Sunglasses at the Not O.K. Corral

Frankfurt, Germany, seat of the European Central Bank, was the scene of a tactic described as "corraling" of demonstrators on 1 June 2013.

The K-landnews expressed sympathy with the police in the post about carrying umbrellas at an approved demonstration but decided on a short follow-up post.

You may ask, why a follow-up when the first post is so clear and German media have said all that needs to be said?

Are we trying to spoil the celebration of an outstanding "triple crown" soccer victory by Bayern Munich's wonderful team, or are we just obnoxious because we feel we can?

Neither.

We feel that the world fails to appreciate the German contribution to crowd control. The BBC news has an informative article about the tactic and the history of the word here.

Yesterday's application in Frankfurt was a textbook example, and the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine described in lurid details how the police chocked an approved protest march.

German politicians, quick to condemn Turkish police over their handling of protests, were following the important soccer match and could not be reached for comments other than "can you call back later, I'm watching the match right now".

The team at the K-landnews is still debating about the correct term, should we go with the Germano-British "kettle" or the American "corral"?

Advocates of kettle point to the image of the police turning up the heat on the little water molecule like protesters, who will eventually boil over, justifying greater use of force.

Advocates of "corral" have a simpler argument: protesteres are just cattle anyway, so you round them up.

TheEditor agreed to a second post on the subject because he had failed to see the catchy title using "Not O.K. Corral" yesterday and really wanted to get that one out.

TheEditor also feels the strong desire to congratulate German police on their wordsmithing prowess. Classifying an umbrella as "passive weaponry" (Passivebewaffnung), together with cardboard signs, sunglasses, and styrofoam boards, is a stellar accomplishment in the preservation of public order.

One more thing:
German tabloid Bild Zeitung  confirmed that the police action was planned all along. Police wanted to get the identities of protesters and compare them to the identities of people detained a year earlier.

The riot helmets worked well.