&gt; <i>as far as I know, in the US police are never given orders to hurt protesters. In theory, they can even get in trouble for doing so. In the other countries you listed, this was official policy.</i><p>Well, they don&#x27;t <i>need</i> orders to hurt protesters. Some of them will actively seek out opportunities for doing so, because that&#x27;s what they signed up for. Those would be the psychopaths, by the way.<p>Yes, in theory they can get in trouble for hurting people, but in practice we all know they don&#x27;t.<p>&gt; <i>The final blow was a court ruling that said they have to clear out. (The wording was a bit more subtle, but that&#x27;s what Wikipedia is for.)</i><p>I have no clue if that&#x27;s accurate, but it sure would have been convenient for Wall Street.