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.”
“Yesterday, I was free.”
An occupier reflects on his arrest on #S17:
It was wonderful. Each time I heard a new story of the actions taking place on the street after I was picked up I felt like I was missing something; but I also knew the community we formed in our cells was one of the most incredible things that would happen all day; one of the most liberating things I would ever feel.
#M17: An Actor’s Long Day’s Journey Into Occupy
It’s safe to say, however, the events of March 17th 2012 have changed me and I will never be the same. Whatever your feelings are about Occupy Wall Street, I think any rational person can see the tactics used by the NYPD are absolutely unacceptable. Cecily McMillan left for the hospital on a stretcher with a broken rib. Another protestor suffered a panic attack and was manhandled for it. One protestor had a black eye and marks all over his face from police officers punching him. One occupier suffered a broken thumb and an injured jaw. It was a disgraceful scene and the NYPD was entirely responsible for creating it.
An actor transforms from supportive activist to committed occupier on #M17.
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.”
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.
Mic check! Hello, NYPD patrol officers. During the turbulence of the past 8 months, many of us, and many of you, have experienced an entirely new relationship between peaceful citizens and street cops, which at points has been ugly.
But we don’t need any more tune ups.
We recognize that in our struggle against the 1%, we have come into conflict with others of the 99% who are directed to shut us down by the very forces we oppose.
More and more rank and file police, who have chosen to put their lives on the line to protect us, to assist us when disaster strikes, to look for our lost children, are told to do more with less, and to work within the paradox of a quota system that places arrests for violations over pursuing real criminals; that angers over stop and frisk rather than serving the community; that criminalizes peaceful political dissent instead of fighting crime; that puts stats over duty.
All while the brass assumes that with your respect for the system and duty to your fellow officers, you would not speak out. But we hear you.
We know your pension fund is bankrupt because bankers gambled with your money, because your pension fund managers lied to you, because politicians refuse to raise taxes on rich corporations, because they need those corporations.
The banks have sold you out. The pension managers have sold you out. The politicians have sold you out.
The people you keep arresting are literally the only ones trying to change any of this.
You have the right to refuse an unlawful order. You have the right to refuse to arrest peaceful protestors. You have the right to stand up for yourself and your future, just like we’re doing.
You are us. We are all each other. Stand up for us as we are standing up for you.
Civil Disobedience on Wall Street: Yesterday’s protesters following the weekly Spring Training session, and those protesting at Federal Hall, were met with an aggressive police force just outside the building where the Bill of Rights was drafted.
Love and Revolution on the Brooklyn Bridge: as we celebrate the 6-month mark since taking the Brooklyn Bridge, occupier John Dennehy recounts being arrested on the fateful march to Brooklyn, which for him happened to also be a first date.
