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Originally posted by jiggerj
Originally posted by XPLodER
so keep telling yourselves that they are not achieving anything
No argument here. For some reason I'm just not following the occupy movement. Can you list some of the things it has accomplished?
Occupy Wins Home For Vet, Fights for Home in North Minneapolis
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Violence mars protests in downtown Seattle
By The Seattle Times
Wind and rain began driving a few May Day protesters away Tuesday evening, hours after a cluster of about 75 demonstrators dressed in black and carrying poles interrupted peaceful marches to smash windows and clash with police in Seattle’s downtown retail core.
Swarms of police on bikes and in riot gear had attempted to corral the early afternoon demonstrators with batons and chemical spray, but the protesters quickly dispersed. Some reintegrated into the crowd, shedding their black clothes, Mayor Mike McGinn said at a news conference, and by early evening there had been only eight arrests.
But by evening, the protests had swelled to thousands of people; the vast majority remained peaceful.
After the early afternoon violence, McGinn issued an emergency order banning items that could be used as weapons, and authorized police to pre-emptively seize the five-foot poles demonstrators used.
“My direction to the police is that I expect them to respond to lawbreaking swiftly and aggressively,” McGinn said.
Afternoon violence
The spasm of violence began at 12:35 p.m. and initially lasted less than 30 minutes, with vandals, some associated with Black Bloc, marched from Westlake Park, smashing windows and setting off sound bombs and fireworks. The demonstrators also shot paintballs and set a small fire at the U.S. Court of Appeals at Fifth Avenue and Seneca Street.
The group moved up Sixth Avenue, breaking windows at three banks — Wells Fargo, HSBC and Home Street Bank — and vandalizing retail stores, including NikeTown and American Apparel next door. Fidelity Investments at Sixth Avenue and Pike Street was tagged with graffiti. Car windows were also smashed, and a Porsche Cayenne was tagged in spray paint with a green anarchist’s symbol.
When the vandals dispersed, some of them changed into street clothes and blending into a rally at Westlake Park.
The protests remained mostly peaceful until a brief late afternoon flareup, when at least one protester threw a bottle at police and a few others were arrested. By the time the evening commute began to taper off, the largely peaceful crowds had begun to taper off, too.
Fast-moving crowd
McGinn said police used crowd-control tactics learned after the 1999 WTO riots, including embedding undercover surveillance officers in the crowd. Officers confronted the vandals and used chemical spray, but McGinn said the crowd moved fast.
“When they move quickly and disperse rapidly and hit multiple points, it’s hard for the police to respond,” McGinn said.
Eight people have been arrested, according to Seattle police.
Among the arrests, according the Seattle police Twitter feed, was a 19-year-old was arrested for carrying a knife in the 400 block of Pike Street, and a 23-year-old was arrested for vandalism in the 1300 block of Sixth Avenue.
McGinn said most protesters have been peaceful.
McGinn, defending his emergency order, said public safety concerns outweighed demonstrators’ First Amendment rights to carry items that could be used as weapons. He said City Council President Sally Clark and public safety chair Bruce Harrell approved of the emergency order.
McGinn said the order was necessary to ensure safety at the 5 p.m. march that started at Judkins Park in support of immigrant rights.
And, he said, “The group currently gathered at Westlake may choose to march again.”
Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said the mayor’s executive order appeared to be drawn narrowly enough that it “seems reasonable.” But, she said, application of the order by police will be the real test.
Why crowd marched
The “anti-capitalist” march earlier Tuesday was intended to coincide with a citywide general strike. Most of the march, which ended with speeches and a hip-hop performance at Westlake Park, was peaceful.
Liam Wright said the march was an anti-capitalist protest. He led the crowd in a chant: “When the people of the world are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
The May Day protests coincided with marches and called general strikes in other cities, including New York and Detroit. In Portland, police also clashed with black-clad demonstrators.
Lisa Marcus, carrying a bucket of tulips and lilacs on her bicycle, handed out leaflets opposing oil extraction from the Alberta tar sands.
At Seattle Central Community College, where the march to Westlake started after 11 a.m., Michael Pham, vice president for administrative services, said the rally there didn’t
Liam Wright said the march was an anti-capitalist protest. He led the crowd in a chant: “When the people of the world are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
The May Day protests coincided with marches and called general strikes in other cities, including New York and Detroit. In Portland, police also clashed with black-clad demonstrators.
Lisa Marcus, carrying a bucket of tulips and lilacs on her bicycle, handed out leaflets opposing oil extraction from the Alberta tar sands.
At Seattle Central Community College, where the march to Westlake started after 11 a.m., Michael Pham, vice president for administrative services, said the rally there didn’t disrupt classes. The marchers were a mix of students and others.
Seattle police had been on alert for violence, and McGinn’s office issued a news release Friday warning that protesters may have been training to learn how to hide weapons and target police officers on horseback.
At a meeting last Thursday, Seattle police also told a group that included Occupy Seattle organizers that a police “intelligence report” suggested anarchists may use gasoline-filled light bulbs and try to interfere with officers’ attempt to arrest demonstrators.
edit on 2-5-2012 by redneck13 because: tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Originally posted by OrchusGhule
reply to post by XPLodER
So tell us please...what have you achieved, exactly? What have you gained through OWS? Can you tell me or are you just going to harp on non-violence endlessly? What has changed because of your protests? I am very curious to know what you think is being done differently on Wall Street and in Washington that is a direct result of your (non) actions?
