Hundreds of police officers were involved, some of them wearing riot helmets. The overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday were chosen because Zuccotti Park would be at its emptiest. The operation was kept secret from all but a few high-ranking officers, with others initially being told that they were embarking on an exercise. – After an Earlier Misstep, a Minutely Planned Raid
The ground has been laid for Occupy protests to get very bad PR. Public Policy Polling now reveals it in “Occupy Wall Street Favor Fading.”
The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.
Police in riot gear in the middle of a public park, while peaceful protests continue, tend to do that, but then it’s been planned that way. Can’t have democracy breaking out in America over something as silly as income inequality, now can we?
The right is doing their best to help.
The right is fueled by stupid.
But it’s this report yesterday by Rick Ellis in the Examiner out of Wisconsin that is getting deserved attention, because it points to the escalations we’re seeing.
Establishment forces, which include the business community, are very likely targeting Occupy protests and working hard to damage the movement, their reputation and the basic fight they’re waging, because the message is real. So, if you can’t hijack the message, damage the messenger. Make them look frightening, threatening, dirty, add your favorite negative adjective.
‘Occupy’ crackdowns coordinated with federal law enforcement officials
Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict “Occupy” protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night’s move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.
The official, who spoke on background to me late Monday evening, said that while local police agencies had received tactical and planning advice from national agencies, the ultimate decision on how each jurisdiction handles the Occupy protests ultimately rests with local law enforcement.
David Atkins writes today about a “sanitized eviction,” with the story I link at the top by the New York Times beginning the cleaning. The salient point of Atkins’ post:
This was not a clean, sanitary peaceful operation on rowdy vagrants. This was a violent assault on the civil liberties of Americans peacefully protesting a corrupt system, complete with a coordinated total media blackout.
Scary pictures and videos on TV going out to middle America, along with right-wing radio blasting the dangers of Occupy protesters, all of this is how a movement is discredited.
What’s the dangers to people if peaceful protests were allowed to continue without interruption, as is their right?
The fear is to businesses impacted by Occupy protesters presence. That freaks the establishment, with the loss of business revenue enough to inspire engagement by the federal government and Homeland Security to become involved in helping locally.
Our democratic republic isn’t what it used to be.
yikes. its nixonland.
That’s what came to my mind as well, Art.
After 9/11 the feds doled out hundreds of millions to local governments to prepare for another terrorist attack, if and when it came. The money was given with no guidelines on what to spend it on so they just went out and bought whatever made their dick’s hard: rubber bullets, flash grenades, sound cannons, armored vechicle’s, paramilitary uniforms, stun guns ( phasers ). They round up people with nets ( like fish ). Peaceful protester’s are treated like terrorist’s, as they were in New York during the Republican convention. The Oakland goons are only one example . This is only part of the story, the other is the new practice of coupling state, local and federal law enforcement to coordinate an armed assault on peaceful protester’s. These are police state tactics and they are being carried out by thugs doing the bidding of their rich client’s.
Oh but hey, the Christmas shopping season is about to start! Can’t be having protests! And I guess that it is pretty obvious where Mr “Status Quo” Obama stands on this, isn’t it?
Interesting how the MSM presented the “Arab Spring” uprisings as people who aspired to be just like us, when in reality, WE are not even just like us anymore. The rampant corruption is sickening and the HUGE numbers of people who are in denial (including some who post here) is utterly amazing.
They DO look frightening. No one is Making them look frightening. And they are breaking the law. Their message is misdirected. Why aren’t they occupying Nancy Pelosi’s or John Kerry’s back yard?
You make it sound like they are having a picnic in the park.
These people are filthy, doing drugs, defecating, urinating, leaving their trash everywhere and hurting local businesses. Step out of your fantasy land, Taylor.
Oh, please. Step out of your fantasy land for a moment. Nearly all of these movements, whatever city they’re in, have tried to deal with the human waste issue. In nearly every case, the city governments have refused to let them. Many of the people in the occupations are college graduates – they know perfectly well that they are going to need some form of restroom.
