Over 700 Arrested at Occupy Wall Street Protests

Report from The Consumerist

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Over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested when they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend, blocking traffic and shooting the movement into the national consciousness.

Late Saturday afternoon, protesters began marching onto the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, which quickly became crowded. New York Times reporter Natasha Lennard was on the scene and was later among those arrested. "A couple of dozen marchers made the decision to move off the sidewalk into the road at the bridge's entrance to chants of "off the sidewalks, into the streets, " she reported. "This breakaway group quickly gained support of surrounding marchers, numbers of whom jumped over barricades on the sidewalk's edge to stream into the road, until hundreds of people eventually covered the passageway usually intended for a steady flow of traffic.

And they were subsequently arrested. More than 700 of them. As you might guess, that was a bit of a logistical nightmare.

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AlterNet's Kristen Gwynne is one of those stuck in the bridge when the police closed off both ends and came in with the plastic cuffs. "They're arresting us one by one. I just asked a cop and they said they're going to arrest all of us. There are hundreds of people who dont have room to sit down. We're just crammed in," she reports by phone.

As it turns out, blocking the street was not part of the original plan, and also didn't need to happen. From Alternet:

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Michael Whitney, who was marching with the crowd onto the bridge, tells me, "No one knew we were going over the bridge." He says that the march stopped, then proceeded onto the traffic lane on the bridge, led by police. "We walked past dozens of police officers who said nothing to us--in the middle of the march, with 1200 people ahead of us. I thought out loud it felt like a trap and a bad idea."

Turns out that it was. Initial media reported a he-said-she-said version of events, with the protesters spontaneously overtaking the street. Which is the official story of the NYPD. Except for the little complicating detail of the video of NYPD officers apparently leading the march across the bridge:



But what about the protesters who didn't violate the law, and stayed on the sidewalks? Nope, that's not ok either. The blog Naked Capitalism reports:

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The part I find more interesting, which has not been as well reported, is that some (many?) the protestors who used the walkway and got across the bridge were also corralled and not permitted to proceed to the Chase plaza. Greg Basta, deputy director of the New York Communities for Change, told me by phone, based on multiple reports from people who participated in the march, that as soon as protestors got to the Brooklyn side of the bridge, they were kettled. Greg was under the impression that there were construction barricades at the foot of the bridge which made it impossible for the marchers not to walk on the street. Because the focus has been on the what happened on the bridge, the coverage of what happened to the rest of crowd is sparse.

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Etan Ben-Ami, 56, a psychotherapist from Brooklyn who was up on the walkway, said that the police seemed to make a conscious decision to allow the protesters to claim the road. “They weren’t pushed back,” he said. “It seemed that they moved at the same time.”..

He added: “We thought they were escorting us because they wanted us to be safe.”

From the NY Times.Believe what you will, and I'm not saying that the apparent police lead doesn't make the protesters guilty. But it should raise your eyebrows, especially given the way the NYPD has been spinning the event.

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"The police did exactly what they are supposed to," Mayor Bloomberg told a press conference later. "Protesting is fine, but you don't have the right to go and without a permit violate the law."

But it's ok to violate the the law if I have a permit? Where might I get such a magical permit that allows me to violate the law with impunity? Hm, would it be anything like the permit-slash-bribe that JPMorgan paid to the NYPD prior to the protests? That I'm sure didn't have any effect on the police who led protesters into traffic and arrested them before they could get reach the property likely owned by JPMorgan? Nothing wrong with that, as long as you cough up the money you're golden!

Youtube also has tons of footage of NYPD brutalizing peaceful protesters. Stay classy, NYPD, stay classy.

I'd been wondering why no one had reported this before. This has been going on for nearly two weeks, and as near as I know, NONE of the mainstream (read, right-wing Republican) media has so much as mentioned it, except in passing once the police started arresting people). The New York Steel Workers Union agreed several days ago to join the protest, and the only place I saw it mentioned was in my news feed on Facebook.

I've barely seen anything on this (mostly because Australia). So far I've been getting my news on what's happening off knowyourmeme which seems kinda sad to be honest.

