Rational Irrationality: The Anti-Wall Street Protesters’ Best Friend: Ray Kelly. Is Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly a closet supporter of Occupy Wall Street, the anti-establishment protest group that has been camped out in the financial district for the past week and a half? That’s what it’s looking like. Thanks to the N.Y.P.D.’s heavy-handed response, what began as a small-scale and relatively innocuous demonstration has turned into a riveting piece of political theatre that now has the eyes of the mainstream media upon it. Over the past couple of days, the protesters, who are occupying Zuccotti Park, between Broadway and Trinity Place, have garnered headlines as far afield as London, Athens, and Jerusalem, as well the support of Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Cornel West, and Noam Chomsky. Where their protest goes from here is hard to say—it is supposed to last several months—but safe to say it has already succeeded beyond the imagination of its organizers, whoever they are.
That sounds a bit self-glorifying, but what the heck? Here’s the Video of Those Wall Streeters Drinking Champagne Above the Protest. Transport Workers Union Votes Unanimously to Support Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street is in its 13th day, with support growing among factions veering from the "grungy unemployed hippie stereotype. " There's the event led by two CUNY professors to protest the treatment of the protesters at the hands of the NYPD (Critical Mass has written they'll join in this rally, which may be preceded by a feeder march from Zuccotti Park consisting of other groups as well). Michael Moore, who's been involved for days now, is doing a book signing at St. Marks Bookshop (another cause!) With royalties on sales to go to support Occupy Wall Street. We spoke to TWU Local 100's spokesman Jim Gannon, who told us that the executive board voted unanimously last night at their regular monthly business meeting to support Occupy Wall Street.
Why did they join? Via Animal NY, here's a video of a woman who identifies herself as a TWU 100 member talking about support for the demonstrators. TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen added, "We plan to be down there from now on. When you talk too much for Twitter. 'Occupy Wall Street' gets support from Transport Workers; Union to provide protesters food, services. Occupy Wall Street is growing. A massive union votes to side with protesters. Matt Taibbi: "The movement is growing organically... There is enough real distress and desperation out there that this could transform into a real movement... It could provide the political support for those activists who are trying to change very specific things about how Wall Street operates.... " The now 13 day old movement is growing, the protests have attracted more people every day, and those who have criticized it for being small, disorganized, or lacking a specific message may need to think again.
For example, the Teamsters Union is supporting the protest. And as I posted the other day, so are Continental pilots. Now the New York Transit Workers Union (TWU) is jumping in. Via Business Insider: It's a diverse group with a general message of 99% of working and unemployed Americans vs. the top corporate 1%. Occupy Wall Street: NYPD and Manhattan DA to investigate use of pepper spray on demonstrators. Sen. Bernie Sanders praises ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests | Raw Replay. Occupy Wall Street growing rapidly. Some Breaks in the Blackout of Wall Street Protests. After a FAIR Action Alert (9/23/11) criticized the virtual media blackout of the Occupy Wall Street protests, corporate news coverage has increased--sparked largely by the escalating police brutality at the ongoing demonstration. (See FAIR Blog, 9/23/11, for a sample of the messages sent by FAIR activists to the network nightly news shows.)
On ABC World News Sunday (9/25/11), anchor David Muir read this short item while playing footage of cops assaulting protesters: And here in New York, protests continued against the big banks and the bailout that helped the banks, Wall Street, they say, not Main Street. It turned ugly this weekend when protesters marching through Lower Manhattan clashed with police. One man right there brought down forcefully by an officer. NBC Nightly News aired a somewhat longer report the next day (9/26/11), with correspondent Ron Allen actually traveling downtown to the protest encampment in Liberty Plaza. We asked the newsroom to explain their editorial decision. A Report from the Frontlines: The Long Road to #OccupyWallStreet and the Origins of the 99% Movement. By David DeGraw How Anonymous, AmpedStatus, the NYC General Assembly, US Day of Rage, Adbusters and Thousands of Individual Actions Led to the Occupation of Liberty Park and the Birth of a Movement As the occupation of Wall Street moves into its third week, there are many questions about the organizers behind the ongoing protests and the origins of the 99% Movement.
As one of the many people who actively supported the effort, and helped launch the 99% Movement, I will give my perspective on the events leading up to the occupation of Liberty Park. As I understand it, the #OccuppyWallStreet 99% Movement is a decentralized non-violent rebellion against economic tyranny. It is a leaderless movement that has been dependent upon tens of thousands of individuals taking it upon themselves to take action and fight back against their own personal financial hardships, and in defense of their family and friends who are desperately struggling to make ends meets.