The city governments’ playbook has been to make these occupations look like public health problems, then to swoop in “admirably” to deal with them. Good thing for them that P.T. Barnum’s favorite demographic is still healthy and growing.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/133625143.html
It is not all clear — To deny that these ocupy parks put others in danger is just wrong. Also — What about the right of the general public to use the public parks. Would you like this accross your street? Have you seen these oupy sites in person? The Portland parks were a filthy disgusting mess and sanitation was a huge issue.
Most of the college graduates you describe are not the ones camping out overnight.
Read the post above if you wish… our mayor has been very supportive of the movement, even marching with them initially. Sam Adams is one of the most liberal mayors we have ever had and (not that it matters), our first openly gay mayor. He gave ample warning and specified his reasons for vacating the park. The link is from before the park was vacated.
The things he stated about the park were happening. It was to the point that the general public did not feel safe in the area. That is not right.. threats and vandalism are not the best methods for a movement… compounded by the fact that many of the protestors when asked could not even articulate their message.. why were they there? What do they hope to achieve? In Portland, thse occupying the parks turned it into a big party scene… The protestors who were not camping out seemed to have the better message.
FYI — The next day, occupy sympathizers threw rocks through windows of a local bank not far from my house. Bad…
Today they are having a rally at Portland State University where my husband is a prof. My husband is there and sounds like a great rally… he sent me a pic. The occupiers have a GREAT message, but it does not help when they take actions that turn supporters (like me) potentially againt their movement. I predict the whole thing will begin to get more violent.
As a great many people who are there have pointed out, a lot of that sort of thing goes on anyway in those areas at night. There are homeless people and drug addicts living on the streets – that’s one of the reasons people are protesting.
Anyone who thinks that this movement is going to work without unpleasantness is living a delusion. The people who run things in America have demonstrated they don’t care. Only when the rest of us are costing them an unacceptably large amount of money are things going to change. Occupying public places is going to be part of any successful strategy to turn things around.
If making lovely speeches and marching was going to get it done, we’d be there already.
I am so against the tent/tarp occupation… And stuff like this was not happening in this part of the city. Unless you were here you would not know. If this will be the attitude of those protesting, then count me amongst their former supporters. So from your perspective it is OK to trash things, anywhere, anyplace.. Would it be OK with you if this was happening close to where you live? I predict it is OK as long as it is not too close, but only you know this.
I fully support what is happening at Portland State today.. not the filthy dysmall mess, the increaased crime rate, etc. that I have already described that was happening here. Of course…. most choose to just believe what they want to believe based upon reading blogs and many distorted media reports. Have you experienced this personally?
Total BS about the crimes taking place near the parks that Cujo described in Portland before Occupy Portland. Cujo — If you can prove this, I would like to see your statistics.
Yes, well, speaking of idle speculation, where up there did I say it was OK to randomly trash things? Nowhere.
As for the rest, I’ve walked the streets of Seattle, and others, on nights when there weren’t many people around. It’s always frightening, when you realize that there are people there. I’ve now offered exactly as much statistical evidence as you have.
EDIT: In fact, if you have a way of taking away the things from the 1% that they value that doesn’t involve sleeping in parks or otherwise being a nuisance, we’d all love to read what it is.
I did not say that you said that it was OK to randomly trash things… I said that that was happening here and I wondered if you agree with this.
Come visit the parks I am talking about in Portland. This is not a high crime area… in fact, it is right next to City Hall and there is a jail very close by. The crime rate in these blocks bumped during the occupation, in addition to overdoses that occurred in the parks. I have already provided a link to this and if you choose to ignore the report and believe that the journalist is lying, that is up to you. In addition, there were MANY SANITATION AND HEALTH CONCERNS, for the occupiers and the general public in the area. How many times must I repeat myself. I live here, I saw it… It happened. You are the one claiming that the crime would have happened anyway, and I simply asked you to prove it. I know not what has happened in other cities, but I know what happened here. I repeat that I am behind the message, but not their tent occupier methods… It became a fiasco in the end and has angered many — as I am obviously one of them.
Yes — Based upon your edit.. the protestors need to protest in Washington (they likely are, but I don’t hear about it)… Congress and at the White House…. Get the lazy bums (congress and potus.. not the protestors) to do stuff there… President Obama is a BIG PART OF THE PROBLEM…. in terms of taxes not being increased on the 1%, he is the one who has caved so many times. We have a WEAK POTUS.
