Today (Wednesday, November 2, 2011) is supposed to be a General Strike, that is also supposedly aimed to Shut Down the City. However, police officers have been ordered to not take the day off. Further-more, the Police department says that they are confused at the orders given by the Mayor. First to clear out the park, and the next day allow them back in. The police have noted that they are part of the "99 percent" (the slogan carried by Occupy).
In an open letter to the citizens of Oakland, police have also noted that the bill to "control" the protests have cost the taxpayers over one million dollars.
Meanwhile, a message has been sent to all police officers: Everyone, including those who have the day off, must show up for work on Wednesday. This is also being paid for by Oakland taxpayers. Last week’s events alone cost Oakland taxpayers over $1 million.
At this moment we can only assume the police department will continue their duty of law enforcement which was ordered in a memo sent.
Police officers note that Mayor is attempting to get people to vote to bail out the City finances, while also spending money.
Meanwhile, Occupy Oakland encourages everyone to join them at 14th and Broadway, 9:00AM, 12:00PM, and 5:00PM for the strike rallies.
a glance at what some of the protesters were able to keep
A little after 12:00AM October 31, 2011, Occupy Richmond was met with bulldozers after receiving a warning to clear out, at Kanawha Plaza. Ransacking the protesters camp, and arresting. Protester says at least ten people have been arrested. Police allowed the protesters to take some of the stuff from the camp, but not all of it, according to the camera operator. Police also removed the food tents. There were at least eighty tents according to another person.
Police also kicked out the homeless, says camera operator.
A video showing some of what is happening, as well as afterward.
Occupy Richmond still plans to continue their protest.
Occupy Denver is currently "in stand off" with local police. It's unclear what is going on at the moment, other than the police have appeared to be lining up along the sidewalk, and telling them to get back on the sidewalk if they attempt to step off to go past the police.
Protesters are interacting with the police as they stand in the line. The police are also interacting back with the protesters.
Occupy Oakland is facing more dangerous issues from the police as they attempt to progress their protests. Receiving multiple tear gas, and rubber bullets protesters are targeted for dismantle. Occupy Oakland, among many other note that the protesters have been peaceful and have not provoked any type of violence.
Videos, which have been uploaded to YouTube show the police disrupting attempts of retrieving injured protesters.
SPD (Seattle Police Department) will issue an eviction notice to Occupy Seattle protesters between 1:00PM-1:30PM PDT at Westlake Park. If they do not leave, they will be arrested reportedly.
Several tents were setup, and many activists attended.
Since the 700 arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge, a class action lawsuit has been filed yesterday, against the City of New York, among others.
After escorting and leading a group of demonstrators and others well out onto the Brooklyn Bridge roadway, the NYPD suddenly and without warning curtailed further forward movement, blocked the ability of persons to leave the Bridge from the rear, and arrested hundreds of protestors in the absence of probable cause. This was a form of entrapment, both illegal and physical.
It also goes on with:
Instead, the NYPD engaged in a performance, videotaped it, and sprang their trap. They then set their PR machine into motion, distributing widely edited videos of events to spin a false narrative of events to the public and media.
And:
This complaint seeks, in addition to monetary compensation, injunctive relief enjoining defendants from engaging in the challenged conduct in the future, and order nullifying the arrests, and expunging all arrest records.
Confirmed below that people were allowed & trapped
People are being innocently arrested at Brooklyn Bridge for apparently no reason. The almost 20,000 people that tuned in, seen the unnecessary arrests made by police.
The protest or "march" on the bridge was peaceful and actions by police some called unacceptable. One officer, appeared to be arresting a young female.
The crowd of protesters stood back cheered on their fellow protesters, chanting "Hey hey, ho ho. Corporate greed has got to go."
People are reporting that they trapped. 350 according to the stream, and 75700 confirmed arrested. Media team may have also been arrested.
Update 7:21PM: I've been able to re-watch the pre-recorded version and the camera operator said that they are in-fact trapping them in.
I've also captured the pictures of what looks like a young girl that was being arrested. Before this, she was talking on a phone I believe. (I should note her age is not yet confirmed, she only appears to be underage)
As-well as another angle of the bridge & arrest.
From what I'm hearing, they are loading people onto buses.
Updated 10:50PM:
Here's the full video without signal drops, and an edit that has been posted to YouTube. One by one these people are taken from the crowd and put under arrest. Including the young girl being arrested. At 8 minutes in, a man struggles to not go with the police officers, and is yanked even harder finally being broke away from the crowd - He appears to get slammed to the ground afterwards.
