Dry run….Peaceful so far…but…
On Thursday, Sept. 1st, a small group of demonstrators were met with police intimidation while performing a peaceful and legal occupation of a public sidewalk on Wall Street for a single night. Nine were arrested for disorderly conduct and later released without charge. One demonstrator was held for 24 hours because he was unable to provide proof of residency.
This demonstration was intended to serve as a one night test run for the September 17th occupation using the “legal encampment” strategy. According to a federal court ruling in 2000, the use of “public sleeping as a means of symbolic expression” is allowed on public sidewalks in New York City. (METROPOLITAN COUNCIL, INC., Plaintiff, -against- HOWARD SAFIR, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, et al., June 12, 2000 [99 F. Supp. 2d 438; 2000 U.S. Dist.]). The demonstrators of Bloombergville also employed this tactic for an occupation that lasted a few weeks.
Despite fully obeying the law, demonstrators were still met with police harassment and intimidation. This event serves to remind us that we’re living in a police state with absolutely no respect for the right of the people to peacefully assemble and exercise their constitutional free speech. But we will not be scared away or deterred. This abuse of authority by the NYPD only serves to strengthen our resolve and reinforce our belief that corruption and injustice in America must be fought.
Related articles
- #ANARCHY is coming to AMERICA Sept 17! #OccupyWallStreet kicks off the #UsDayofRage Protest (yourdaddy.net)
- US Day of Rage Readying Peaceful Occupation of Wall Street on Sept. 17th (prweb.com)
- Groups Plan To ‘Occupy Wall Street,’ But Their Goal Is Not Yet Set (preprod.cbslocal.com)
Alexa O'Brien
September 10, 2011
This action was taken by 12 independent people, not #usdayofrage. Just a heads up.
notalemming
September 10, 2011
independent people ………….. is that not what this is all about. Not anarchy but Every-Archy. We have all been hurt bad in some way. I just hope that destroying the financial sector by systemically shutting them down will fix our economic woes, it is doubtful. We need to get back to honest free markets, but that is not going to actually happen until we get the Marxist and Socialist out of the way and make the media police politics and capitalism in order to root out the cronyism. The media should be the 4th branch of government providing public oversight. But you cannot have oversight from a liberal media that picks its own left wing agenda driven winners and losers.
The camp out would better be focused on the lawns of Bill Clinton, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Tim Gietner, George Bush, Barack Obama, Hank Paulson, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters, Franklin Reigns and all members of the CBC that forced legislation early on in the Clinton era that allowed the activities to spawn in the housing and credit markets that created this sub-prime me$$. Those persons belong in prison.
The Compliance Campaign
September 12, 2011
It’s a good idea to study NYPD tactics, especially those used at antiwar protests in 2003 and the RNC protests in 2004. They are highly organized and effective at crowd control, and won’t hesitate a minute about engaging in unconstitutional mass arrests. Don’t let them neutralize you.