Legal Experts File Complaints about Widespread Rights Violations in Policing of ‘Occupy’ Movement

Embargoed to Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 10.00am EST.
Contact: Professor Sarah Knuckey (NYU) +1.212.992.8873; Emi MacLean, Human Rights Lawyer, +1.212.998.6714

Legal Experts File Complaints about Widespread Rights Violations in Policing of ‘Occupy’ Movement 

Call on NYC, U.S. Justice Department, UN to Protect Protesters’ Rights 

(New York, NY, July 25, 2012) – The City of New York must take immediate action to correct the clear pattern of abusive policing of Occupy Wall Street protests, said legal experts in a complaint filed today with New York City authorities, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the United Nations. The complaint is based on a report providing in-depth documentation and legal analysis of widespread human rights violations in New York City’s treatment of Occupy protests over the past ten months.

“Recently, officers repeatedly yanked the broken collarbone of a protester as he begged them to stop hurting him. And just two weeks ago, a phalanx of officers removed a grandmother from a park for the ‘crime’ of knitting in a folding chair, arrested a man trying to help her leave, and then arrested another man filming the incident,” said Professor Sarah Knuckey, one of the report’s principal authors, who also witnessed these incidents. “These are just two of hundreds of examples we document in our report, demonstrating a pattern of abusive and unaccountable protest policing by the NYPD.”

This report is the first in a series by the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, a national consortium of law school clinics addressing the United States response to Occupy Wall Street.

In their 132-page report—Suppressing Protest: Human Rights Violations in the U.S. Response to Occupy Wall Street—the experts catalog 130 specific alleged incidents of excessive police force, and hundreds of additional violations, including unjustified arrests, abuse of journalists, unlawful closure of sidewalks and parks to protesters, and pervasive surveillance of peaceful activists. Yet, to date, only one police officer is known to have been disciplined for misconduct in the context of Occupy Wall Street policing.

“The excessive and unpredictable policing of Occupy Wall Street is one more example of the dire need for widespread reform of NYPD practices. These violations are occurring against a backdrop of police infiltration of activist groups, massive stop-and-frisk activity in communities of color, and the surveillance of Muslims,” said Emi MacLean, a human rights lawyer and primary author of the report. “This report is a call to action.”

The report calls for urgent state action, including:
• The creation of an independent Inspector General for the NYPD;
• A full and impartial review of the city’s response to OWS;
• Investigations and prosecutions of responsible officers; and
• The creation of new NYPD protest policing guidelines to protect against rights violations.

If New York authorities fail to respond, the report calls for federal intervention.

“The U.S. response to the Occupy movement – which itself emerged as part of a wave of global social justice
protests—is being closely watched by other governments,” said Professor Katherine Glenn, one of the
report’s principal authors. “In the face of this international attention, this report shows that New York
City’s response actually violates international law and, as such, sets a bad example to the rest of the world.

The city now has an opportunity to set this right through reforms that reflect just and accountable policing
practices.”

This report is the first in a series by the Protest and Assembly Rights Project. This report focuses on New York City, and was authored by the Global Justice Clinic (NYU School of Law) and the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic (Fordham Law School). Subsequent reports will address the responses in Boston, Charlotte, Oakland, and San Francisco. Participating law clinics are at NYU, Fordham, Harvard,  Stanford, Rutgers-Newark, Charlotte, and Loyola-New Orleans.

The report (PDF) is available from the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice.

– xx

Joanne

ahimsa

In the foreword to “Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea”, Mark Kurlansky asserts:

Responding to violence with more violence is rarely appropriate. However, discussing nonviolence when things are going smoothly does not carry much weight. It is precisely when things become really difficult, urgent, and critical that we should think and act with nonviolence. 

A February 3 piece in the Guardian highlights the apparent divide within the Occupy movement. Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York marched in solidarity with Occupy Oakland, where over 400 demonstrators were arrested on February 1.

As they marched, and occasionally sprinted, through lower Manhattan, masked protesters were seen pulling debris into the road. A small minority of demonstrators threw bottles at police officers, while larger numbers chose to berate the cops with chants of “fuck the police” and “racist, sexist, anti-gay/NYPD go away.” The combative attitude and aggressive tactics, justified by some by ongoing police violence, upset a number of demonstrators.