What is he doing anyway… does he really need to be in Australia today? This whole fiasco is approaching a true revolution and he continues to focus on foreign affairs and sit back and let Congress take all the blame.. meanwhile in addition he campaigns and continues to take money from Wall Street.
There’s been an Occupy DC nearly as long as there’s been an Occupy Wall Street. As you can tell from not knowing about it, it’s not any more effective than most of the Occupy movements. Nor is it likely that it will be any better. The folks in DC are just the help. They don’t run the country, at least not in economic policy areas. You could shut the whole place down, and they’d just move it to another city.
This needs to happen everywhere, a lot.
Fangio… I am not in denial. I know what I experienced and saw here in Portland. I have no firsthand knowledge of what is going on in other cities and can only believe what I read. I don’t doubt what Taylor posted above at all, but I still stand by my statements and previous posts, and think the police and our mayor here acted admirably.
Today the Portland occupiers are having a demonstration at PSU (Portland State University), in solidarity with students and faculty, both who have been royally screwed by increased tuition, and where has that been going? To new administration positions! Not to benefit the students or the professors. My husband is a PSU (Portland State) professor and plans to join them. I am 100% behind the message and today’s message at PSU. I am not for camping out in public parks when it becomes hazardous in many ways. To deny that it was dangerous, and hazardous puts you in the denial category.
It was UH – OH who spoke about denial, not me.
Sorry fangio — You are correct – apologies
OK, so what you propose is that people commute downtown during business hours to protest–or maybe just have some little 2-hour demonstrations (less than useless)–and then go home at 5? Yes these protests are attracting the homeless and the desperate as well as the politically commited, but where do you propose these people go? Actually, the addition of political activists has probably made some of these ares safer than they were.
Also, “sanitation issues” probably have more to do with the availability (or lack) of public facilities than with the inherently “bad” people who “threatened” anyone’s personal safety, and this is likely true in every city. Apparently Starbucks is considering making its restrooms unavailable to the public. Anyway, even without OWS, Portland is certainly not without its own very serious problems with drugs and homelessness.
The 1% would love to have the whole movement out of sight and out of mind, but it is really too late for that. Change happens whether we are for it or against it.
Let’s face it, they’re lubricated by it, too. I guess you could say they’re a stupidity-based economy.
You really are ignorant, Cujo.
It’s not ignorance, it’s the inability to engage in debate.
You’ll note, the crackdowns were in cities controlled by Democrats anc coordinated by a democratic administration, if the collusion is to be bellieved. Perhaps they are only looking out for the elites, or perhaps, outside the left leaning blogosphere, there is a greatly differenct perception of to the protestors and the movement.
“A lifelong Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his registration in 2001 and ran for mayor as a Republican, winning the election that year and a second term in 2005. Bloomberg left the Republican Party over policy and philosophical disagreements with national party leadership in 2007 and ran for his third term in 2009 as an independent candidate on the Republican ballot line.”
Are you stupid,ignorant and clueless or simply a pathologic liar?
You’re really stupid, cjoblak.
There, I’ve rebutted.
about as stupid as you are, Cujo. I was nice and just called you ignorant. But, really you are just stupid and regressive.
Talk about stupid, Cujo, Are you ok with the legal insider trading that goes on in Congress??? Why aren’t you complaining about that. Pelosi and Kerry and others making money doing things that you and I would be put in jail for!! Why aren’t any of you bitching about that????
Talk about stupid, cjoblak, is that the subject of this thread? Do you see any links to whatever it is you think you’re referring to?
Oh, and here’s a link for you. Does that read like I like conflicts of interest in Congress? That’s just an article off the top of my head. Or any of the hundred or so other articles in the Congress keyword at my blog, many of which make a point of discussing the corruption and conflict of interest there? Did you do any looking before you just blandly asserted that I didn’t care about such things? No, you just decided that since I’m not all excited about whatever issue you’ve imagined is the most vitally important topic of the day, I must be completely blind to the deficiencies of these people, and therefor ignorant.
That’s why your side is fueled by stupid. It’s your normal debating technique, at least, it is on your good days.
