Occupy Wall Street 3: Now What?

also lol @ "gandhian ferocity"

the cop blogs posting about how they plan to obscure badge #s etc

― long duk dan (dan m), Thursday, January 26, 2012 8:01 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha that discussion of black duct tape was hilarious

RT @exileinflyville: Reading @Adbusters "announcement" I have to conclude they think they invented @OccupyChicago & idea of NATO/G8 protests

occupy kegger this weekend

Please announce!

An autonomous group has announced an Occupation Party for this
Saturday in Williamsburg, in the interest of starting a series of
Rolling Occupations, mounting a Spring Offensive, and exacerbating the
situation in the city in order to catalyze, contextualize, and build
capacity towards the May First General Strike. In short, to weave a
fabric of insubordination beginning in one neighborhood and ballooning
outwards.

Everyone is invited to be the crisis they want to see in 2012, set
up whatever plans for action, and fundamentally alter the occupied
space as they see fit. So far we've heard of dancefloors, cinemas,
teach-ins, and propaganda distribution to name a few, so bring your
wildest ideas and the elements necessary to realize them. Keep in mind
the mild risk of police intervention, but also the possibility of
staying over, so pack accordingly.

We'll be converging at 207 North 8th Street at 10pm before heading
to the space, which has lain vacant for years now, and is owned by a
bank known to invest in bio-, chemical, and nuclear weapons, as well
as cluster bombs used specifically by Qaddafi against the 2011
insurgency. We'll stay as long as we can, do as much as we can, and
there are contingency plans set up in the event of eviction. Besides,
we can always take it to the street.

The call is out: spread it any way you can, by phone, internet,
conversation. If all goes well we'll be doing this again in two weeks.

Sincerely,
________

Everyone is invited to be the crisis they want to see in 2012

loll i love this

i wanna be a flu pandemic

Hey guys, I'm about to start serving coffee Tuesday and Thursday mornings at a local coffee shop/bookstore that got taken over by Occupiers and turned into a volunteer co-op when it was going to go out of business. It'll be fun! Come get a cup and a pastry!

And a good read! We got those too.

So park pd gave us a "final warning" that theyre gonna start enforcing the no camping regs starting monday at noon. They won't be evicting en masse, cause they know how bad that looks, they'll just be targeting those with no other place to go and those with outstanding warrants for CD etc. They want a death by a thousand cuts. We plan to provoke and protect.

I'm helping plan our protection strategy.

Monday is gonna be awesome?

So glad I got fired last week.

things going down in Oakland again today

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/29/us-oakland-protests-idUSTRE80S00520120129

http://www.livestream.com/occupyoakland

I'll say

http://www.ustream.tv/occupyoakland

so just heard on the stream that they're looking at a couple hundred arrests tonight

also, people are saying that an Officer #119 beat a female medic, knocking some teeth out

find these makeshift anarchy/peace-symbol shields from the Oakland clash today kind of adorable tbh

http://i.imgur.com/eJ1YC.jpg

yeah shit popped the fuck off tonight

acts of violence, property destruction and overnight lodging will not be tolerated," police said in a statement.

lol

had an action outside the "alfalfa club" tonight, an annual under-the-radar gathering of legislators and judges and CEOs--200 of the most powerful people around. we glitterbombed lieberman and there was a naked rave in the street for a couple of hours (cop: "yalls party looks ~way~ more fun than theirs"). at one point a small team snuck through an alleyway to a side entrance we heard they were sneaking them in through to avoid our blockade, got (literally) chased out of the alley by horse cops, which was pretty harrowing shit.

after a moment to regroup we decided that "on 10 we're gonna all sprint THAT WAY to create a diversion" while our other team got into the building to prep for a banner drop. ten count and we suddenly took off full tilt the other direction from the building, which gave me the high point of the night--hearing 4 cops running behind me while out of their shoulder radios came "THEY'RE RUNNING, THEY'RE RUNNING"

banner drop worked out nicely

damn, Oakland!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_-GUR0V6Zg

like, reality actually went Cyberpunk on us just in time for 2012 (between the storm troopers, anti-corporatist underground, Anonymous, etc)

