(UPDATE II) Overreacting Police (Again) Sustain Occupy Wall Street Protests
Occupy Wall Street organizers, such as they are, can thank police overreaction as much as anything for keeping the nationwide protests going.
There is a question as to how long the protests can be sustained with colder weather arriving in northern latitudes and snow predicted this weekend in some areas, but the movement got a timely boost this week when Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran who served two wound-free tours in Iraq was hit in the head with a projectile — possibly a tear gas canister — thrown or shot by Oakland police officers on Tuesday night as they dispersed 3,000 protesters from a downtown plaza. About 100 protesters were arrested.
Olsen suffered a fractured skill. He has regained consciousness but is unable to speak. The irony of the situation — a soldier who faced enemy fire only to be attacked at home — has not been lost on protesters and Olsen quickly became a rallying point.
“I think people would have been outraged even had this been a civilian,” said Jose Vasquez, the executive director of the group that organized the Oakland protest, “but the fact that he survived two tours of duty and then to have this happen to him, people are really upset about that.”
Olsen, who worked in computer systems at a Bay Area technology company, caught up with the Occupy Wall Street movement in San Francisco where he slept on the street in solidarity with the campers there and then headed to Oakland.
The Oakland police have promised an investigation, and Mayor Jean Quan has said in response to Olsen’s injury that Oakland is a “very progressive city” that supports the goals of Occupy Wall Street.
The incident occurred as several cities seemed to reaching the breaking point over the around-the-clock protests.
Atlanta and Denver have cracked down on protesters, the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island is seeking a court order to evicted them, while San Francisco, among other cities, is considering doing so.
Larger cities, including New York, Philadelphia and Boston, are taking a more tolerant view.
41 Responses to “(UPDATE II) Overreacting Police (Again) Sustain Occupy Wall Street Protests”
Quan needs to resign. Mayors need to pay a price for not controlling their police force. “Progressive City” or not.
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[...] Overreacting Police (Again) Sustain Occupy Wall Street Protests (themoderatevoice.com) [...]
tHE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT GAINED MOMENTUM for their civil disobedience, non violence and images of Southern police beating marchers. The police are making #OWS more relevant by the abuse.
I can’t believe how patient Bloomberg/NYPD have been. It’s an interesting experiment, I hope no one gets hurt when they finally have to restore law and order.
dduck there’s a good chance somebody is going to get hurt. If people leave peacefully that’s one thing but my guess is some people will have to be physically removed. That’s one reason I’m not particularly surprised or shocked that Olsen got hurt, it’s kind of the nature of the process. And I’m not saying Olsen deserved it or was asking for it, just that the nature of this kind of movement is probably going to involve some injuries.
Yup…………………….
Restore? law and order? Why?
As far as I can see the only people who are being unlawful and disorderly are the cops!
It does look like “Money and Power, Inc.” is starting to consider a “Kent State Solution” and comments like the one above are what they (M&P, Inc.) are looking for.
Once they get to get a few more middle class righties to conclude that the Occupy Wall Street people should “leave peacefully” or it would be reasonable to physically remove them then the American Overlords have won again.
“The police are making #OWS more relevant by the abuse.”
Bingo. Also keep in mind, the police are only doing the bidding of their masters.
Bloomberg/NYPD could use hoses, and dogs if need be. Hee, hee.
OWS is not going away. This is not a game or an experiment.
As more prosperity and opportunity is sucked up by the wealthy, OWS will grow year after year just as it did during the sixties and other times throughout our history until what is wrong is made right again. Now is just the beginning, the gentle phase. The informative time. The shot across the bow.
The reason that the mayors and councilfolk of New York, Philadelphia and Boston have been so patient is that these cities have a centuries old tradition of protest — for the most part peaceful — that, of course, ebbs and flows with the times.
We also need to factor the police forces of these cities into the equation. They have an extremely tough job insofar as toeing the line between under-reacting and losing control of the civil order and over-reacting and creating even larger problems.
I must say that I sympathize with them as much as I sympathize with the OWS protesters.
“I must say that I sympathize with them as much as I sympathize with the OWS protesters”
I agree.