Timothy Pool, a well-known citizen journalist in the Occupy Movement, was accosted by some protesters who demanded he stop filming their actions – releasing air from the tires of an NYPD vehicle. He had been assaulted by a masked assailant just days earlier. These incidents, as well as the attacks on and intimidation of other citizen journalists have brought to light an underlying tension within the Occupy movement. While much of the media focuses on the more radical elements, Occupy needs to address this division and the tactics used by the few that put all of us at risk.

Citizen journalists often do not have the protections offered to the credentialed main stream media. While events in New York and Oakland, as well as in other cities, have shown that police are sometimes willing to arrest and brutalize these credentialed and well-known journalists, the larger number of us are always at risk of arrest and censorship. For further risk to come from within the movement itself is disturbing.

The identity of Tim Pool’s attacker and some others caught on tape committing destructive acts is questionable. The first reaction I usually get is that they are law enforcement infiltrators, sent in to commit acts of violence, discredit the movement, and give the waiting police an excuse to brutally crack down on the protest action.

The FBI Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) was created in 1956 and officially ended in 1971 (more on that in a moment). COINTELPRO is often referred to as a surveillance program, but that was not its primary aim. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, agents regularly infiltrated activist groups with the goal of subverting the organizations. The main goal of COINTELPRO was never surveillance – monitoring alone does not require the level of infiltration employed by the program. Agents sought to disrupt activist groups by instilling fear and distrust, causing internal collapse. COINTELPRO was exposed in March 1971 and declared officially over later in the year.

The program – or at least, its tactics – has almost certainly continued, and it targets activists. Sophisticated technology, the acceptance of warrantless wiretaps, surveillance vehicles, and smaller hidden cameras and microphones all reinforce the theory that surveillance itself is not the aim of counterintelligence programs.

In fact, the exposure of COINTELPRO and the assumption that it continues may itself be a tactic. We know about these programs and see undercover agents exposed, as recently occurred in the Supreme Court protest on January 20. The mere presence of DHS vehicles on-site and the assumption that infiltrators are among Occupy is enough to cause some people to panic. These agents have been visible or revealed largely because that is their role. The point of COINTELPRO has always been to create paranoia within the group.

What concerns me is the seemingly automatic assumption made by many people that any action considered violent or destructive is done by infiltrators. This is naive. The Occupy movement embraces and prides itself on being of the 99% – we are quick to apply that label to nearly everyone, but apparently refuse to acknowledge that destructive, radical people are indeed the 99%. Occupy is a populist movement without central leadership, open to everyone, that acts in the public squares and streets. It is the perfect movement for infiltrators – not only law enforcement, but Black Bloc and others inclined to violence.

I have always argued that the General Assembly and consensus process would protect us from these elements, but the attack on Tim Pool and threats on other citizen journalists has led to discussions about diversity of tactics. While this seems to be largely a euphemism*, the conversation is important and needs to be public. On Sunday, January 29, members of Occupy Wall Street held a Diversity of Tactics meeting in Washington Square Park around 3 pm. Pool told me that he and others were told cameras “were not a good idea.”

The Guardian quotes Occupy Wall Street protester Ted Hall as saying, “our strengths are not in secrecy. Our strengths are in transparency…. [anything] that’s secretive is going to attract instigators and undercovers like a moth to a flame.”

I am personally in favor of asserting our commitment to nonviolence. Nonviolence is not an ideology, does not require us to ‘roll over’ and does not weaken us. Nonviolence is a tactic. It is active and demanding and powerful. More powerful, in fact, than throwing bottles and breaking windows.

Kurlanksy notes the absence of a positive English term that properly conveys the principles of nonviolence. “Nonviolence” itself seems to suggest that violence is the norm, or an eventuality. The Sanskrit ahimsa, which Gandhi used as the basis for the Indian Satyagraha civil resistance movement, is active – the avoidance of violence –  the choice to act without harming others. Gandhi makes clear in his translation of “Satyagraha in South Africa” that Satyagraha is an active, not passive, civil resistance. He further considered Gita, the concept of a just war, to be allegorical, interpreting it as an internal struggle and ahimsa to mean violence in all states – including dishonesty, wrath, and hatred.

