UPDATING, 7:18 AM TUESDAY: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that the occupy party of Occupy Wall Street is over, and that protesters will no longer be allowed to bring tents, sleeping bags or tarps into the park: "Protestors have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags. Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments." It sounds like a couple of hundred people have gathered in nearby Foley Square and may be planning to march back to the park. We're hearing arrest totals in the dozens.
About a month ago, the New York Police Department tried to clear the camp. That time, they let people know earlier in the day. The occupiers, with the help of organized labor, gathered enough people at the park then to make clearing it too ugly a prospect for New York City officials. This time, they were told at 1 AM.
PREVIOUSLY:
Overnight we've been watching the live stream from Liberty Park where police have told protesters that their encampment is a fire hazard. Video has shown the contents of the park being piled into heaps under the Joie de Vivre sculpture and thrown into dumpsters.
Police have reportedly secured a wide perimeter around the park, moving anyone not in the park away. Supporters responding to the call to rally at the park have gathered in Foley Square (below) as an alternative to the inaccessible Liberty Park.
@JoseEsparza
Police have also locked down the area surrounding the New York Stock Exchange.
Mike Yarvitz
Given the lack of access and the general confusion, rumors are rampant, so I'm hesitant to say any more than this. Presumably in a couple of hours the facts will begin to solidify.
ALSO: Dicey Troop has several videos from within the park, including the destruction of the kitchen.
AND: RT @AntDeRosa Good list of ground reports via @agreatbigcity http://t.co/vWqoGuvf #OWS
@JoshHarkinson
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Breaking News: Books are apparently a fire hazard.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-library-evicted_b42238
Gotta give it to NYC, things get quiet on Occupy Wall Street and Bloomberg decides to grow the movement. And then there is our "progressive" president whose silence speaks volumes. Poor Barack, each day he allows his mayors to take down the Occupy camps he loses more votes. He's losing the young people rapidly, they know hypocrisy when they see it, and they see it in the White House. Obama may have a year to try to win them back, but I doubt he'll be successful, these young people are convinced he's just a little less harsh Wall Street puppet.
Wow. You just nailed it. Exactly.
Well if the youth stay home AGAIN in 2012....I blame them for what will happen in 2012. Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Mississippi ring a bell.
I did not rear "take my toys and go home" kinda kids. Yes, disappointed but patient. Only two out of 3 voted in 2010...Son just moved to a new state and registration did not come through in time...my middle son and daughter voted.
I guess you want Romney or some other of the GOP running your lives...I don't
You're right. Don't take your toys and go home!
Is Nader running?
AmericansElect.org will soon be running other Presidential Candidates on the election ballot. What other choice do we have other than to support this movement. I only hope that this will work for us as a Country. With a lot of support maybe we can change the course of this tragic duopoly and get a person into office who will govern in a way that is right for us. What else can we do and what other choices do we have to change and prevent the present candidates and sitting President that will be running for office and to continue the policies and disastrous course that we are on?
It looks like things are going to have to get much worse before they get better. I wonder when America will hit bottom. I don't know, but is seems we've been falling for quite a while now.
I wonder that too, Rob.
So, every other elected official is just another of Obama's henchmen or stooges? Maybe he could or could not speak up more about his opinion on the movement, but there's a long stretch between that and "his mayors".
I think we could maybe all use a little education on the powers of the Executive branch of the government...
The federal Executive branch commands the National Guard and the FBI. There is federal law enforcement and they do trump local law enforcement. Freedom of speech and assembly is a federal law that can be enforced by federal government.
But I don't think we're anywhere near that point yet. I'm just pointing out that the federal government does have the power to intervene in local government in extreme circumstances.
It's not without precedent. JFK sent the national guard in to protect black civil rights protesters in Alabama. And it's the FBI that's sent in if local government violates the Civil Rights Act.
I'd like to think that federal intervention would be to protect protestors, but it can work out the other way. Kent State.
We're a long, long way from Camelot as a country.
Would someone like to please tell me when we lost the freedom of assembly? Because someone forgot to tell NYPD. I'm feeling betrayed by my own Constitution.
Are you sure we ever had it. According to police, we have no rights (boingboing.net/2011/11/12/police-to-occupy-cal-protester.html). Non-whites have known about this forever. The purpose of police is to protect privilege. OWS is a direct challenge to privilege. And I suspect that since 9/11 every police force in the country has been conditioned to view everything through the prism of counter-terrorism. So, not only are police by nature inclined to crack down on anyone who gets too uppity (either by being the "wrong" race or otherwise exercising their so-called "rights"), now they are conditioned to crack down with maximum force as a first option.