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Goodbye, Occupy
Last Updated: 1:04 AM, May 2, 2012
Posted: May 02, 2012
They’re back — sort of.
After hours in which the dregs of Occupy Wall Street largely failed in their vow to cause a day of “no work, no school” in New York, thousands of protesters made a mess of the evening commute for many folks by mobbing lower Manhattan. Terrific.
Their ranks, as usual, were largely made up of union members, dispatched by their leaders after their workday ended.
So, until late afternoon, there were only scattered demonstrations, plus brief confrontations with police, who were well prepared and had made some 30 arrests.
That’s not surprising: In a city of 8 million, it’s not that hard to find some people with nothing better to do.
For most of the day, again, the tens of thousands that OWS swore would fill the streets never showed.
Maybe they were allergic to rain?
And “the first nationwide General Strike in US history” — which Occupy confidently predicted on its Web site — was nowhere to be seen, either.
(One group in Midtown suddenly found itself face-to-face with a bunch of hardhats, who chanted, “Get a job! Get a job!”)
Last night’s traffic tie-up notwithstanding, yesterday’s events suggest that the whole Occupy movement is now in the 16th minute of its 15 minutes of fame.
Which is to say, no one cares anymore — assuming anyone ever did.
OK, some did: Besides the usual suspects — anarchists, anti-capitalists and misfits — the “movement” had lots of support in the mainstream media.
Attempts to picket and disrupt local corporate headquarters essentially
fizzled.
The closest thing to an actual disruption that was evident was a few bags of initially suspicious white powder — corn starch, it turned out — mailed to several banks. It all made for good video, but little else.
Fact is, the vast majority of New Yorkers — the real 99 percent, in other words — spent their day doing precisely what OWS had promised, and failed, to stop them from doing: They went to work and school.
Which is as good a response to May Day as we can think of.
Originally posted by luccadeo
Originally posted by OrchusGhule
reply to post by XPLodER
So tell us please...what have you achieved, exactly? What have you gained through OWS? Can you tell me or are you just going to harp on non-violence endlessly? What has changed because of your protests? I am very curious to know what you think is being done differently on Wall Street and in Washington that is a direct result of your (non) actions?
They pooped on a cop car. What more do you want? The Occucriers are back and more cop cars shall be pooped on!edit on 2-5-2012 by luccadeo because: (no reason given)
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Bridge Bomber’s Name Appears on Occupy Cleveland Bldg. Lease, Occupiers Mad at FBI Instead
May 6, 2012 | Filed under #Occupy,Barack Obama,corruption,Culture Of Corruption,Democrats,Douchebag Of The Day,Economics,Justice,Liberals,Media,Occupy Protest,Society | Posted by Warner Todd Huston
In another story that should surprise no one, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reveals that the name of one of the Ohio bridge bombers nabbed by the FBI is so closely involved with Occupy Cleveland that his name appears on the lease of the rented warehouse they use for a headquarters. Instead of being ashamed, though, the Occupiers are mad at the FBI, apparently.
When stories about the late April arrest of five Ohio men who had formed a plot to bomb some key bridges in Ohio first surfaced, the Old Media called them merely “anarchists.”
It wasn’t long, though, before the New Media began to find out that they weren’t just any amorphous “anarchists,” but members of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Cleveland (Occupy Cleveland). No Old Media outlets reported this in the beginning despite how easy it was to find the facts.
OWSers initially denied this claim saying it was just a smear job on them but now the newspaper in Cleveland finds that one of the accused, Anthony Hayne, 35, signed the lease of the building the Occupiers use for an HQ.
No denying it now, eh OWSers?
The reaction of the OWSers, though, needs to be examined. The CPD notes that instead of being furious at their own member for his desire to kill people and indulge wanton destruction they were mad at the FBI and more worried about bad publicity.
Apparently having murderous bomber wannabes in their midst wasn’t that big a deal.
The paper notes that in a video of an OWS meeting one OWSer says, “We have a person facing terrorism charges on the lease of our warehouse. If this gets into the media, it would be a disaster.”
I guess having the terrorist among you isn’t as bad as the bad publicity when people find out? Notice no condemnation of the terrorist, there.
Another OWSer notes that they are trying send it all down the memory hole and have the landlord erase the accused’s name from the lease.
Another seems to think it is important that even though Hayne’s name is on the lease he never had the rent money in his possession. Why this makes any difference or absolves them from his membership is beyond me.
But the most telling part of the video was this…
During the general assembly meeting, one leader asked the group, “Is it just me? Aren’t you uncomfortable living in a warehouse where a guy has been arrested for terrorism? I don’t want to live in a place and have the FBI show up.”
If this isn’t hilarious! Instead of being ashamed that a would-be killer was one of their central members, they are disgusted that the FBI had once come to their warehouse HQ! They are more comfortable with a domestic terrorist being among them than they are with having the FBI around!
That’s pretty telling about what sort of people make up the Occupy movement.