The movement needs to make choices. If we recommit to nonviolence we can then address how to protect both journalists and the masses from retaliation. Will this cause a schism? Possibly.

A contingency calling itself the White Bloc announced its intentions for the February 4 Occupy Oakland FTP march. The amount of anger directed as this decision seemed to highlight the divisions within the Occupy movement.

Subsequent conversations I had with Occupy Oakland protesters revealed that the name White Bloc could easily be interpreted to mean something other than what I believe its original intentions to be – specifically against the Black Bloc. Coming from a privileged background, I too quickly overlooked how this designation would affect persons of color. It is evident to me that, while the White Bloc may have been an important experiment, a group labeling itself as white (or any color) has broader implications. Persons of color and other minority groups have for years been the targets of law enforcement profiling and narrow-minded surveillance programs and the onus is on the rest of us to be sensitive to anything that could cause people to feel further disenfranchised. Journalist Ayesha Kazmi puts it best:

As tempted as many white Occupy protesters are to proclaim “we are all one and the same!”, you cannot expect minorities, whose communities have been subjected to intimidation and abuse, to suddenly throw away the race card and jump on the bandwagon. These are critical times, and as such, it is important for Occupy to get it right. We are all part of the 99%  – and the concerns of some should fast transform into the concern for all.

However, with the NDAA and EEA looming, we need to make a decision now about what kind of movement we are, and act accordingly.  The transparency and nonviolence that were behind the White Bloc idea are what is most important. Defacement, vandalism, and the use of projectiles are not self-defense. If we want protect ourselves from the destructive elements, we need to reaffirm our commitment to nonviolence and make it evident, always, to those outside the movement. This means the media, the public at large, and law enforcement. Along with everything else, Occupy is fighting an information war.

There is more information on nonviolent ideology, tactics, and its dynamics available from Nonviolence International.

– xx

Joanne

*interestingly enough, ‘Diversity of Tactics’ came into widespread use at the height of the anti-globalization movement in the 1990s, right around the time when Black Bloc tactics were increasing in western United States. 

Occupy Hypocrisy

I’ll not pretend that this post will make some of those within the Occupy movement like me. But as @kennethlipp always says, and as Ghost reminded me yesterday, “if it can be destroyed by the truth, it should be.” (See original quote by P.C. Hodgell here.)

And as I said yesterday …

 —

It’s a chilly day here in Washington D.C., with wind gusts forecasted up to 35 mph. As I type, a quick Weather Channel check shows it’s 38ºF but feels like 27ºF. Earlier today, I stepped out of Fort Mayhem II (#TOYM DC headquarters) and into the sun. I headed over to CVS on 15th and K streets for a quick warm-up, before heading over to Cosi’s across the street to grab a small coffee (and a much-needed pee break).

Outside CVS this cold January morning sat Antonio. I’ve seen him before, and I’ve passed by him a few times without saying a word, but I’ve flashed him a quick I’m-sorry-I’m-broke-too smile each time.

Antonio sits outside CVS daily, and continually tells passers-by to have a happy new year or speaks blessings to them. He has an easily approachable attitude and is quick to smile. Though I had not stopped to speak with him before — to my own shame — this morning was different.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any money to give you,” I said, as I passed him on my way into the pharmacy.

“That’s all right, you have a blessed day,” he replied, without judgment.

I tooled around the pharmacy for a few minutes while I thought about Antonio and the rant I launched into on Twitter yesterday evening.

For those of you who missed it, I’ll recap it here nearly verbatim in italics and as block quotes, with a few edits for clarity. I’ve also expanded my 140-character thoughts in-between, in regular type and with some additional information.

If you are uncomfortable when the light hits the dirt and exposes the underbelly of the things this movement has ignored — good. You should be uncomfortable. You should be upset. You should take a long, hard look at yourself and at your actions or inactions.

I’ve seen it before — local homeless communities ignored or disdained by occupies. Where is the outreach? Where is your compassion?

Specifically regarding the #occupydc baby story — most aren’t asking the vital questions. How did he end up homeless in a tent with a baby in the first place — assuming he is homeless and didn’t just choose to occupy?