So, I guess we can add police to politicians, large corporations and money as the root of all evil.
I said this last month. Not to say I saw it coming, but was anyone really thinking it wouldn't happen? I'm sick to my stomach (at the media blackout as much as the raid), but I can't say I'm surprised.
Don't talk race here; people don't want to hear about it.
I think I probably mentioned somewhere that violence in revolutions often comes from the other side, not the revolutionaries themselves. At least, not at first. I don't know if anyone really didn't think this sort of thing couldn't happen. Probably more like wished really hard that it wouldn't.
If people don't want to talk about race, then that's all the more reason to talk about it, then. Talk about it constructively, I mean. Whatever that looks like.
(And, Mech, pretty please, unclench a little before you start @!$%#ting diamonds. OK?)
I'm pretty okay with being a overly earnest killjoy, but thanks.
OK. You have to do what you have to do. I pretty much get where you've been coming from, even if I don't come from exactly the same place. Maybe that looks like not getting it at all. Maybe not.
Wonder what would happen to the average citizen if they pitched a tent in a city park.
How is this any different?
NY Times reports that 70 people were arrested (7:45am Tuesday):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/police-begin-clearing-zuccotti-park-of-protesters.html?_r=1&hp
this whole OWS program was a campaign begun nearly a year ago by Adbuster's magazine (www.adbusters.org/) and was to last two months and then shut down. Have they lost control of their creation? And where is it going next? These "students" would do better to direct their energies now to working for their candidates of choice to make changes in Congress. They have made their point in the parks!!!
I'm vaguely aware of the adbusters connection, but some cites would be nice.
Adbuster's STARTED the whole campaign as a campaign to last for two months utilizing the social networks. It was to be leaderless, but was to gain an agenda as it went along. Interestingly, Adbuster's is a Canadian publication from what I can learn about them. That website, www.adbusters.org/, tells the entire story and keeps it up to date. it's not a "vague" connection - it is THE connection.
I didn't say the connection was vague, I said I had heard of it only vaguely.
Our politicians tell the World that they should fight for Democracy. When the American people fight, this is what happens. Wake up America, we do not have democracy anymore. We have no voice, we have no rights. It is time to show the Government that we remember why our Fathers, Husbands, Sons, Daughters, and Friends fought for this country, and in some cases died. The government no problem sending us to die for this country, but they are don't want us to talk. Time for revolution.
Traditional protests were being ignored. It took OccupyWallStreet to get the attention of our elected officials. Unfortunately, that attention has been in the form of negative actions by police, by and large, or by statements of puzzlement. What action would those in power accept which would result in a positive outcome for the 99%? Could they give us a hint?
Bloomberg, along with everyone else who is against OWS, is being dishonest. Whether they say OWS should protest only in DC or should otherwise engage in tolerated (and marginalized) modes of dissent, are really only telling OWS to shut up. The media and the political body has developed strong antibodies against past methods of protest. It has no defense against OWS. Hence the constant calls to disband and the over-reactions by police.
Re: OWS / Elizabeth Warren... "...by the transitive properties of politics." Rachel, you are sooo good!!
I hope the NYPD and "Cleaners" collected the sleeping bags and tents to redistribute to the homeless. Gonna be a cold winter.
They're (metaphorically) burning books. Yup, we're boned.
BREAKING: Libya Warns NYPD to Exercise Restraint
I've lost the ability to tell satire from reality. Clue me in?
It's satire if Jon Stewart is providing the narration. Does that help? No. Nor me, either.
An ongoing roundup of incidents of media blackout.
I tried really hard to give the benefit of the doubt to the NYPD and the Mayor's office for on the ground blackout; however to discover that airspace was restricted too...this IS America, right??!
Yes, buffy forbid the daily runnings of the corporatocracy be disrupted. Something about worshipping mammon comes to mind.
Kind of funny.
At about the same time news organizations grow tired of covering OWS, Mayor Bloomberg decides to do something that is going to get OWS some air time on every news channel.
It is remarkable.
Conservative cities are doing exactly the opposite of the right thing every time they have a choice.
Kind of eerie how much these scenes look like the book burning events that took place in Germany a few years after their economy collapsed.
During the same period of time, peaceful Hoovervilles developed in the US because we had no unemployment insurance at the time.
Why is it that conservatives are always compelled to do the wrong thing at the worst possible time every time the opportunity presents itself?
