We'd 'Absolutely' Use Force on Protesters: Wis. Police

But 'it would not look like the US if we did that'
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2011 4:00 AM CST
We'd 'Absolutely' Use Force on Protesters: Wis. Police
Protesters gather down State Street in Madison, Wis. after a a rally outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011.   (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Steve Apps)

Wisconsin troopers would "absolutely" use force on protesters if ordered, says the head of a Wisconsin police union. Thousands of protesters have gathered at the Wisconsin statehouse for the past week, protesting the governor's proposals to cut public employee wages and collective bargaining rights. "I'm not able to even fathom that any of those police officers would not carry out whatever orders were given to do their job," Tracy Fuller, head of the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association, tells the Raw Story.

However, Fuller added, "I can't even imagine that the governor or anybody else would think that's a viable option. It would not look like the United States, if we did that. No one said anything to me about anything like that." Fuller also says the union is opposed to the governor's proposals to strip public unions of their collective bargaining rights. State troopers won't be losing their right to collective bargaining under the bill, although some members of two other police agencies the union represents will. (More Wisconsin stories.)

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