Rabid Badger wrote:

I'd been wondering why no one had reported this before. This has been going on for nearly two weeks, and as near as I know, NONE of the mainstream (read, right-wing Republican) media has so much as mentioned it, except in passing once the police started arresting people). The New York Steel Workers Union agreed several days ago to join the protest, and the only place I saw it mentioned was in my news feed on Facebook.

I thought most of the mainstream ones were liberal?

Howithurts wrote:

Rabid Badger wrote:

I'd been wondering why no one had reported this before. This has been going on for nearly two weeks, and as near as I know, NONE of the mainstream (read, right-wing Republican) media has so much as mentioned it, except in passing once the police started arresting people). The New York Steel Workers Union agreed several days ago to join the protest, and the only place I saw it mentioned was in my news feed on Facebook.

I thought most of the mainstream ones were liberal?

Objectively, yeah there's a slightly bigger segment of the media that's liberal, but in practice the phrase "mainstream media" tends to refer to the parts of the media that are on the other side of the liberal/conservative fence from the poster.

Rabid Badger wrote:

I'd been wondering why no one had reported this before. This has been going on for nearly two weeks, and as near as I know, NONE of the mainstream (read, right-wing Republican) media has so much as mentioned it, except in passing once the police started arresting people). The New York Steel Workers Union agreed several days ago to join the protest, and the only place I saw it mentioned was in my news feed on Facebook.

You don't actually pay any attention to the "mainstream" media, do you? I've seen O'Rielly and Hannity and Fox News in general cover it. My Obama disliking, commie fighting Money & Banking professor has brought it up. Conservatives seem to enjoy mocking these stoned nitwits.

It's just middle-class white kids who are upset that they're stuck with student loans and aren't living the so-called American Dream and getting the pot of gold on the other side. On Tumblr people have been going on about how this illustrates what is wrong with society, what with police brutality, but poor neighborhoods and people of color deal with police brutality all the damn time.

It's nice that they're protesting, it's not like they'll make a difference. One of the solidarity protests here blocked the street, and an ambulance was prevented from getting where it needed to go. The group here says that it was a minor thing. But people getting to work and on with their lives don't have the privilege to protest at everything. If they're part of the 99% they should act like the ones who actually have responsibilities. I'm sorry.

Flower power and all that shit.

Have you seen this?: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's supposedly an Anonymous operation for DDoS attacks on businesses, but there's a LOT of suspicion that it's just another trap by the police.

Here the protest is getting plenty of coverage, but then it is local news. I don't really understand a lot of what they're doing -- what possessed them to try marching a few thousand people to Brooklyn in the first place? -- but the NYPD response these last two Saturdays has done more to generate sympathy than anything else. [I'd make another Tony Baloney joke here, but by this point, who hasn't?]


As for the media discussion, I don't have time for a full discussion now, but I'm reminded of a media professor I had years ago who defined a "liberal" as someone who questions that which 95% of the people take for granted. I asked him about it after class, if he really meant to place the political center to one side of about 97.5% of the population (allowing for about half those who question the basic tenets to decide they agree with them after all) and to make anything actually controversial irrelevant. He admitted he didn't quite mean it like that, but the subject never came up again that semester.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

You don't actually pay any attention to the "mainstream" media, do you? I've seen O'Rielly and Hannity and Fox News in general cover it. My Obama disliking, commie fighting Money & Banking professor has brought it up. Conservatives seem to enjoy mocking these stoned nitwits.

1) FOX News isn't the "mainstream media". They don't even describe themselves as "mainstream", so why should you?

2) O'Reilly and Hannity aren't journalists. They're commentators. Very large difference between the two groups (namely, the former is more likely to be objective while the latter is paid not to be).

Nihilist wrote:

It's just middle-class white kids who are upset that they're stuck with student loans and aren't living the so-called American Dream and getting the pot of gold on the other side. On Tumblr people have been going on about how this illustrates what is wrong with society, what with police brutality, but poor neighborhoods and people of color deal with police brutality all the damn time.

It's nice that they're protesting, it's not like they'll make a difference. One of the solidarity protests here blocked the street, and an ambulance was prevented from getting where it needed to go. The group here says that it was a minor thing. But people getting to work and on with their lives don't have the privilege to protest at everything. If they're part of the 99% they should act like the ones who actually have responsibilities. I'm sorry.