^^^otm

the last couple seconds of that video are fucking scary

just silence and "go, go"

Several hundred kettles and held at gunpoint while awaiting arrest on charges of 'failure to disperse'

http://twitpic.com/8d0ykv/full

/kettled

Thank you autocorrect

Caught in the Kettle - Occupy Oakland Move-In Day march January 28 2012

Volume 18 in a series by Myles Boisen

BUSTING A MOVE

A crowd of around 2000 amassed at Oscar Grant Plaza at noon today for the Move-In Day event. This action - which has been in the works since late December - proposed to take over a city-owned vacant building and convert it to a center for Occupy Oakland. Shortly after 1 pm. the march began winding through downtown Oakland, accompanied by banners, a sound truck, several carts loaded with furnishings, and a contingent of 15-20 anarchists with matching peace sign shields.

The target of the action was the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center at 10th and Fallon streets, adjacent to the Oakland Museum of California. As the march approached police organized to cordon off streets, diverting marchers through the campus of Laney College directly across the street from the auditorium. OPD officers, aided by helicopter surveillance, worked methodically to keep Occupiers from gaining access to the block-long building. As the march snaked through a construction zone to the less-accessible facade of the building, I witnessed smoke bombs and flash grenades being shot to disperse the crowd (see photo). The main smoke trail is a canister being thrown back at police, a tactic which may account for some of the reported police injuries today.

According to reports gathered from social media and livestreams, tear gas was also used on marchers, and there have been two instances of protestors shot with rubber bullets. As of 4:15 PST I saw no reports of arrests.

CAUGHT IN THE KETTLE

After I got separated from the first Move-In march, I walked a few blocks over to my office to load photos and dash off a report to Huffington Post. The march had gotten pushed back into downtown Oakland, and later returned to OGP. Hearing that a second march was planned for the evening, allegedly to a second vacant building, I returned to 14th and Broadway.

The march was just moving out as I arrived, and snaked through downtown, north along San Pablo, then jogged over to the park at 19th and Telegraph. This park, with narrow streets around its perimeter and a chain link fence around the grassy rectangle, was the location of the first attempt of OPD to "kettle" or contain the march. Lines of officers moved in to prevent escape to San Pablo via side streets, and there were some seriously panicked faces among many of the marchers.

A member of the Oakland TAC (tactical action committee) proposed rushing one of the police lines closest to the bulk of the crowd, and then without warning smoke bombs were detonated at that corner of the square. People rushed the other way, covering their mouths and noses, and I noted a chalky dryness in my throat, but none of the characteristic stinging effects of tear gas. As there was nowhere else to go, the chain link fences around the park itself were flattened and marchers streamed out along the wide, unprotected side of the park facing Telegraph Avenue.

From there, propelled by a giddy rush of adrenaline and gulps of water, we continued north on Telegraph through the uptown arts district, past shops and apartments with residents coming out to cheer and high-five the Occupiers. The march took a hasty right turn towards Broadway at 28th, a narrow street that again held trouble. All along Telegraph police cruisers and large passenger vans full of OPD had tailed the march closely, but with no threatening behavior. Yet as we entered this narrow uphill street and the march slowed down, officers left their vans and traveled on foot, forcing the people at the back to nervously pick up their pace.

I thought I was still in the middle of the pack, and broke out for a moment to take a few photos from the front steps of a medical office, only to find a group of about 5 officers running up on me with batons drawn, yelling and forcing me back down into the street. There was no chance to get a photo of them without getting clubbed.

As we were about to reach the safety of wide and well-lit Broadway, I didn't think too much about what had happened, but did put on the hustle to stay in the center of the march and warn any journalists I saw lingering too far back. And then - after a couple more quick-paced blocks - came the shouts "We're being kettled!" The march had walked into a police line across 23rd, and police behind us had moved up to cordon off 24th street as well. With no other escape possible on this block, suddenly dozens of people rushed up the steps of, and into, the YMCA building. Some were able to escape out the back, while I watched from the opposite side of the street as most of these folks on the steps and sidewalk in front of the Y got descended on instantly by cops, like ants on a fresh PB&J sandwich.