It's the only way they know how to operate. When all you have is a hammer, etc.
Are you suggesting Bloomberg is a conservative? Not in any sense of the word. He was a Democrat all his life. He was only a Republican because he switched parties to be able to run, and he has since quit the Republican party.
He's a rich mf'er and that's all that matters.
The terms 'Republican' and 'conservative' are not interchangeable (not the same thing).
They came like thieves in the night...Bloomberg's Blue Shirts...and robbed us of our rights, and our possessions. All the while preventing reporters from reporting on the scene. Bloomberg, the self-proclaimed number one defender of free speech (pause for gagging), said in no uncertain terms: "yes, you have the right...the right to remain silent. So just shut up and obey". This is only the beginning dear Mayor .0001%. This WILL be your legacy- of repression. But you will NOT succeed. These mayors, governors, city councils, police chiefs, and street cops of America need to realize that it is NOT UP TO THEM whether or not Americans peaceably gather, protest, discuss, or demonstrate. It's up to a document called the US CONSTITUTION. You can beat us and arrest us and tear-gas us, you can try to "permit" us to death....but you can't kill an idea. You can't keep down a people’s hopes and dreams for a better life....for us, and for our kids. America USED to work. The people had work. The system worke (sort of). Hey, EVEN the Congress used to work (sometimes). God knows, it was far, far, far from perfect -but at least we all had some share in the struggles AND the rewards. But somewhere along the way, we lost our way. Because now we have an economy and a political system that seems to work only for the rich. With OWS America has found it’s voice, and that voice demands fairness and justice - for ALL. This land IS our land! AND WE WANT IT BACK! We want our LIVES back! We want our FUTURE back! But it’s much more than just words.... it’s much more than politics..... it’s your freakin’ LIFE, and how you want to live it, and how you WILL live it. Find a quiet place somewhere, and consider this: Each of us has only one brief life....one chance....one roll of the dice....and many choices. The time has come to choose....to risk...and to act. If not now...then when? If not you, then....who? You DO have the power my friend....and the choice IS yours. Don’t let your dreams die...
A repeat from an earlier blog: Sorry, folks. With regard to the lack of action from President Obama, maybe if we call for it loudly:
A letter sent to President Obama:
After the innumerable attacks by police and local governments on the Occupy Wall
Street, Occupy Oakland and many other sites where citizens are partaking of their Constitutional Right of Peaceful Protest, I am calling on you to move our military forces in to protect these protestors from harrassment and brutal actions taken against them.
Obviously these officials are doing everything in their power to close down these protests. As this is a right granted to us by the Constitution of the United States, it is incumbent on our Federal Armed Forces to protect those who choose to protest the state of our country today. (I would imagine a line of true military men facing police would be a pretty solid reason not to try to attack anyone.)
We proclaim this to be the "Land of the Free", but to honest, these actions are more indicative of despotic regimes. As the world is watching, I suggest we put our money where our mouths are. Protect the Constitutional Rights of our citizens. Immediately.
Thank you, Mr. President, for your consideration.
It's at least worth a try.
I understand the frustration many people have with what we perceive as the inaction of the president. He is walking a very thin tightrope right now, and though I would like to hear more aggressive talk coming from him, I wonder if perhaps his approach isn't the best one for this time. You can vote for someone other than a Democrat or Republican, but in current political times it will be a throw away vote. It might make you feel good to do a protest vote, but it will be no victory for you or your fellow Americans. The choice will be Obama or a Republican who most certainly will not have the best interest of our country at heart. We progressives want big change and we want it now. That would work for us, but not the majority of the country. Settling for smaller change may not feel comfortable, but it is how things are done here. I hope when next November comes around you will make a better choice then the knee-jerk one we all consider. Change will always take time; Republicans will wait and let us destroy ourselves from within, then they will take advantage of our weak spots and take power. Don't let it happen.
Professor William Black
link to law2.umkc.edu
Asking why no one has been prosecuted? Have heard this fellow before I believe on Democracy Now. Listen to the whole clip. This man should be at all the teach in’s. Clear and on target.
Occupy LA Teach In William K Black
link to youtube.com
“Ok I am coming with a message of hope actually. In the savings and loan crisis which was one seventieth the size of this crisis. Our agency made over 10,ooo criminal referrals and that resulted in the conviction on felony grounds of over 1000 elites in what were designated as major cases”
William Black “We can prosecute these frauds. The Federal Housing Finance Administration has just filed complaints saying 17 of the largest banks in America committed massive fraud. Endemic fraud.. And that there is a paper trail proving that they did so.”