Ghost and I spoke with K. about this yesterday. K. is another occupier and journalist who was on-scene to record the incident and the action that followed. (The video has not yet been released.) According to K., there was immediate condemnation by an occupier who was present.

“’He has no rights,’” K. said, quoting the occupier who was referring to the man who allegedly left the 13-month-old child in his tent for an undetermined amount of time. (I cannot confirm a specific amount of time as the times stated by all accounts range anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours.)

Excuse me? He has no rights? What. The. Fuck? If he has no rights, you have no rights. No one has the right to be judge, jury and executioner.

This snap-judgment alone (and the actions that followed which K. recounted to us, but which I will not describe yet as I have not seen the video and also because of the potential legal ramifications of said actions) is abhorrent. This snap-judgment by an occupier who is at #occupydc 24/7 blows my mind. K. also stated the video will show that said occupier also began to tear down the accused man’s tent.

To that occupier I ask:  Did you forget why we are occupying? Did you forget who we are supposedly representing? (That is, we are the 99 percent.) Again I ask, where is your compassion? Also, what the fuck?

To the rest of you, including those on Twitter who are condemning this man as if they are the judge, jury and executioner, I’d like to know why you want to immediately burn this man at the stake.

Why don’t you ask yourselves the following:  What is the root of his situation? What is his story? Do you not realize he is human, just like you? Did you forget he is part of the 99 percent, too?

The label “99 percent” is not exclusive to those of us who only occupy 24/7. The 99 percent is not exclusive to those of us who consider ourselves part of the Occupy movement.

Do you not see the failures of our current system which lead to things like this?

Yet people condemn the person rather than condemning the system. And if we are condemning this system to which we are vehemently opposed for all its failures to adequately facilitate equality, do we even have the right to occupy when we ourselves are mimicking a broken system by ignoring those of us who are the most vulnerable?

Open your eyes and realize you hold no right over another human being. You are no better or worse than any other. Unless we stop the in-fighting and bickering and grade-school, petty bullshit, this movement will fail at its loftiest goals.

And unless we stop mimicking the broken system by changing our own actions and attitudes one-by-one, this movement will fail.

Here are some guidelines I tweeted in my anger (in no particular order):

1. Grow the fuck up.
2. Learn how to be respectful and compassionate.
3. Be respectful and compassionate.
4. Realize this isn’t about you. This is about a movement.* 
5. Remember actions speak louder than words.
6. Love.
7. Don’t be a cunt.

*And this movement includes the man who was arrested for allegedly leaving a baby alone in his tent at #occupydc/McPherson Square.

We need to come together and patch our broken world, one small community at a time. This is bigger than any singular occupy. If we’re not all in this together — including the most vulnerable — then what is the fucking point?

By ALL I mean ALL. Employed, unemployed, homeless or not, legal or undocumented immigrants, citizens or not, black, white, purple, green, [insert all the additionally irrelevant labels you can imagine here] — it doesn’t fucking matter. We’re all made from the same matter. Have some humanity for fuck’s sake.

This morning I took my own advice. I walked out of CVS and told Antonio I was going to Cosi’s to grab a coffee, and asked if he would like some. He readily accepted.

Antonio, 54, is from New York but has lived in the D.C. area most of his life. He is currently waiting for his disability application to be approved by the government.

“But I don’t sleep outside at night,” he said, and explained he sleeps in a shelter at night.

While I talked with him after getting us coffee, a man stopped as he passed and handed Antonio a five-dollar bill.

“He just gave me good luck,” Antonio exclaimed, and thanked the anonymous, generous man.

We talked for a few more minutes — a little bit about the Occupy movement but mostly about life itself. Before I departed from our conversation, he gave me blessings and also said, “Don’t let your past haunt you. If you find yourself down, pick yourself up and move forward.”

Is even one small act of compassion and generosity contagious? With one simple act of compassion, can you change a person’s day? Life? World? I really hope so.

By the way, Antonio takes his coffee with extra cream and five Splenda.

 [Antonio, outside CVS at 15th and K streets. Jan. 13, 2012. Photo by me.
He gave me a hug after I took his portrait.]