I don’t sympathize with police when they don’t police.
How many are walking beats through the camped out protestors through the night to protect them? No, rather they take away generators used for heat as an attempt to drive away the protestors. The Police should NOT be trying to drive away the protestors, but rather protect and assist them. THEN when the police have a legitimate concern for safety or for private property, the protesters will believe them and have the opportunity for a dignified collaboration.
These are peaceful demonstrations. When they are not, it is because of the police, not the demonstrators.
This could be crunch time. It is snowing like crazy in Manhattan at 38F. Those that don’t leave are truly dedicated and I applaud that gumption, but not ALL of their ideas and philosophies.
Why are people acting like he was hit on purpose? It’s likely that this was entirely accidental.
How is using normal and acceptable procedures translated into someone getting fired, or labeling police “out of control”?
I haven’t seen enough evidence to suggest that anyone did anything malicious, but people always like to assume police brutality in any given situation. There is no need to crucify someone over what may be a random accident.
Come back with evidence that an actual crime has been committed, or incompetence, and then run a story about “out of control” police.
This story, as it stands now, is hyperbole. Guilty until proven innocent I guess… Welcome to ridiculous new America. If this is the America the protesters envision, I want no part of it.
Well, if you have 3000 people protesting, some of whom are emotionally overwrought and angry, it’s not inconceivable that someone will get hurt if disorder breaks out. I think most police are trained to not employ excessive force, so for the moment I think this kid was just unlucky. And the Bull Conner etc analogies are unseemly. And I could care less if Olsen served two tours, does that ipso facto make him special?
It was accidental.
Personally my view is that as long as the protests are 1) on public property, 2) peaceful, 3) relatively clean and and safe and 4) don’t significantly disrupt things (IE people who want to can still go to work/etc) then they are fine and should not be disrupted.
I think most would agree with this, though there is I think a small group who don’t think there should be any limits and to me that is odd.
I also find it bemusing that some (again *some*) who support these protests would cheer if the police broke up a protest whose agenda they did not support (and indeed would gladly jail those they disagree with).
Luckily this is also a small group, but one that perplexes me.
thanks Shaun
I’m finding the miracle, to these old activist eyes, being that so far no significant counter-group pretending to be part of the protesting group has infiltrated and caused violence under the guise of being part of OWS. As old, as old as Time. There is where the injuries often begin, whether union or general protests. We shall see and pray for all to be able to retreat peacefully. There is strategy for orderly retreat that will need to be agreed on both sides so no one is injured further. Same as in war strategy; withdrawal with honor far better than another skirmish, or worse. Let us pray.
Mark Nuckols-
-[And I could care less if Olsen served two tours, does that ipso facto make him special]-
Yeah it does…
Ok gang, let’s rememmber the rules, no personal attacks…
We’re better than that.
“Bloomberg/NYPD could use hoses, and dogs if need be. Hee, hee.”
Given the imagery and reference that calls up for most people, there is nothing funny about your comment.
Healthy people are amused at Dogs ‘N’ Hoses, for so much of “Occupy” itself is laughable. Plus, it’s still being accomodating.
As I’ve already written elsewhere, “Occupy” is about 85-90% the “anti-globalist” (anti-capitalism, anti-G8-status-quo far left) crowd, combined with a few older liberals that are just like those who attended the 2000s “anti-war” (anti-Bush-and-Cheney) rallies, and others from young and old that are organized extreme-left. The photo of Susan Sarandon and Cindy Sheehan says pretty much all for the older people (in fact it is not cherry-picking), and with the younger ones, we’ve seen anti-G8 stuff before. As I also wrote, the “solidarity” (really, commonality) the Occupies have right now is with the rioters in Greece, and both groups are laughably wrong, insisting on the impossible, with an entitlement mentality that’s amazingly ironic as well as galling.
It remains to be seen if angry Obama groupies and other disaffected so-called “progressives” boost this in addition to other support, such as from Democrats and journalists (oft-same).
…why the city governments (not limited to the police forces) are so light-handed so far. Rather, I suspect that cities, the most likely places to be filled with voters who may be sympathetic to “Occupy” politically, may scare those (mainly Democratic) city officials that want to be re-elected, again.