Flower power and all that shit.

Actually, I think people are trying to start the American version of the Arab Spring.

Rabid Badger wrote:

I'd been wondering why no one had reported this before. This has been going on for nearly two weeks, and as near as I know, NONE of the mainstream (read, right-wing Republican) media has so much as mentioned it, except in passing once the police started arresting people). The New York Steel Workers Union agreed several days ago to join the protest, and the only place I saw it mentioned was in my news feed on Facebook.

Actually I've seen it covered quite a bit--granted that the vast majority of coverage has been pretty skewed, and it hasn't been making headlines as much as one would think. Even Fox News talking heads have covered it, if for no other reason than attempting to look like legit news sources. Sean Hannity thinks that Occupy Wall Street protesters don't believe in freedom.

It's really unfortunate, given the media's response to the Tea Party, which has generally been to laud it as a supposedly leaderless movement of the masses (when in fact it was the opposite, but I digress) so you'd think they would give Occupy Wall Street slightly more credibility than they have. The "mainstream media" doesn't deserve to be called mainstream at all, given that Fox News is basically a Republican propaganda machine (and I'm not exaggerating that at all--for anyone who's interested, the New Yorker did a fantastic expose which reveals how intertwined Fox News has become with the GOP and conservative politics: The Elephant in the Green Room) But, that's all part of the status quo.

Spotts1701 wrote:

1) FOX News isn't the "mainstream media". They don't even describe themselves as "mainstream", so why should you?

Actually, what with billing themselves as "fair and balanced" and representing "real America," I think Fox does try its hardest to be seen as the voice of mainstream citizens. At least, we shouldn't hold it against feeble minds like Mikey who are easily confused.

Nihilist wrote:

It's just middle-class white kids who are upset that they're stuck with student loans and aren't living the so-called American Dream and getting the pot of gold on the other side. On Tumblr people have been going on about how this illustrates what is wrong with society, what with police brutality, but poor neighborhoods and people of color deal with police brutality all the damn time.

It's nice that they're protesting, it's not like they'll make a difference. One of the solidarity protests here blocked the street, and an ambulance was prevented from getting where it needed to go. The group here says that it was a minor thing. But people getting to work and on with their lives don't have the privilege to protest at everything. If they're part of the 99% they should act like the ones who actually have responsibilities. I'm sorry.

Flower power and all that shit.

Seriously, man? Seriously?

Thanks for belittling people who are standing up for their values. Thanks for telling me that my 20,000+ in college loans and subsequent inability to find a job in anything above minimum wage is essentially whining that I'm not "living the American dream." Where the fuck do you get off saying that protesters should "act like the ones who actually have responsibilities"? Do you know a single person there protesting? Do you even care? Has it occurred to you that having a job is a fucking privilege right now? Because it's not like being socially engaged is a responsibility or anything.

No you're right, everyone should just silently take it up the ass while politicians raise their taxes to give subsidies to corporations which ship their jobs overseas and can literally blow up the economy whenever they want. Nope, just let the corporate economy leech every last of bit wealth and productivity out of people who are barely clinging to what they have, because we should all be grateful little bitches for the scraps that corporate America throws our way. Because "you don't have it as bad as I do" is a great reason for ignoring injustice. Because it's not like all of us, poor, minorities, youth, aren't being fucked over by the same corporate system, and this type of thinking is exactly what keeps that system in power.

Look, I'm not saying that this movement doesn't have its faults, including racism and privilege. But you're blaming the wrong people here. Think about it.

Owlish wrote:

Seriously, man? Seriously?

Thanks for belittling people who are standing up for their values. Thanks for telling me that my 20,000+ in college loans and subsequent inability to find a job in anything above minimum wage is essentially whining that I'm not "living the American dream." Where the fuck do you get off saying that protesters should "act like the ones who actually have responsibilities"? Do you know a single person there protesting? Do you even care? Has it occurred to you that having a job is a fucking privilege right now? Because it's not like being socially engaged is a responsibility or anything.