No one was being allowed to leave the area, so I chilled out against a building, put my camera away to avoid bringing additional attention to myself, and waited. A continual recorded announcement was being looped over a loudspeaker "you have ignored an order to disperse and will now be arrested". The only thing is there was no prior order to disperse, and no possibility to disperse once we were kettled. In addition I want to emphasize that there was no vandalism during the downtown march, no violence, and no provocation or reason for a mass arrest that is said to have netted 150-200 marchers.

At one end of the block I talked to a bicyclist who said he was not part of the march, but - as often happens in these circumstances - had gotten unwittingly caught up in the kettle. We went to ask nearby officers if we could leave the area and were told no, but were gruffly advised to check at the other end of the block. The answer there was the same for us, although a few journalists with credentials were being allowed out. I wished the bicyclist good luck, and then ran into a diminutive college-aged woman whose friend had gotten out, leaving her there alone and nearly in tears.

And - as often happens in these circumstances - time slowed down. Waaay down. Looking back on it, I realize I was not concerned about my future; when I might eat next or if I would make a planned trip out of town on Sunday or even what Santa Rita jail would be like. I looked at the faces around me, memorizing details, as all around me on the "safe" side of Broadway people looked pissed off, scared, bored, anything but amused as we watched dozens of our comrades being zip-tied on the other side of the median. Officers were shifted around, mostly away from us, and eventually anyone not in restraints was allowed to walk out. The teary-eyed college girl and I shook hands and laughed, and I ducked into a nearby bar for a soothing Belgian brew.

As of 9:30 judging from the livestream dozens of people remained sitting on the street in front of YMCA, restrained with zip ties around their wrists since about 6:30. At 11pm people are still being brought out of the YMCA under arrest, and after midnight there are still people in the area being processed before being sent off to jail. Four sheriff's busses had been filed up with detainees so far. Included in the arrest were journalists Gavin Aronson (Mother Jones magazine,) Susie Cagle (OO-allied freelancer,) Occupy medics, and anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the kettle.

Thanks to all of you who expressed your concern for me today. Keep it strong and safe people, and please support the OO bail fund for those who weren't lucky enough to get out tonight.

Myles Boisen

MEDIA LINKS

https://www.wepay.com/donations/275088
Support the Occupy Oakland bail fund

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_-GUR0V6Zg
OPD Uses tear Gas and Percussion Grenades on Protestors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFaviIoy4rg&sns=fb
Some overlap with the above video, including very clear footage of marchers approaching a police line to help a woman lying on the ground, calling for a medic, and OPD shooting projectiles at them in response.

Also very clearly at 2:34 some agitator (?) throwing something at the cops.

Steps closer to federal receivership. Nice to see that the OPD still doesn't give a fuck.

One of the remarkable things about Occupy is how kind people are to each other. As I have at other protests here, I met many good and decent people with whom I had great conversations. Most of these people really care about the state of our world, and have embraced this movement with gratitude for having a place where they can figure out ways to take that caring and turn it into tangible action.

I point this out because no matter what the mainstream media says about Saturday’s action, there’s a big piece of the story that can only be absorbed by walking with these people and getting to know them. The heart of Occupy Oakland is so good. It’s been a bit broken by all the repressive police actions, ranging from waging war on the Occupiers the day of the first raid, to arresting people for things as petty as taking a blanket out of a garbage can. In spite of all the attempts to break the the movement’s heart and destroy it, it continues on, beating strongly and moving forward.

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/29/occupy_oakland_open2012/singleton/

Why were they trying to occupy a vacant government building? Do they just think they have right to do whatever they want with everyone's property? I'm all about the message here, but don't know about stuff like this.

so I guess I'm sposed to go to WashSq by 7pm:

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/155073/medical-professionals-join-washington-square-demonstration

(not that I'm a med professional, except peripherally)

Why were they trying to occupy a vacant government building? Do they just think they have right to do whatever they want with everyone's property? I'm all about the message here, but don't know about stuff like this.

― Spectrum, Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:47 PM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dunno who's fault this is, it's probably complicated, but i feel like the message is getting lost on the mass-media level and "occupy" has come to = confrontations with cops, rather than issues of economic fairness.

i mean even in many of occupy folks' own write-ups it's like 90% about the confrontation and 10% about whatever they were there to protest.

