An occupier participates in a little-known action in Zuccotti Park in the wee hours of the morning, drawing the blueprints of the #OWS encampment in chalk:
“From this angle all I can see are his boots, more particularly the black military boot, buckled in silver that is blocking my ability to finish my chalk drawing. It is three in the morning and I am about to be arrested. I am using chalk to draw out the blueprints of where the tents had been prior to the dismantling of the Occupy Wall Street encampment by the NYPD in Zuccotti Park.”
“Lady, we don’t even have charges for that”
is what Nicole’s arresting officer told her as she was transported to One Police Plaza following an arrest for hula-hooping in an intersection early in the morning of #S17. She recounts her experience in jail:
“We shared stories, everyone having a good laugh … We stood shoulder to shoulder forming our own ‘Pee-poles Wall’ singing ‘Solidari-pee Forever’ whenever a sister had to use the facilities. It’s amusing to me that after all this time the NYPD still thinks arrest will drive us away from the movement. Some of the strongest bonds I have made since coming to Occupy have been forged in a jail cell.”
My Occupy Birthday
An activist reminisces on his past year at OWS, while reporting back on new projects to tackle in year two:
I’ve had my share of personal successes and failures in life, leading a more or less comfortable existence, and therefore have remained complacent (and complicit?). Last year, though, when I witnessed innocent young people, right here in New York City, brutalized and arrested just for publicly stating that they believed our world was in peril and that they wanted there to be a better tomorrow, it triggered in me an uncontrollable desire to help. This is something I hadn’t ever encountered before and I didn’t know how to start, so I went to investigate what these kids were doing in Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park), and found at least a sliver of hope in the bravery of these young’uns.
Ethan’s story tells of self-actualization while presenting some projects on how others may become involved with the movement moving into year two!
How Do You Sleep at Night?
I threw my arms in the air in an attempt to visually reinforce that I was not resisting any type of arrest, only their blatant disregard for our right to peaceably assemble. I was thrown backwards into the sea of blue, my arm still being squeezed by the brute. I screamed “I DO NOT HAVE TO LEAVE, THE PARK IS NOT CLOSED.”
He rang my arm tighter. “If you don’t get the fuck out, I’m going to arrest you.”
A group of three visited Mark Adams in prison today. Here is their reportback.
It’s going to be a Thriller night.
Washington Square Park.
Friday. 7pm.
Be there.
We’ll be on the lookout for stories from tomorrow night’s action—tell us your story!
FRACK WALL STREET!
Week 4 of Summer Disobedience School placed an emphasis on outreach to a very receptive audience by drawing attention to the potential dangers of hydro-fracking
Occupied Stories has been bursting with photos the past few days.
Check out our slideshows and photo collections regarding:
Six points of view of the first five minutes Wednesday night’s casseroles march in NYC: Almost immediately after the march left Washington Square park, the police brutally began arresting some of the more active casseroles marchers. Here, a few witnesses put their thoughts together in a mosaic recounting the march’s beginning.
This one of many posts on Occupied Stories recounting events on June 6th, in which cities all over the world marched in solidarity with protests in Quebec. You may read an arrestee’s account of the march here, and a longer account on the progression of the march here. A story recounting jail support in Chicago may be found here.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses: over the weekend, Occupy Wall Street demanded that Trinity Church drop charges against protesters arrested for trespassing. Here is our report—with lots of photos!