We are the 99 percent, and we love.

-xo

—

Thanks to Ghost (together we make up the #gypsycell of #teamoccupyyourmom) for spurring me to rant on Twitter. I’ve taken screenshots of his tweets regarding this topic, as well as tweets from additional people — @OccupyAura, @jeeezelouise and @Kaymee — which I have inserted below as they are important and influenced this post.

If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, be advised you need to scroll down to the bottom of this post and read from the bottom up.

—

#occupydc mic checks outside Obama fundraiser

#Occupydc marched down K Street Monday night, Jan. 9, 2012, to the corner of K and 16th streets to protest outside an Obama fundraiser at the Capital Hilton. They chanted and utilized the peoples’ mic to let the 1 percent participants inside know their actions are not going unnoticed.

For additional videos of the #occupydc action, you can visit my Ustream archive at http://ustream.tv/channel/Korgasm

Earlier in the evening, I read on Twitter about a mass of police a couple blocks from McPherson Park, where #occupydc is located. I took a walk and streamed what I saw.

Approximately 50 Metro PD rollers and vans were situated from the corner of K and 15th streets, down to K at 16th Street, and along 16th Street to L and M streets. On M street I overheard an officer tell a curious couple that M street was “completely blocked off.”

Indeed it was completely blocked off to vehicle traffic — but not to foot traffic. I successfully streamed the police presence in the area without being approached by them.

At M and 15th streets was a scooter brigade of approximately 20 scooter cops. More rollers and vans lined 15th, down the corners on 14th Street at both M and L streets.

I asked two cops at the corner 14th and L streets why M Street was blocked off. “An accident,” one replied.

Funny, I saw no accident.

I continued back to McPherson where I warmed up and tried to figure out via Twitter if there was some type of event occurring. Indeed, there was.

[Source:  http://twitter.com/DCSophie/status/156535582170943488]

After I learned this, I tweeted that #occupydc should mic-check the fundraiser. Curiously enough, they decided to (whether they were spurred by my tweet to do so I don’t know). After about half an hour, #occupydc journeyed back to McPherson.

No other media presence could be seen at the corner of K and 16th streets, except an NBC satellite truck with no reporters present outside. I was the only media present. Why? Perhaps they are too busy basking in the glow of their corporate overlords, who are busy stuffing the pockets of the politicians who continually neglect the American people on the whole. Do as you’re told and no one gets hurt. Right?

According to ABC News, Obama graced his donors’ presence at two different fundraisers that night, raking in over $1.2 million. One event was closed to not only the public but to media (o noes!) as well:

Earlier in the evening, Obama attended an exclusive fundraiser with 25 supporters at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington.  Each paid $45,000 to attend, according to a Democratic official.  The event, which was closed to all press coverage, was dubbed a “roundtable discussion” by a White House spokesman. — ABC News

Monday night’s fundraiser at the Capital Hilton benefitted the Victory Fund and the Democratic National Committee. As OpenSecretsBlog reports, the Victory Fund is a joint-fundraising committee for Obama and the DNC. Top benefactors include the employees of Goldman Sachs, DreamWorks, Comcast and Disney.

Who else volunteers to raise funds for the President (“bundlers”)? Hollywood heavy hitter Harvey Weinstein, UBS Americas CEO Robert Wolf and Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen, among others. The full list released by Obama’s campaign is here.

It’s no wonder we see legislation introduced like SOPA. Pay off a president and it seems he’ll let anything pass.

Remember kids, as Thomas Jefferson said, “Monied interests are more dangerous to our civil liberties than standing armies.”

Protest on, #Occupy.

[source]

Happy 100 days, Occupy.

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holiday of Your Choosing from Jo and Kor, aka the ladies of #teamoccupyyourmom.

Linn Park, Birmingham, AL. Photo by Kenneth Lipp

The Christmas season has been difficult on us both as it has been for the entire Occupy movement. Cities across the country have evicted Occupiers, often in the early hours of the morning and with unnecessary force. Some groups are fractured from the inside, facing personality and ideology clashes, and are struggling to maintain cohesion.

