aljazeera | Bloomberg News was standing by as its founder Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered his Cossacks in riot gear to “cleanse” Zuccotti Park in the middle of the morning to replace one group of occupiers with another.
No doubt emboldened by earlier evictions in Oakland and Portland, and with a sound truck emitting noise to disorient protestors and add to the chaos, Bloomberg's office was saying, “protesters can return after the park is cleared”.
Until this point, the mayor had gone back and forth with threats to clear the park in the name of preserving public safety, of course, and upholding the wishes of the huge Brookfield Realty group, which owns the “public” park and on whose board Bloomberg's girlfriend sits.
For weeks, the Murdoch press had been baiting Bloomberg as weak and a wuss for not getting tough as they focused on any act of depravity they could find or invent. But now, the park is gone - for now - but the Movement says it will go on.
As the cops and the Sanitation Department dismantled tents and occupied the area, keeping pedestrians out, the Occupy Wall Street media team was issuing a statement that began, ”You can't evict an idea whose time has come”.
The statement continued: “This burgeoning movement is more than a protest, more than an occupation, and more than any tactic. The 'us' in the movement is far broader than those who are able to participate in physical occupation. The movement is everyone who sends supplies, everyone who talks to their friends and families about the underlying issues, everyone who takes some form of action to get involved in this civic process.
"Such a movement cannot be evicted. Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces - our spaces - and, physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas. Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people - all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power. We believe that is a highly popular idea, and that is why so many people have come so quickly to identify with Occupy Wall Street and the 99 per cent movement.”
The mayor acted after authorities in Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon evicted occupation activists from camps there. In both cities, activists have seized new parks and areas to use as launching pads for more protests.
No doubt emboldened by earlier evictions in Oakland and Portland, and with a sound truck emitting noise to disorient protestors and add to the chaos, Bloomberg's office was saying, “protesters can return after the park is cleared”.
Until this point, the mayor had gone back and forth with threats to clear the park in the name of preserving public safety, of course, and upholding the wishes of the huge Brookfield Realty group, which owns the “public” park and on whose board Bloomberg's girlfriend sits.
For weeks, the Murdoch press had been baiting Bloomberg as weak and a wuss for not getting tough as they focused on any act of depravity they could find or invent. But now, the park is gone - for now - but the Movement says it will go on.
As the cops and the Sanitation Department dismantled tents and occupied the area, keeping pedestrians out, the Occupy Wall Street media team was issuing a statement that began, ”You can't evict an idea whose time has come”.
The statement continued: “This burgeoning movement is more than a protest, more than an occupation, and more than any tactic. The 'us' in the movement is far broader than those who are able to participate in physical occupation. The movement is everyone who sends supplies, everyone who talks to their friends and families about the underlying issues, everyone who takes some form of action to get involved in this civic process.
"Such a movement cannot be evicted. Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces - our spaces - and, physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas. Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people - all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power. We believe that is a highly popular idea, and that is why so many people have come so quickly to identify with Occupy Wall Street and the 99 per cent movement.”
The mayor acted after authorities in Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon evicted occupation activists from camps there. In both cities, activists have seized new parks and areas to use as launching pads for more protests.
3 comments:
Speaking of Oakland:
http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/the-grass-is-closed-what-i-have-learned-about-power-from-the-police-chancellor-birgeneau-and-occupy-cal/
The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed an outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis at Occupy Atlanta.Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/now_it_health_hazard_nSOEcvMS42rXGnJFvv9FCL#ixzz1dpQ10bHl
Seriously? Because the NYPost said so?!?!?!?!
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