I would cry laughing along with the officers.

Its not a big step from shooting rubber bullets repeatedly at a woman who was armed only with a cardboard sign and then ridiculing her pain and distress...to using live ammo and planting 'weapons' on the victims. Well - while I have mostly good working relations with the police where I live in upstate New York, I wouldn't trust the Florida police's capacity to handle a civic demonstration in a manner that respects the constitutional rights of unarmed citizens. Florida resembles more a South American dictatorship in the way its state and municipal authorities behave toward its citizens - just look at the way they handle elections and their brutal prison system. Maybe its the heavy Cuban influence - like every Florida county is run by a little dictator like Batista.

the shooting is one thing and laughing is another. if the shooting was deemed justifiable then there's no issue for me. about the laughing, it's okay by me. police officers can be a pain in the ol' wazoo sometimes when they start power tripping for no reason, but laughing is a perfectly normal way to deal with stressful situations. let them laugh about it later and it's fine. how would you like them to laugh and not respond to the scene of a crime? big difference there. so they're childish. so what? they aren't with their weapons and i trust that. it's not like they're sitting around the station house twirling revolvers on their index fingers. they whip the weapons out when authorized and take the least course of action necessary to handle a situation. once they've dealt with the gravity of a situation they are perfectly free to deal with their feelings however they please. They take a lot of crap, let them blow off some steam. by the way, has anyone even thought about what the protesters were doing that warranted such a response in the first place? it's not like they were sitting down and saying 'give peace a chance' right?

Shooting crazy protestors with rubber bullets is kind of funny...

I have no idea why aggravated assault and false imprisonment charges were not pressed on these sorry excuses for americans. supercop deserves a lead one.

The lady deserved what she got! She was told to disperse and she insisted on remaining and tauting the police. In this case, she got what she deserved. And I'm no over of the facist police in this country either.

This state is run by another BUSH right? What should we expect?

That the cops laughed about it is perfectly fine. Or do we not believe in free speech anymore?

Posted by: Mike Call | Aug 9, 2006 7:02:29 PM

Apparently not, I mean they shot a woman for using the "supposed" right to free speech. Gime me a break!

There is a great plenty of information on this topic available. In fact, video of the entire event is hosted at Google video. If you choose to watch it, you'll see police use police use tear gas to open a field between themselves and the protestors, and then exchange their wooden clubs for guns and begin firing at fleeing protestors.

The Miamia Herald carried a piece on August 9, 2006 that has some embedded video. It's worth watching, and is on their website. (I don't think I can post a link here.)

Watch the full video - then make up your mind. It's on Google Video under "Police Brutality - Biscayne/Flagler".