We can only grow by representing the entire 99%. To move forward, we have to consider traditionally marginalized groups – ethnic minorities, immigrants, Native Americans, religious minorities, and women – and not only engage them in conversation, but truly listen to their concerns, demands, and ideas. We cannot speak for them, but must work with them.

And, as always, we must be transparent. Leaked emails from OccupyWallStreet suggest that money is not being spent in the most responsible way.

We will overcome this Valley Forge moment. Occupy is young and faces considerable challenges but we have already made a positive impact on the country. Occupy has already changed the national economic conversation. Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, has proposed a Constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood. The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee announced it will be holding hearings on no-contest settlements. The National Lawyers Guild, which provides pro-bono legal observation and assistance to Occupy, has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for evidence of federal involvement on Occupy crackdowns. The refusal of the CIA to even consider an FOIA request highlights the inherent issues with the FOIA.

Where traditional media has failed, we have excelled. Citizen journalists across the country are bringing the news to the people. I am proud to say that #teamoccupyyourmom has been at the forefront of coverage, with the Gypsy Cell traveling to cities across the east coast and the gulf. They were there to cover the New Orleans eviction and the #D12 port action at the Port of Houston. The team has been on the ground in Austin, Birmingham, Boston, DC, Houston, Keene (NH), New Orleans, Philadelphia and Wall Street. We have exciting plans for the New Year, including #OccupyCongress on January 17 in Washington, DC and some to-be-announced things in the works.

As always, we are dependent on you for your help. Please consider making a donation to #teamoccupyyourmom if you are able.

Happy 100 days, and on to freedom.

–xx

Joanne

#teamoccupyyourmom citizen journo arrested by NYPD

#teamoccupyyourmom citizen journalist @an0nyc was arrested by the NYPD Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, at approximately 3:30 p.m. on 6th Avenue. He was arrested during the Occupy Wall Street #N17 march from Union Square to Foley Square.

We were marching with thousands of other protesters down the middle of 6th Avenue when @an0nyc, @TheRealGiest and others (I do not know their Twitter handles) became separated from our group, which also included @Ghostpickles, @liamphuckall and others.

CNN reporter Amber Lyon tweeted this morning that she received a phone call confirming his arrest. A follow-up tweet from Ms. Lyon stated the phone call was from  @an0nyc’s girlfriend. Those tweets have since been deleted, but I took these two screenshots prior to deletion:

I interviewed @TheRealGiest, also of #teamoccupyyourmom, last night at 7:50 p.m. in Liberty Park about the events leading up to @an0nyc’s arrest.

“A moped cop, a captain, came charging by on his scooter and almost took out like five protesters,” said @TheRealGiest. @TheRealGiest also said @an0nyc told him he was going “to tell off the cop.”

They became separated when @TheRealGiest went to grab his friend Larry and by the time they returned to where @an0nyc was, both he and the NYPD moped cop were gone.

Here is the raw audio from the short interview with @TheRealGiest:

We are currently working on getting more information and will post updates as soon as possible. Information about the legal fund for @an0nyc will be announced when it is set up.

[Cross-posted at:  http://korgasm.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/teamoccupyyourmom-citizen-journo-arrested-by-nypd/]

Policing Itself

The New York Daily News has published a sensational piece alleging police are directing the homeless and criminal elements to Liberty Park. It editorializes, “[t]he Wall Street protesters determined to ‘Occupy Everything’ now find themselves, in a sense, occupied.”

While the publication has a history of biased reporting against the movement, its claims have been echoed by at least one unnamed occupier, according to Josh Harkinson of Mother Jones Magazine.

Harkinson later reported that a spokesperson from NYC Dept of Homeless Services denied allegations that the NYPD was directing homeless persons to Zuccotti. In fact, the spokesperson said, they were conducting outreach at the park, encouraging people in need to “accept temporary housing.” As far as the criminal element is concerned, Sharman Stein of the Department of Corrections told Harkinson that inmates released in Manhattan are routinely dropped off at Canal and Center streets, which is about a twenty minute walk from Zuccotti.

Justin Elliott, posting on Salon.com, said:

Asked about the Daily News report, an NYPD spokesperson responded with a two-word email: “It’s false.”