Why were they trying to occupy a vacant government building? Do they just think they have right to do whatever they want with everyone's property? I'm all about the message here, but don't know about stuff like this.

as I understand it, the plan was to occupy a long vacant building owned by an absentee landlord and start a community center. so it's not a matter of "doing what they want with everyone's propert," tho that's a convenient generalization

"occupy" has come to = confrontations with cops

I was warning against this trend in the thread for airing our misgivings about OWS. A certain amount of this is unavoidable, because that confrontation will be thrust upon any large protest. What's dangerous is letting the movement be goaded into making this the new center of gravity the movement revolves around.

It is ridiculously easy to iniate the kind of street theater where the cops beat up on people. What's harder is showing the cops are actually beating up on a legitimate idea. That is where the value of organization, unanimity of purpose, and a clear strategy come forward.

The crop of youtubes from yesterday don't scan too well without context; it gave me the initial impression of a group of protesters facing off with a line of cops and agitating until they charged, When you read the stories, you realize they were corralled onto that street and then gassed and shock grenaded, at which point, yes, some people began throwing things back at them, and then they charged. The salon story is a must read; it was a trap. I've spoken to a few of my friends yesterday and a lot of them were randomly beaten by cops trooping through the crowds and side alleys, randomly - they'd take a few hits and then keep going, basically just to wind people up and raise the level of disorientation and panic. It was basically just a war zone, and it is horrifying to think even for a second that the fucking 'optics' on this one would land on the side of the OPD - hopefully they won't once more accounts go up

xp - yes - that 'legitimate idea' did not get through yesterday. There's Orwell's great quote about 'when I see a policeman with a club beating a man on the ground, I don't have to ask what side I'm on' - yesterday was unfortunately more complicated than that

But they shouldn't have been, because from what I'm hearing that is exactly once again what happened

Trying to takeover somebody's property, no matter how good their purpose, puts their message on the wrong side of things. If you're going to do illegal shit as a form of protest, at least make it a part of something absolutely necessary to what you're accomplishing. If they felt the property was being underutilized, there's a process for that. If the process fails, protest the process, etc. etc... and sometimes there's nothing you can do re: private property. It's like they went from Step 0 to Step 20 without thinking of the consequences.

Wrong for the cops to overreact, but it's hard to sympathize with unnecessary illegal action on part of the protestors. Which is a damn shame, because I really want there to be a movement for economic reform.

Wow guys

a government building is private property?

somebody said it was owned by an "absentee landlord". so which is it?

this is kindof a side-note, they got michael taussig to give this talk about his involvement w/ occupy wall street. it was more like poetry, it was so beautiful, a load of people from lsx showed up, the aisles were packed. its about one of the nights that the eviction was postponed.

Don't think it matters significantly re: government or private property. Anywho, if you care about your community you don't go around fucking it up cuz you like, hate the pigs, maaan.

Why not invest time in community service or forming and taking action on a realistic agenda? It's not a rad party with all your buds, it's hard, time-consuming work without personal publicity, or big glorious stories you can tell your kids one day, or any of that, but it's important to do. This makes the idealist in me weep. /rant over

I've got too much going on ATM to respond to the comments made here in the last 24 hours, but I'd just like to register that there's a lot false dichotomying (<-- yeah I'll make it a word) bullshit happening. If I still care after tomorrow I'll be responding here.

thanks for your condescension btw

I'm busy, icing a baton head wound courtesy of a pushy cop, and trying to figure out if my friend in the hospital after his tazing is going to jail tonight or tomorrow for his "disorderly conduct," so forgive me for having a low tolerance for bullshit, cop or otherwise.

geez hoos, tk care

taking action on a realistic agenda?

ohhhh fuck, u for got the quotes there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuGvyoE21Y&feature=player_embedded

a proud moment in policing

looks like captain bong rip got a total buzz kill right there. but seriously, there's a ton of capital the NY protests brought to the movement, and Occupy Oakland stuff is just flushing it down the toilet. which is tough, it's hard to control the people/message when it's something that anyone can take up.