The Birth of the 99% Movement. Occupy Wall Street: FAQ. Q: I hear that Adbusters organized Occupy Wall Street? Or Anonymous? Or US Day of Rage? Just who put this together anyway? A: All of the above, and more. Adbusters made the initial call in mid-July, and also produced a very sexy poster with a ballerina posed atop the Charging Bull statue and riot police in the background. US Day of Rage, the mainly internet-based creation of IT strategist Alexa O’Brien, got involved too and did a lot of the early legwork and tweeting. We Recommend Starting at 1AM, NYPD moved in to clear out Liberty Square, destroying protesters property and tents.
About the Author Nathan Schneider Nathan Schneider’s ’s book Thank You, Anarchy: Notes From the Occupy Apocalypse was recently published by... Also by the Author On its second anniversary, a sense of failure pervades the Occupy movement, as many core activists have moved on with their lives. Our contributors reflect on the legacy of the invasion and the destruction, and disillusionment, that followed. Sure. World News: Wall Street protesters in for the long haul. NEW YORK—A standoff near Wall Street between protesters opposed to what they say is corporate greed and police may drag on into winter, with a march on police headquarters the likely next test of whether tensions escalate. The Occupy Wall Street movement was planning Friday an unauthorized demonstration on the streets outside the New York City police centre of operations. The group is adding complaints of excessive police force against protesters and police treatment of ethnic minorities and Muslims to its grievances list, which includes bank bailouts, foreclosures and high unemployment.
Police have made about 100 arrests and used pepper spray, which they called a better alternative than night sticks to subdue those blocking traffic. "We're here for the long haul," said Patrick Bruner, a protester and student at Skidmore College in upstate New York, who is among those camped out in a private park near One World Trade Center. When you talk too much for Twitter. Russell Simmons: I will bring hundreds of thousands to ‘Occupy Wall Street’ | Raw Replay. Noam Chomsky about #OccupyWallStreet. Wall Street protests - baltimoresun.com. Matt Stoller: #OccupyWallStreet Is a Church of Dissent, Not a Protest. By Matt Stoller, the former Senior Policy Advisor to Rep. Alan Grayson and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. You can reach him at stoller (at) gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @matthewstoller.
Last weekend, I spent a few days with the protesters downtown near Wall Street, and it was an eye-opening experience. The people there want something, but it’s not a list of demands, and it is entirely overlooked by the media and most commentators on the protest. If all you read are news stories and twitter feeds about #OccupyWallStreet, the most trenchant imagery that will stick in your mind is that of police brutality, and the politics of Wall Street greed.
And it’s obvious that this isn’t just about Wall Street, nor is it really a battle of any sort. What these people are doing is building, for lack of a better word, a church of dissent. Meaning is a fundamental human need. You can tell this is a somewhat different animal than other politicized gatherings. Occupy Wall Street to Publish Newspaper to Control Their Message. Sep 29, 2011 Occupy Wall Street announced today that they will be publishing their own newspaper to better control their message and prevent mainstream media from defining the movement. Today, Occupy Wall Street announced publicly that it will be forming a Occupy Wall Street Media project through Kickstarter, and they will be name it, in a bit of sarcastic culture jamming, “The Occupy Wall Street Journal.” (We’ll see how the decaying tyrant Rupert Murdoch enjoys that one.) The project seems to have grown out of the cynical trend in mainstream media to ignore or discount the movement and define the message from the confines of a corporate television studio or from a news desk.
The newspaper will initially be a four-page broadsheet explaining what Occupy Wall Street is all about and to clearly communicate its demands to the general public. The initial print run is set at the quite ambitious number of 50,000. The goal is to hit $12,000 to finance the project. Unions and liberal groups to join ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest. By Eric W. DolanThursday, September 29, 2011 18:15 EDT Labor unions and liberal activist groups plan to throw their weight behind the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York City that has now lasted 13 straight days, according to Crain’s New York. A diverse coalition of people have pledged to occupy Wall Street until something is done about corporate greed and the financial system’s undemocratic influence on the U.S. government.
The protesters have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, now called Zuccotti Park, since September 17. Among unions, the United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, Workers United and Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 have said they will participate in the protest next Wednesday. The Working Families Party, MoveOn.org, Make the Road New York, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Alliance for Quality Education, Community Voices Heard, United New York and Strong Economy For All also plan to support the demonstration. Eric W. Eric W. VIDEO: Occupy Wall St. Protests in 12th Day.
Nearly two weeks ago, an estimated 3,000 people assembled at New York City's Battery Park with the intention of occupying Wall Street and rallying to end joblessness, stop political corruption, curb health profiteering and bring an end to wars. Time magazine reports that the demonstrations show no signs of slowing down. But MediaMatters notes the striking absence of mainstream news coverage of the event and wonders how things would be different if the event had a cable-news sponsor (recalling Fox News' early and enthusiastic support of the Tea Party movement). Filmmaker Michael Moore did make it onto MSNBC'sThe Last Word to update host Lawrence O’Donnell about how things are going, saying: This is our country.
United/Continental pilots march on Wall Street. When you talk too much for Twitter. Hullabaloo. When you talk too much for Twitter.