Whether the specific claims made by the New York Daily News are true or not, the story finally made public questions that myself, other occupiers and the public have had about security at Zuccotti and the overall willingness and ability of Occupy Wall Street to ‘police itself’. I believe it is necessary to take security measures both to protect the freedoms and safety of occupiers and to preserve the integrity of the movement. Last night, via Twitter, I had several enlightening conversations about possible solutions to the problem.

My overall view:

• If someone does not accept the legitimacy of a group, they will not comply with its rules. OWS knows this better than anyone. There are likely other people at Zuccotti who have no desire to participate in the GA, marches, or other actions. It is a good place to blend in and, frankly, freeload. Zuccotti has no borders (and it should not) and is not an exclusive club, so we have no ability or justification to prevent anyone from entering the park. This unfortunately may include criminals (petty or otherwise), or people who generally want to disrupt things for the sake of it or because of an agenda. They may be provocateurs, those who do not think OWS is radical enough (ie they may not be committed to nonviolence), or people who just want to cause trouble.
• Engaging the police is to our benefit. First, they may be more likely to deal with you gently or even be more supportive of Occupy. Second, how can we expect their help with issues if we are calling them ‘pigs’ and treating them with hostility? One of the first things we chanted on Wall Street marches was “cops are the 99%”. We have seen the positive outcomes of engagement in Albany, where police refused to arrest protesters. @korgasm_ and I always made a point to reach out to the police, offer them food and water (they can’t accept in uniform but they appreciate it) and I believe it helped. One morning while I was still asleep, @kennethlipp came back to our site from the media tent and took my cellphone back up there to charge it. The nearby officers actually came over and asked me if I knew him (to try to determine if he had stolen my phone).
• OWS has to be responsible for itself. Just as the sanitation committee has mostly solved cleaning issues, the security committee and ALL responsible occupiers have to be responsible for policing OWS’s self-designated home. One suggestion is to ‘name and shame’ people-I certainly wish we had done a mic check and outed the kid who tried to steal (pardon, ‘salvage’) Kenneth’s computer. He made us uncomfortable the rest of the time we were there, and who knows what he may have done to others. Just as occupiers made signs saying “he doesn’t represent us” to follow the man with the anti-semitic sign, occupiers who witness violent or criminal acts should speak out. Maybe consider having responsible police liaisons report severe acts to a trusted officer. Maybe appoint and train a rotating committee of trusted occupiers to a mediation council to solve personal or low-level disputes.
• Finally, address issues openly and with transparency. This will preserve Occupy’s integrity. There are already so many elements against us and they have and will continue to speak about these issues in an attempt to discredit us. Beat them to the punch. Universities do periodic crime reports (by semester or annually). Consider putting out a bulletin listing incidents and, more importantly, how they were addressed by the community.

There are many places and groups from which we can solicit advice on this problem. One suggestion, by @KNDEA, is to contact Native American nations about tribal process. This would both guide OWS and be great outreach to some of the most marginalized people in the 99%. OWS has the fortune of being near the Shinnecock Indian Nation, located on Long Island, and nine other nations:

• Cayuga Nation in Seneca Falls, NY
• Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut in Mashantucket, CT
• Mohegan Indian Tribe of Connecticut in Uncasville (Montville), CT
• Oneida Nation in Verona, NY
• Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, NY
• Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in Akwesasne, NY
• Seneca Nation in Irving and Salamanca, NY
• Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York in Basom, NY
• Tuscarora Nation in Niagara County, NY

Another possibility is any number of the self-sustainable communes and communities that exist in this country.

Finally, the homeless should not be viewed as a problem. Sephir0t:

[I] discovered persons who simply felt that society didn’t want them. or maybe they didn’t have enough control

over their circumstances … so they dropped out, and/or turned to crime. but they *felt* they had been pushed out.

that’s my tentative 1st suggestion: give these ppl something to do, some kind of responsibility, in your society.

I’m not suggesting anyone has this mindset, but how disgusting would it be if people fighting for a better society were to think of themselves as doing the homeless a ‘favor’ by ‘allowing’ them to share food and supplies with OWS. If we think we are better than the current institutions, we should be conducting outreach to those who do not have the luxury of choosing to live in parks.