That wasn't his point. His point is no matter how noble or good or right you are, when you try to demonstrate it in a way that inconveniences other people who are just trying to survive in the same world that you are they won't give a damn why you're doing it or that you're doing it to make it better for them.

This is the same problem that the BART protesters ran into. Yes, they were right. But because of the way they went about it, it was a nuisance to the very people they were trying to get engaged into the process (especially when Anonymous dumped a whole bunch of information about BART riders, including their rider card numbers, onto the internet for all to see). And when you piss people off, they aren't likely to take your side.

Owlish wrote:

Seriously, man? Seriously?

Thanks for belittling people who are standing up for their values. Thanks for telling me that my 20,000+ in college loans and subsequent inability to find a job in anything above minimum wage is essentially whining that I'm not "living the American dream." Where the fuck do you get off saying that protesters should "act like the ones who actually have responsibilities"? Do you know a single person there protesting? Do you even care? Has it occurred to you that having a job is a fucking privilege right now? Because it's not like being socially engaged is a responsibility or anything.

I have just as much in student loans and am in a similar boat. I believed that this would make me the first in my family to not live below the poverty line, but it didn't. But then again, we're young. We can get better jobs. I think there are jobs out there, just not ones we're qualified for, and a lot of people are going to have to realize that. I'm not making any value judgment at you or anyone because we were raised to think that we would get good jobs. But we didn't.

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No you're right, everyone should just silently take it up the ass while politicians raise their taxes to give subsidies to corporations which ship their jobs overseas and can literally blow up the economy whenever they want. Nope, just let the corporate economy leech every last of bit wealth and productivity out of people who are barely clinging to what they have, because we should all be grateful little bitches for the scraps that corporate America throws our way. Because "you don't have it as bad as I do" is a great reason for ignoring injustice. Because it's not like all of us, poor, minorities, youth, aren't being fucked over by the same corporate system, and this type of thinking is exactly what keeps that system in power.

I didn't say that. What I'm saying is that it's sad that suddenly, because it's happening to a certain otherwise privileged group of people, that it suddenly matters because they're complaining. It's fucked up in that regard because it ignores other groups of people and says "Look, my struggle matters."

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Look, I'm not saying that this movement doesn't have its faults, including racism and privilege. But you're blaming the wrong people here. Think about it.

I'm not blaming the wrong group of people, just commenting on how it's still fucked up. It's really good that people are standing up but it's still leaving out actual poor people. People who never went to college. People who are still fucked over by this corporate bullshit. People who have jobs would love to stand with you but can't.

I don't even know. It's frustrating.

Spotts1701 wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

You don't actually pay any attention to the "mainstream" media, do you? I've seen O'Rielly and Hannity and Fox News in general cover it. My Obama disliking, commie fighting Money & Banking professor has brought it up. Conservatives seem to enjoy mocking these stoned nitwits.

1) FOX News isn't the "mainstream media". They don't even describe themselves as "mainstream", so why should you?

2) O'Reilly and Hannity aren't journalists. They're commentators. Very large difference between the two groups (namely, the former is more likely to be objective while the latter is paid not to be).

The senile 'tard I was responding to qualified "mainstream media" as "right-wing Republican." So I figured see wasn't talking about CNN or MSNBC or the NY Times and such, and probably was just insipidly bitching about the WSJ or Fox News.

Owlish wrote:

Thanks for telling me that my 20,000+ in college loans and subsequent inability to find a job in anything above minimum wage is essentially whining that I'm not "living the American dream."

Did you pick a major that isn't science/medicine, business, or MAYBE education? Then it's your own fault, you fucking idiot. The only job you can get with a Medieval Folk Studies major is teaching Medieval Folk Studies to people as clueless as you. Certain majors may be able to lead into law school, but you can ask Spotts how flooded that job market is.

In the end, you're own moronic choices are what has doomed you to a life of busing tables. What the hell else is a goddamn Philosophy major good for?

