What does being "kettled" mean?

[Skidmore]

Sorry to sound so dumb, but I've never heard that before.

[Coexist]

1. the police bring "nets" like plastic fencing

and break people into groups they sort of cage, in the nets.

[baldguy]

3. And once the people are thus corralled, the police attack them.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Cut off from the main body of a protest and held from further movement.

[Kievan Rus]

4. It's an encirclement in which nobody is allowed in or out

[FSogol]

5. Same here? My dictionary of slang says, female genitalia, british from the 1700s.

:shrug:

[Earth_First]

6. A highly questionable tactic...

Often times, cops will lead these protesters to an area where there are limited areas to enter/exit and set up nets at these access/exit points around the group and begin arresting those in the nets...

[ixion]

7. It's like seining salmon

only worse.

[Poll_Blind]

8. It's where police intentionally confine a group of people to too small a space which...

...naturally leads to heightened levels of fear (a natural human reaction) and a rise in poor behavior which the police can then act on.

It is an excellent way to turn a group of peaceful protesters into not peaceful protesters or, rather, a large enough percentage that the police can explain away their resulting actions against them.

PB

[Earth_First]

11. Best explaination yet...

+1

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. This is the best answer so far.

Corralling people, or surrounding them causes them to get agitated.

[frylock]

18. nailed it

[backscatter712]

20. This. The police use kettling as a tactic to provoke violence where there was none.

They don't look good when they're batoning peaceful protesters, so they kettle them in, squeeze them until everybody's packed like sardines, and people are passing out from the crowding, not let anyone out for hours, not let anyone go to the bathroom, get food or water, get medical attention, anything, beat the shit out of anyone who tries to even talk to the cops to ask about things like first aid.

The pigs then keep the kettle up until someone freaks out and does something stupid, then the cops beat the shit out of everyone and arrest them, claiming the protesters were "getting violent".

[Canuckistanian]

21. You got it

Good description.

[FarLeftFist]

9. Human fishing nets.

[eShirl]

16. "a fine kettle of (human) fish"

[arcane1]

10. I believe it's a British term

The previous poster said it well. Basically breaking a crowd into more manageable smaller crowds, and barricading them so they can't flee.

Then you let loose with the tear gas and pepper spray.

It also has the (surely unintended, right?) effect of making it look, when filmed in close, tight shots, as if the police are behind a defensive barricade, and the "rioters" are breaking into it.

[notadmblnd]

12. A term used for herding people into a closed pen.

Maybe borrowed from the British?

[Pharaoh]

13. they need net cutting tools!!

[Earth_First]

15. I suggested this, however I was then shown that this constitutes 'willfull destruction of property'

Giving law enforcement an even greater reason for arrest and added senseless charges.

Typically those kettled are prepared for the ultimate consequence.

[arcane1]

14. Here is a PERFECT example of kettling on a small scale

Those were obviously dangerous people :sarcasm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moD2JnGTToA

[Quantess]

25. That looks awful!

[provis99]

19. kettled comes from kesselschlacht, a Nazi battle tactic.

The idea was to encircle the enemy in a cordon, push them closer together, and then destroy them. Essentially, the police tactic of kettling is identical.

Kesselschlacht literally means "kettle slaughter".

Nice to know the cops get their policing ideas from the Nazis.

[Prophet 451]

22. It's a British term

It means to corral a group of protesters into a small, confined space. The protesters then panic (natural human reaction) and you use the panic as an excuse to arrest/pepper spray/beat them down.

Used to get used a lot during protests here but it was supposed to be banned years ago.

[mahina]

23. It was used by police at many of the big protests during the W era.

In NYC during the Republican convention, in St. Paul too I think, and others.

By the way, if you see that coming, sorry to be a bore but head for the porta potty before the zip ties come out!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=latest_threads

Getting arrested for the right reason is no shame!

[Warren Stupidity]

24. It is important to dismantle fences when ever the opportunity presents itself

Those temporary fences they put up are really easy to take down. I consider it a citizens obligation to unhook crowd fencing at every opportunity.

The newer tactic of the Fucking Orange Barriers, where the police treat people like fish in a stream, is obviously vile bullshit, but when the orange comes out people have to quickly scatter and regroup, or sit down and go to jail.