The crowd also relays messages to each other by saying and repeating "mic check" to make sure they hear each other. Afterward saying "If you get arrested, tell us your name"
From the YouTube description (Read below for audio transcript)
An arrested member provides an audio account of what happened on the brooklyn bridge, october 1st, 2011 with the protestors of occupywallst and the NYPD. NOTE NYPD leading the march onto the bridge, without any words of warning or attempts to derail the march. Normally, you are not allowed to step off the sidewalk without a reprimand and warning.
I would like to add, Almost all cops encountered in blue shirts were very nice people, just having to do their jobs. We respect them and their families, as we respect all. We want you to understand, we are doing this for all of you as well.
solidarity.
Chris is the person's name speaking in this video. Here is a short text version.
[..] This was one of the bigger marches of the week - The evening march of Saturday. We were walking the Brooklyn Bridge. The cops were walking along, and allowing people onto the bridge. There were people that were on the pedestrian pathway. [..] Very quickly the cars were stopped by police, and the lane suddenly opened up. Which caused us to start running to close the gaps. and then there was about 200-300 police that either stopped the rest of the protest, or followed up the back of, and they were marching in a line of the back of the Brooklyn Bridge so we had no exit. At the front the same thing was happening.
The protest, labeled "Occupy Wall St." has lead 1,000s on an agenda to call out the bankers, government, and other various corporations on corruption. Streaming live (via Global Revolution), a camera crew walks around capturing the event for the entire world to see. Videos, and pictures from multiple people have been spread throughout the web community displaying the movement, cheers, meetings, and police officers' actions against some of the protesters.
Arrests and Police Abuse
It's been reported that at least 80 people were arrested. One for reportedly taking photographs of the scene, and some for wearing masks. While it's apparent that many of the protesters are calm and peaceful, police officers still aimed to use excessive force.
Pictured created via Mace video below
An incident has been recorded of women being maced by an officer (reported as "Officer Bologna") that was walking by. Other videos followed with officers dragging, and pinning down various protesters. A couple of people were being searched unlawfully (without their consent) for unknown reasons. A woman (unknown) was initiating legal representation via National Laywers Guild for another incident.
The Top Agenda and Organization
The protesters' top agenda is to draw attention to the corruption by corporations in America. Not only are they protesting over America's debt situation, but health care and the way the government feeds into corporation greed (demonstrated by top picture above). Protesters frequently have meetings, training, and discuss other topics covering the current events.
Petition for Recognition
Following shortly after protesting, a public petition at the White House website was created. This Petition is to recognize the men and women who are protesting against Wall Street.
Mr.Obama, this is a petition for you to publicly recognize, whether in a live speech, or in one of your weekly youtube addresses, the #occupywallstreet movement that is currently taking place in NYC.
On the evening of September 24, 2011, many people in the live stream channel collaborated on calling various media organisations and encouraging them to report on Occupy Wall St.. Apparently successful, ABC News, MSNBC, and NBC New York followed up with reports. The articles are now appearing to be updated since the the 24th.
Here are some of the videos.
Maced.
Unlawful searches.
Sources/References:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150297290602282&set=a.10150297287072282.331872.680962281&type=1&theater || Jeff Prager's Occupy Wall St. Photo Album || Jeff Prager || September 23, 2011
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/recognize-men-and-women-who-are-occupying-wall-street/tX0ZX8Z7 - Recognize Men and Women Who Are Occupying Wall Street || Unknown || September 23, 2011}}
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-movement-reports-80-arrested-today-in-protests/ || Occupy Wall Street Movement Reports 80 Arrested Today in Protests || Unknown || ABC News || September 24, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moD2JnGTToA || Peaceful Female Protestors Penned In The Street and Maced || TheOther99Percent || September 24, 2011
https://occupywallst.org/article/four-arrested-one-for-photos/ || At least 80 Arrested || OccupyWallSt
|| OccupyWallSt || September 25, 2011
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Occupy-Wall-St-Arrests-New-York-City-130504038.html || Dozens Of Protesters Arrested At Occupy Wall Street March || Unknown || NBC New York || September 25, 2011
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44656078 || 80 people arrested at 'Occupy Wall Street' protest || Unknown || MSNBC || September 25, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvbI6Eq-qA || Three Protesters Arrested and 1 man offered help via National Lawyers Guild || Unknown || TheAnonPress || September 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kevXKRROF6I || Unlawful Searches According to the Protesters Being Searched || glassbeadian || September 19, 2011