Talk about stupid cjblak…are you aware that pigs were fixing traffic tickets for there friends in NJ?!!! Just as relevant as your drivel.
I realized long ago that there are two sides to every story, and lord don’t believe everything you read. It stayed pretty peaceful here in downtown St Louis. I was down there a few times during the day and a few times during the night. And it was just that…day and night. It seemed that the occupiers during the day had a purpose. But at night? It was pretty rowdy and a little scary. A party.
I keep reading about police brutality among peaceful protesters. If I read the word peaceful one more time I think I’ll vomit. I think everyone got together and said….use “peaceful” as often as you can…
I am sure some “peaceful” occupiers got caught in the crossfire of the “non-peaceful” occupiers. So who’s fault is that? If they were your kids, you would tell them to get the hell out of there….it’s a safety issue. And a gulity by association issue.
Agreed Chuckg – That is what happened here in Portland as well… nights were rowdy, scary, big-time party… and there was no cleaning up after themselves… it was revolting. The police here were not brutal…
I cannot speak for any other cities but I can speak for Portland.
I agree with the OWS message. I disagree with the way some handled themselves, throwing bricks through windows among other things I disagree with as I am sure a majority do in the OWS movement. I just hope the leaders/members in this movement will try to stop the ones that want to make trouble and send a bad message about the movement.
“Hundreds of police officers were involved, some of them wearing riot helmets. The overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday were chosen because Zuccotti Park would be at its emptiest. The operation was kept secret from all but a few high-ranking officers, with others initially being told that they were embarking on an exercise. – After an Earlier Misstep, a Minutely Planned Raid“
This is chilling to me. Is it me or does this sound familiar? Sans the “hundreds” in number and scaling walls and killing someone, it’s another “minutely planned raid with few informed of the secret raid”: sounds like the night the Seal Team put the kibosh on Bin Laden. Sorry, but that’s chilling to me that this is done to American citizens exercising their first amendment rights. Which has nothing to do with the criminal element which had to be expected at nighttime: they weren’t going to go away. It makes me feel even more strongly towards those who are there sincerely because of what has gone on in this country for years and because we have fought and died to protect such first amendment rights. Also, there has been a history of mass protest movements in this country being infiltrated by agents provocateurs or persons employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act. How do we know this is not happening in some of these incidents? We don’t. But, it’s happened before (anti-Vietnam protest movement) and the probability of it’s happening again is not nominal.
And, that’s not to say I don’t understand the concerns of someone like Whitepaw, I do.
I just think this is a complex situation and when all is said and done, I’m supporting the people who had the guts to put themselves on the line (with the real criminal elements that could endanger their lives as well as the police) for those of us who are not there but feel as strongly as they all do about what has gone on in this country for years (especially for the last 11 or 12 years). As most of us have seen and felt, there has been a marked deterioration in our standard of living including affordable medical care, unequal outcomes in income for those of us, the majority, who worked hard and played by the rules when the guilty banksters/politicans got away with huge incomes and bonuses mostly not earned by hard work and playing by the rules the rest of us diligently followed.
And, these Ayn Rand, winged tipped shoe thugs got away with it (not arrested, convicted, jailed) and are still getting away with creating and selling dangerous mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps because they can get away with it without punishment. And, Main Street gets kicked in the collective ass while Wall Street (the new Wall Street, the one that makes profits through fraud and having friends in high places whose pockets they stuff so that they can go on pillaging the rest of us) is flush in luxuries. This is not only anti-American, this is a very dangerous brew right here that has caused Revolutions to happen like our own.
This is not the America I grew up in where everyone had a fair chance of living a better life than our parents if we worked hard and played by the rules most of the time. This is not the land of opportunity any longer unless things change. And, imo, ows is a small step to get us back on the road to the America where the deck isn’t stacked against the majority of us who don’t earn our keep by bribery and fraud. Ethically speaking, it’s like we’re all living in Alice’s Wonderland with everything topsy turvy.
I think we all need to take a deep breath and see the trees from the forest with the Occupations and seriously question what has gone on in the last couple of weeks. Where legitimate problems exist and how to solve them without a mass dismemberment of the occupation. And, force out in the open those who may be deliberately provoking trouble to make this movement look bad.
My two cents.