A letter from Mexico

Charlie spoke at the GA meeting today. He arrived this morning from Mexico and brought a letter from the Don Sergio Mendez Arceo Foundation, which annually presents a human rights prize.

Pericón is a Mexican marigold.  In the tradition of milpa agriculture practices of the Nahuas, Charlie tied crosses made of pericón to trees on the four corners of Liberty Park.

Morning update 9/24/11

Update 7:30 a.m. eastern (vid taken shortly before 7 a.m.)

—

Quick update as the sun comes up:

Most of people stirring are the people who didn’t actually spend the night. Strange happenings here in Liberty Park.

We need access to press as soon as possible. Also there is no media here right now. We need the world to be watching to preserve the integrity of the movement.

Contact us via twitter @Korgasm_ and @kennethlipp and @SabzBrach and @Ghostpickles if you can be of any immediate assistance.

Next update forthcoming.

You are the media.

On our role as citizen journalists -

We should not be surprised or discouraged by lack of main stream media coverage. Corporate media has an incentive not to cover these protests – they are perpetrators of this broken system. While I am primarily a researcher, my role as a citizen journalist is in the tradition of those who so bravely faced the brutality of the Iranian government in the 2009 crackdown on post-election protesters. If I can honor them in any way, this is it: by documenting the occupation. I recognize that my challenge, and that of all citizen journalists, is to both report and rally.

“Make it Culture, make it accessible.” – from a friend

I see beauty in Occupy Wall Street. I watched the sun rise over the Ground Zero construction site on the first morning and I truly began to feel like we are creating something beautiful and sustainable. So much of the criticism about Occupy Wall Street stems from the apparent lack of one unified demand. While I know that others disagree, I see this as a strength. While holding steadfast to one demand may lend itself to easy soundbites, having an open movement welcomes any one of the millions of Americans who no longer feel this system is working for them.

Why should we seek to impose a single demand on the 99%?

I recognize that, as part of this movement, I cannot be completely unbiased in my reporting. I don’t believe this to be the job of a citizen journalist. We are as much cheerleaders as we are reporters.

“If I can’t chant ‘spoon’ and dance down Wall Street, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

Is this culture? Yes, I believe so. Is it accessible? I know I make a point to tell the police I love them, that they too are the 99%. Yesterday 1,000 people marched on Wall Street after a group of Troy Davis protesters joined forces with Occupy Wall Street protesters. We have a former Wall Streeter among us, fed up with seeing unhappy faces every day. Four months after Kenneth asked me to go dancing with him, we finally did – on Wall Street, Monday morning. My dear Sonya has been topless for days, inspiring other women to join her. There are hippies and anarchists, members of Anonymous…and there’s me – I wear Lily Pulitzer and cashmere. I watched a tye-dye wearing blonde kid give a passionate interview in perfect Spanish. It ended with him and the reporter hugging and crying. A 91-year old man marched with us and told our friend Ayesha that he couldn’t stand to see ‘what’s happening to the kids’ anymore.

Is it accessible? Come join us, you’ll see.

–xx

On Liberty Plaza -

“Dear governments, you might want to stop using names like ‘Revolution’ Square and ‘Freedom’ Park.” – seen on Twitter after the toppling of Hosni Mubarak

We call our site, Zuccotti Park, by its original name – Liberty Plaza Park. Driven here after being denied our initial goal of occupying Wall Street, we have begun to function as a microcommunity – an example of democratic collectivism – full of individuals with diverse backgrounds, varied ideologies, and different strengths. As a community we benefit from our differences and hope to inspire future cooperation.

While I was at first frustrated with the slow progress of the General Assembly, I am now humbled by their ability to function and progress while still holding true to their principles. Liberty Plaza has functioning committees in the areas of media, safety and protection, and outreach. It has been streaming live for several days and thousands of people have viewed the proceedings. Reportedly, one of the first actions of the Occupy California group was to set up their own General Assembly.  There must be at least some merit to their methods.

–xx

The plane I’m on is experiencing quite a bit of turbulence at the moment, but I’ll shortly be returning to Home Sweet Wall Street and cannot wait to continue this journey.

Joanne.