UPDATE: Although there are many credible reports of the use of excessive force by some police in making arrests last night, no credible evidence has been uncovered to support allegations of "beatings" of veterans as reported as fact by Russia Today on its official Youtube channel. Russia Today in its report does not present video showing any such actions.
The first veteran arrested, Pat Scanlon, complained on WBZ Radio Boston of "excessive force" being used to arrest veterans as they stood with their arms interlocked but said nothing about beatings. Other witnesses report that no instances were seen of the oversized billy clubs being carried by police being drawn on protesters.
Witnesses observing from across the street on the Atlantic Avenue side of Rose Kennedy Greenway say the crowd was so large that it was impossible to see what was happening in every part of the Greenway from any single vantage point, and even observing what was happening with the veterans was difficult due to the large crowd surrounding them as they were being arrested.
This could reconcile sharply differing reports of police being on one hand "brutal" and on the other, according to many witnesses, respectful and professional. One commenter here who was arrested reports:
though the police took a very intimidating stance when moving in, they were exceptionally professional and respectful. I waited my turn while they went around the ring of us arresting everybody, and before each arrest they informed each of us that, should we choose to, we would be permitted to get up and walk away, no questions asked. Only those protesters who were sitting on the ground and who refused that offer were arrested. I was one of them.
Conclusion: The best evidence and testimony available at this point indicates some inexcusable behavior by some police, professional behavior by most, and no evidence of "beatings."
[End update]
As a flood of telephone calls from around the globe hit the Boston Mayor's office and the offices of the Boston Police urging police to be called off, an attempted expansion of Occupy Boston was halted at around 1:30 AM EST last night, but the main camp remained standing. There is a firestorm brewing at Occupy Boston over the official press release describing police actions. The statement reads:
Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston
Posted on October 11, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 11th, 2011
Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston
At 1:30 this morning hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston, which had peacefully gathered on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers...
There were reports of some police using excessive force and throwing unresisting protesters to the ground, but the majority of the reports describe police who were restrained and professional in their actions. Further, the scene was swarming with camcorders, and barring the future release of video evidence, there is no photographic documentation of the kinds of large-scale police violence which were clearly documented in New York.
Throughout the previous weeks police presence had been minimal, confined to one or two officers in street uniforms, at the edge of the crowd and chatting amicably with each other or with protesters.
At one point viewers on LiveStream reached just under 10,000 international viewers of the action from a high-shot camera angle in which ground action was difficult to discern.
Many Occupy Boston protesters who were present are distancing themselves from the tone of the release. One commenter and protester who was present says:
POINT A: Was this press release agreed upon by the General Assembly? I would have blocked it because..
POINT B: Hyperbole and spin will endanger the occupiers and the occupation!..
The whole world IS watching, and HAS seen police brutality- police wading into the crowd with billy clubs, tear gas, and worse. This is worse than most of us have experienced, but calling this police brutality- beyond SPECIFIC DOCUMENTED CASES- will a) lose sympathy and b) piss off the police who were there showing restraint.
It was also noted that most police were not in full riot gear, but bare-headed and in street uniforms. It has been speculated the writer of the release was writing under great pressure and hearing first-hand of individual instances of excessive force.
A "block" in general assembly voices extremely strong objection to a motion by an individual member or members.
The confrontation was a result of Occupy Boston's need for space to expand due to greatly increasing numbers. The City of Boston had been cooperative upon the occupation of Dewey Square in front of the Federal Reserve, but asked the organizers to refrain from expanding to the Rose Kennedy Greenway just North, on the other side of the Big Dig ventilation stacks. Some protestors reached a consensus that they would defy the order, and risk arrest, thereby setting up "Camp 2". To address the significant damage to the grass in Camp 1, Occupy Boston had taken up an ongoing donation fund for re-seeding the grass, a measure approved by vote in General Assembly.
The private charity which maintained the public space, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, had clarified that it had no objection to expansion to the Rose Kennedy Greenway, but for some reason Mayor Tom Menino decided to go with the partial eviction anyway. Mayor Menino, however, continued to respect Occupy Boston's exercise of the Constitutional right of peaceable assembly and free speech with respect to Camp 1, which was not touched as protesters stood around their tents with their arms interlocked, late into the night.
As about 200 Boston police moved in on Camp 2, observers reporting to me by cellphone live were commenting that they were seeing police moving about the grounds dismantling tents and gathering belongings, which were then piled into waiting garbage trucks and compacted. Previous to this, as the police lines formed, one observer remarked "the police are looking like they really don't want to do this."
At some point reports began to emerge that police were "beating up veterans," but in a video purporting to show this no beating is actually visible. I asked my primary observer to confirm and instructed her to ask one young man who had reported this if he had seen it with his own eyes. The young man said "that's what they are saying."
A statement by Mike Ferner, President of Veterans for Peace, does not confirm beatings, and Veterans for Peace, Boston Smedley Butler Brigade, has remained determinedly conciliatory toward the police and issued the below urgent statement:
STATEMENT FROM VETERANS FOR PEACE REGARDING THE INCIDENT IN BOSTON LAST NIGHT, BY ACTING DIRECTOR, MIKE FERNER
October 11, 2011
Last night in Boston, our members displayed real courage, standing
nonviolently between police and people in the Occupy Boston protest.
Police were given orders to clear the park and initial reports I’ve
heard say that some VFP members and perhaps others were injured by the
police and that fifty people were arrested. If there were injuries, we
hope they were minimal. VFP never condones the use of violence.
We need to keep in mind that police officers are in the same 99% as we
are, providing the muscle, sweat, blood and money used by the 1% who
own and govern. The most important thing we share with the police is
our humanity. We appeal to police in every corner of America to
maintain their humanity and think about it when they consider orders
they are given.
The largest democratic uprising in U.S. history was that of the
Populists in the late 1800′s. Of them, Lawrence Goodwyn, author of
“The Populist Moment" wrote that they “…created the psychological space to dare to aspire grandly.”
That is what the dozens of “Occupy” movements are doing throughout
America today — daring to aspire grandly and aspiring to the grandest
ideal of our nation, which is democracy.
We are just at the beginning stages of a powerful, new rising of
democratic energy and ideals. We will remain human but we will remain
silent no longer.
During the night it was reported that a police scanner had been monitored ordering all vehicles to converge on Dewey Square, after Camp 1 had been emptied, prompting fears that Camp 1 was next. But this morning the sun rose on Camp 1 still standing and Occupy Boston still in progress. General Assembly is at 7pm EST tonight (broadcast on LiveStream.)
The diarist works and lives in the Boston area
-------------------------------------
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City: Grievances
Posted on September 30, 2011
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on September 29, 2011
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
Related posts:
Barack O'Bailout Feels Occupy Wall Street Protesters' Pain.
Occupy Wall Street. What Wars and Socialism for Corporations Are Costing You.