“Where is the Justice Dept?”
BANKS IMMUNIZED FROM NOT ONLY BEING PROSECUTED BUT FROM BEING INVESTIGATED
Contact the Justice Dept? Ask them why no one on Wall Street has been arrested or prosecuted?
http://www.justice.gov/contact-us.html
As a former Registered REPUBLICAN and now also a disgruntled DEMOCRAT, all i can say that every single POLITICIAN in this country is worthless. It does not matter whether you are a Republican or a Democrat,watch the last 60 MINUTES segment on CBS and observe that ALL politicians Democrats and Republican are nothing but THIEFS,CRIMINALS and DELINQUENTS. What this country needs is regular folks and not career politicians running for office. Individuals like Jesse Ventura who seem to be at least normal folks like you and I and grew in homes and where raised by hard working parents and not multi millionaires career politicians that groom their children to continue benefiting from the average american. This country needs a CIVIL WAR. This country needs to remove all career Politicians from Washington and by "ANY MEANS NECESSARY". I am completely fed up with this country. This country deserves any thing and everything bad that is coming our way now. Unfortunately, all we simple Americans have at our disposal to vent and to express our discontent is the so called "FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND PROTEST" .jajajajajajajaja, what a Joke!!!! Has anybody ever stop and realize that all those so called "RIGHTS" written in the Constitution where drafted by "POLITCIANS" who never ever care a or gave a "@!$%#"about average folks? Still,............ we Americans will continue to vote in office Harvard and Yale graduates with politically connected families and fancy speeches to office. In closing, why do we criticize countries like Russia and China and communist countries that oppress and treat their citizens wrong? We being doing the same here since the founding of the country. At least in communist countries and governments you expect that to be the case. Here i the good old USA the Government and their Politicians paint you a rosy picture then when you get them in public office they "DESTROY" you.
Obviously a coordinated attack at all OWS camps around the country...probably coordinated by Homeland Security. Obviously the OWS movement was making the ruling class, corporatocracy uncomfortable...maybe all the (militarized) police departments around the country will be reimbursed from the famed "black budget"...
I don't know about DHS. Coordination, sure. Quan has been quoted in various places about being in a conference call with 18 (other? total?) mayors around the country. I'm sure local officials are quite capable of being this uniformly evil without federal help.
Over 10 years ago terrorists harmed NY and those who risked their lives and limbs just to help those who were hurt, were called heroes. Today upon seeing what those who are called "NY's best" are doing to people who are unarmed and are not destroying any property, I have seen they are not heroes anymore. They have exchanged their duties, their hats are not to "serve and protect", the unprotected. During the time this movement started till now they have demonstrated an unwillingness to go against the grain, so to speak just to do what is right. They stop being heroes. Shame on the NYPD that they have sold themselves to the highest bidder. Corporations that enjoy seeing the people being hit and their property destroyed, because they are exercising their right to OCCUPY. I say OCCUPY, OCCUPY OCCUPY!! AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!
The Mayor is:
1. Destroying Tourism. Too many reservations cancelled in last 48 hours for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
2.Raids OWS while drug dealers and shoe shine vendors service Floor Employees on their lunch breaks.
3. Raids OWS while "super computers" "bagmen" visit Goldman Sachs to collect comissions for N.J. Mob families .
4, Risking ever being elected to a public office again.
Will Cramer last much longer on SQUAWK after going "ballistic" about treatment of ex Goldman/Sachs Executive, John Corzine? What does he know about Wall Street if he worked "on Corzines desk"? Time will tell. Maybe TIME will put him on the next cover along with Corzine.
Penn State-Pa. Governor, Tom Corbet voted HOW on Joe Paterno firing?Now Senator Casey wants Congress to investigate what happened, and when? The Governor admitted on TV that he only attended a meeting the previous Thursday or Friday before the news was delivered to the public and to Joe.How did the Governor vote? Telephone? Computer?Do the Minutes of the Trust show the tally and each vote cast? What does the Trust Agreement show the responsibility of the Trustees should be? Do the Trustees have Liability Insurance and are they Bonded? Do any of the Trustees own University Bonds? Any Bonds sold or traded in the 6 months prior to the firing? Are the Trustees elected or appointed? What does Corbet, ex Attorney General know about Casey that made Casey make this request now? I remember the Casey election. Very strange, right Mr. Rendell? And why did Abrams enter into the picture? To borrow a line from "Laugh IN"---Very interesting!