Don’t forget liability risks with juries composed of city residents.
LOL sentry your just hilarious.
Maybe a few #OWS squatters lynched in town squares would end the protests and really be funny…
Sentry, nice theory. Bloomberg in NYC is not running for Mayor again (he stole his last term), and is NOT sympathetic to OWS, in fact he is a 1%er.
My response to the unprecedented October snowstorm in NYC is to forward you an email I received from MoveOn.org: Occupy Wall Street’s ability to keep speaking up for the 99% depends in part on their ability to hold out against the winter weather. And that depends on their having the right supplies—sub-zero sleeping bags, long underwear, and warm hats and gloves. If you have any of these items—or can go buy them today—and are willing to donate, please bring them to 52 Broadway (at the corner of Exchange Pl, next to the Amalgamated Bank). Items can be dropped off there until 9 p.m. tonight or from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. tomorrow. (Donations outside of these hours can be brought directly to the Comfort table on the east side of Zuccotti Park.)Your contributions will make a huge difference in ensuring that Occupy Wall Street can keep up their good work. Let us know you’re bringing supplies by clicking below. We’ve also helped put together a new site, OccupyWishList.org, that lets Occupy groups around the country list the supplies they need and lets people like you help fill those needs. Many of those occupations can accept shipped donations, so even if you can’t make it down to Occupy Wall Street today, you can help occupiers from Albany to Anchorage get ready for cold weather. Check out what’s needed here: http://occupywishlist.org Thanks for all you do.
Can we raise money to send some of these people to Minsk so they can experience what police brutality really looks like? Or Yangoon? I’d give money for that, gladly.
MK WTF
This is the USA, not these countries. What ever happened to exceptionalism and opportunity. Maybe you could teach or blog from Afghanistan…
Denver police move in:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/29/us/AP-US-Occupy-Denver.html?ref=us
Have they made there point(s)yet. IMHO, they have. Unless, they expand to be more critical of Washington as complicit in this economic mess, they are becoming boring. Did anyone do a poll to find out the party affiliation breakdown of the major groups (NYC, Washington, Oakland)yet. Are the unions free riding on these groups; are they mainly Dems or Reps?
P.S. I hope the weather gets warmer and dryer for these folks, I admire them.
dduck Fordham did a poll on the New York OWS (pdf alert)
http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/graduate_schools/gsas/elections_and_campaign_/occupy%20wall%20street%20survey%20results%20102611.pdf
People seem to be taking what they want from this poll. They seem to be highly liberal but not necessarily Democrats. They don’t like the Tea Party, which makes the prospect of finding common ground seem less likely.
Thanks, DG, but that looked pretty heavily Dem sympathetic to me. 2008: 2% voted for McCain, 40% union or family member union, etc.
Only 25% say they identify with the Democratic party dduck, so while they are very liberal and don’t like Republicans I don’t think they can be pigeonholed as Democrats either. The question is if they can retain their focus on the issues without turning into an arm of the Democrats.
@duck&goat
The poll is of actual participants at #OWS. A CBS poll finds 43% approval of #OWS as opposed to only 27% disapproval.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39352_Poll-_43_Agree_with_Occupy_Wall_Street
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20125515-503544/poll-43-percent-agree-with-views-of-occupy-wall-street/
DG, they are pissed at Obama since he sank trying to walk on water. The 2% McCain figure works for me.
BTW: Polls s____.
Thanks, rudi, but the question: “do you agree with views of OWS. Notice it doesn’t say all views. I agree that WS is part of the problem, so I could also answer yes.
Polls s_____.
Duck
I know it’s early, but #OWS could be similar to the Vietnam protests. Many of the anti-Vietnam protestors were even farther Left than today’s #OWS. Yet a similar number of ALL Americans came out against the war…
rudi, This isn’t focused, like a war protest, so it is mainly a diverse group of people angry/frustrated with a myriad of things. Does it have legs?
An incident like this was probably inevitable. As you mention, it is in the interest of the occupy folks to have have a “cause celebre” and they always were in a position to push until the police had to respond