Owlish wrote:

No you're right, everyone should just silently take it up the ass while politicians raise their taxes to give subsidies to corporations which ship their jobs overseas and can literally blow up the economy whenever they want. Nope, just let the corporate economy leech every last of bit wealth and productivity out of people who are barely clinging to what they have, because we should all be grateful little bitches for the scraps that corporate America throws our way. Because "you don't have it as bad as I do" is a great reason for ignoring injustice. Because it's not like all of us, poor, minorities, youth, aren't being fucked over by the same corporate system, and this type of thinking is exactly what keeps that system in power.

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Owlish wrote:

Think about it.

Congratulations, this easily ranks among the top 10 most conceited douchebag ways to end an argument. It's up there with that Intellectual Checkmate assclown.

Also, here is the list of their demands:

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As nice as they are, i dunno if this is concise enough or realistic enough given even a 30 year timeframe.

The comments on the demand list are sometimes... special. The one I'm looking at is near the top which points out that a demand should be energy independence for the US (which is fine) but then goes on to say "(i don't like wind farms because of the bird kill though))".

... yeah.

Maximilia wrote:

The comments on the demand list are sometimes... special. The one I'm looking at is near the top which points out that a demand should be energy independence for the US (which is fine) but then goes on to say "(i don't like wind farms because of the bird kill though))".

... yeah.

I don't know which is more absurd--some of the demands, or the fact that the demands didn't really undergo a stringent proofreading process. Some aren't exactly feasible, while others would cause some distinct economic or security-related problems.

But seriously. I don't care how weird or implausible your ideas might be, at least write in a clear, concise manner that suggests you've had someone proof your work.

Yes, a $20 dollar minimum wage. That's totally feasible. How in the seven circles of hell is that possible? Sure, some huge megacorporations could afford it (How many of them would remains another question entirely), but Maw and Paws lil' general store? Doubtful. That and it would probably raise the cost of everything 3fold too, so you're at the exact same place you've started. Just with inflated costs.

Spotts1701 wrote:

That wasn't his point. His point is no matter how noble or good or right you are, when you try to demonstrate it in a way that inconveniences other people who are just trying to survive in the same world that you are they won't give a damn why you're doing it or that you're doing it to make it better for them.

This is the same problem that the BART protesters ran into. Yes, they were right. But because of the way they went about it, it was a nuisance to the very people they were trying to get engaged into the process (especially when Anonymous dumped a whole bunch of information about BART riders, including their rider card numbers, onto the internet for all to see). And when you piss people off, they aren't likely to take your side.

I agree that inconveniencing people you're trying to help is a shitty thing to do, and completely counterproductive. Blocking an ambulance was idiotic. The BART protests were a mess. But Occupy Wall Street generally hasn't been, or at least has not been intentionally disruptive. The march I posted about in the OP did not plan to overtake the road, but police pretty much led them there in order to arrest them. So really it was the fault of the NYPD that traffic on the Brooklyn bridge was held up for more than four hours. But you can bet your ass that the protesters will largely be blamed for it. Because it's all too easy to blame the wrong people here, to see those damn "flower power hippies" blocking the road without realizing that's exactly the goal of those who want to stop the protests.

Nihilist wrote:

I have just as much in student loans and am in a similar boat. I believed that this would make me the first in my family to not live below the poverty line, but it didn't. But then again, we're young. We can get better jobs. I think there are jobs out there, just not ones we're qualified for, and a lot of people are going to have to realize that. I'm not making any value judgment at you or anyone because we were raised to think that we would get good jobs. But we didn't.

I have to disagree with that--I don't think it's just a matter of being qualified for decent jobs that are out there, it's a problem of the economy being structured in a way to solely benefit people who already are on top, and that needs to change. That's what people need to realize, and the only variable here is how much damage there's going to be before that horrible realization hits, but that's a whole other discussion.

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I didn't say that. What I'm saying is that it's sad that suddenly, because it's happening to a certain otherwise privileged group of people, that it suddenly matters because they're complaining. It's fucked up in that regard because it ignores other groups of people and says "Look, my struggle matters."

I'll agree with you that it's shitty that a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise care are finally taking notice, but I still think that's a biased analysis. Not everyone out there on the ground protesting "ignores" other underprivileged groups. The people I know out there have dedicated their lives to other social justice issues. All of the protesters represent a huge range of people from many segments of society, and dismissing them all as "just middle-class white kids" as you did is unproductive. And it's not about "my struggle matters and therefore yours doesn't" it's about building a movement that can unite many struggles that might not otherwise get the attention they deserve.

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I'm not blaming the wrong group of people, just commenting on how it's still fucked up. It's really good that people are standing up but it's still leaving out actual poor people. People who never went to college. People who are still fucked over by this corporate bullshit. People who have jobs would love to stand with you but can't.

But, how are they being "left out"? That's kind of the nature of on-the-street protests--people who need to hang on to their jobs can't up and leave. But that doesn't mean they're being forgotten. There are tons of conflicting views and ideas here, and right now it's literally impossible to coalesce around a specific set of goals. Remember that even the people who organized this didn't know who or how many people were going to show up, if any, until it happened. I just think it's unfair to dismiss the whole movement when it's barely two weeks in.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Did you pick a major that isn't science/medicine, business, or MAYBE education? Then it's your own fault, you fucking idiot. The only job you can get with a Medieval Folk Studies major is teaching Medieval Folk Studies to people as clueless as you. Certain majors may be able to lead into law school, but you can ask Spotts how flooded that job market is.

In the end, you're own moronic choices are what has doomed you to a life of busing tables. What the hell else is a goddamn Philosophy major good for?

I did major in science, asshole, and I have experience teaching. And it may not be much but at least I'm not doomed to living out of my parents' basement and trolling 4chan.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Congratulations, this easily ranks among the top 10 most conceited douchebag ways to end an argument. It's up there with that Intellectual Checkmate assclown.

Ooh, that really hurts, coming from the insecure little manchild of a troll who's blocked by half the board for his douchebaggery. Maybe if you'd spend some of your pathetic life outside of the internet, or try to post something that isn't insults or lame jpgs, then people being conceited on the fucking internet wouldn't be such a big deal to you. And I am not finished arguing here, so shut your fugly football-shaped face while adults are speaking.

Now go to your room, and don't you dare think about getting on the internet until you've done your homework and thought about what you said here.

Nihilist wrote:

Also, here is the list of their demands:

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Well, it's not a list of demands for the entire movement, it's one proposed list of demands put forth by one person on a public forum, for the purpose of revision and critique. So it probably hasn't been proofed yet.

I'd agree with you so much more, Owlish, if only the majority of the demands weren't so stupid.

Nihilist wrote:

It's just middle-class white kids who are upset that they're stuck with student loans and aren't living the so-called American Dream and getting the pot of gold on the other side. On Tumblr people have been going on about how this illustrates what is wrong with society, what with police brutality, but poor neighborhoods and people of color deal with police brutality all the damn time.

While I was reading a couple blogs for my Cultural Appropriation stuff (one of them was race politics in general, so that's how I saw it) there was a reblogged photo of a cop moving a blonde white girl (EDIT: apparently a teenager) in handcuffs. The comment was something like, "Doesn't this show how fucked up our society is when even young white women are subject to police brutality!?"

Myself and many others were like, "Yeah, no, it's pretty fucked up that you would assume anyone else being subjected to police brutality is just normal."

[/coolstory]

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This was it.

Also, note that nice, expensive camera around her neck. A new EOS will set you back $500+ up to $4,000 for a professional camera. Most likely she's using a Rebel (the 500) She is literally hanging 500 dollars around her neck.

My mind is sorta blown after reading those requests. As nice and idealist as they are, I've never seen anything more impossible. Which is really quite depressing in a way.

I'm going to just cut to the chase and say what I think a lot of people agree with me on, which is, "So much for free speech, eh America?"

It's really getting abysmal the way politicians complain about people not having jobs and cut benefits to 'encourage' them to get jobs. There are no jobs.

You're shipping all the jobs overseas, dammit!

But of course the corporations don't care because they're rich already and have no obligations to the rest of society.

"The Land Of The Free" my ass.

Owlish wrote:

Ooh, that really hurts, coming from the insecure little manchild of a troll who's blocked by half the board for his douchebaggery.

And if the rest of the board blocked him, I'd never hear from him again. Just thinking of it makes me smile.