Occupy Wall Street activists name officer over pepper spray incident

 

Details of senior New York police officer released online as protesters call for disciplinary action to be opened

Hacker collective Anonymnous claimed responsibility on Monday for posting the details, which they said was in retribution for the attack. Photograph: Tina Fineberg/AP

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Posted 26 September 2011, by Karen McVeigh, The Guardian (Guardian news and Media Ltd.), guardian.co.uk

 

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• David Graeber: Rediscovering the radical imagination
• Occupy Wall Street: the protesters speak

 

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Activists connected to the Occupy Wall Street protests have published the name, phone number and family details of a senior New York police officer they accuse of using pepper spray on peaceful female protesters at a march on Saturday.

The officer was named in Twitter posts and on various activist websites as NYPD deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, of Patrol Borough Manhattan South.

The posts also cite an apparent civil rights charge against the officer dating from 2007.

YouTube footage of the incident, which has been widely circulated since Saturday, appears to show a white-shirted NYPD officer firing the spray into the eyes of the protesters, who are penned in by other officers with orange netting. As the officer walks away, two of the women crumple to the ground, screaming in pain.

There were several clashes between protesters and police at the march in the financial district on Saturday, during which there were 80 arrests.

Hacker collective Anonymnous claimed responsibility on Monday for posting Bologna’s details, which they said was in retribution for the attack.

The details, posted on a site called Pastebin, included a statement which read: “As we watched your officers kettle innocent women, we observed you barbarically pepper-spray wildly into the group of kettled women. We were shocked and disgusted by your behaviour.”

“You know who the innocent women were; now they will have the chance to know who you are. Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice. WE ARE WATCHING!!! Expect Us!”

Since the post, other activists have followed suit, urging people to call his precinct to complain or to call him directly.

The move drew a mixed response from the Occupy Wall Street activists who have been camped out in Zuccotti Park, in the city’s financial district, for nine days. Many say they were angry about the “brutal and unnecessary” tactics used by police at the weekend.

Hero Vincent, 28, an artist from the Bronx said: “I think it should be out there, so that people know what’s going on and if people want to enter his precinct and ask that he should be fired, they can. We are a peaceful protest. For them to attack us is wrong.”

Vincent, who was arrested for resisting arrest on Saturday, claimed he was kicked in the stomach by officers.

But there was also disquiet over the officer’s family details being made public.

Another protester, who did not want to be named, told the Guardian: “My dad is a police officer and he got a lot of death threats. I don’t know if his family details should be out there. But if the information is correct and he has a rights case against him, I’m extremely concerned that he was put into what was a very tense situation.”

The Guardian asked the NYPD to respond to the naming of the officer and the allegation that he was previously the subject of a civil rights complaint, but a spokesman said the department had not yet decided whether to comment.

One protester, Jeanne Mansfield – who said she was standing so close to the women sprayed in the face that her own eyes burned – claimed other NYPD officers had expressed disbelief at the actions of the senior officer.

In her vivid account of the incident in the Boston Review, Mansfield said: “A white-shirt, now known to be NYPD Lieutenant Anthony Bologna, comes from the left, walks straight up to the three young girls at the front of the crowd, and pepper-sprays them in the face for a few seconds, continuing as they scream ‘No! Why are you doing that?!'”

Despite her attempts to turn away from the “unavoidable” spray, Mansfield, who took part in Saturday’s march with her boyfriend on a whim after “stumbling across” it, said she suffered burning and temporary blindness in her left eye and tears streaming down her face.

She continued: “In the street I shout for water to rinse my eyes or give to the girls on the ground. But no one responds. One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, ‘I can’t believe he just fuckin’ maced her.'”

Despite the clashes with police at the weekend, the protesters show no signs of giving up, and similar demonstrations are being planned in other US cities. In Boston, activists are planning a “general assembly” event on Tuesday night.

High-profile anti-capitalist campaigners have lined up to back the protests.

Noam Chomksy is the latest to endorse Occupy Wall Street, sending the protesters a strong message of support that praised them for their “courageous and honorable” action.

Chomsky said: “Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street — financial institutions generally — has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world). And should also know that it has been doing so increasingly for over 30 years, as their power in the economy has radically increased, and with it their political power.”

But the protesters also face a more immediate battle than the restructuring of capitalism. The company which owns the land is beginning moves to reclaim it. Signs have gone up in the park that say camping, tents and sleeping bags are prohibited. NBC New York said unidentified men in suits had been handing out leaflets, with similar warnings.

The station said Brookfield Financial Properties, which owns the park but allows the public to use it, told it that the protesters could be “ordered off the park in the next day or two”.

 

• More on this story

• Ed Pilkington: America’s barely tamed brutality

  Ed Pilkington: Pepper spray, Swat teams and judicial torture. This barbarity is ever present – but rarely so visible – in American life

• US politics live blog: Occupy Wall Street protests, spending bill

• David Graeber: Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination

• Police crack down on ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests
  

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/26/occupy-wall-street-police-named?intcmp=239

WATCH LIVE: Tarsands Civil Disobedience Sept 26, 2011

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Posted 26 September 2011, by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, bsnorrell.blogspot.com

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APTN Photos
CBC Live Ottawa
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Politics/1244504890/ID=2129385867

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Hundreds gather on Parliament Hill to say ‘No to Tar Sands’

(Ottawa) – Hundreds of people from across North America are gathered this morning on Parliament Hill for a rally followed by a mass civil disobedience sit-in. Participants are responding to a call to action for a large peaceful protest where many will risk arrest to tell the Harper government they don’t support his reckless agenda and urge him to turn away from the tar sands and build a green energy future that promotes climate justice, respects Indigenous rights and prioritizes the health of our environment and communities.

“It is morally justifiable to risk arrest if you see and witness a crime occurring or about to occur. We are saying the tar sands industry is unlawful. We need to stop it before the damage is done. It’s worth getting arrested to send that warning out to the rest of Canada,” said Louisette Lante, a housewife from Waterloo.

The action began at 10 a.m. with a solidarity rally in front of the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill featuring a number of speeches from prominent individuals from environmental organizations and Indigenous communities directly impacted by the tar sands Following the speeches, waves of participants in groups of 20 or more will separate from the solidarity rally and choose to risk arrest by participating in a peaceful sit-in near the front doors to Centre Block.

Ottawa action live

http://www.livestream.com/ottawaaction

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http://cdn.livestream.com/embed/ottawaaction?layout=4&color=0xe7e7e7&autoPlay=false&mute=false&iconColorOver=0x888888&iconColor=0x777777&allowchat=true&height=340&width=560

Watch live streaming video from ottawaaction at livestream.com

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http://www.ustream.tv/flash/viewer.swf

Video streaming by Ustream
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WATCH LIVE TODAY MONDAY Sept. 26, 2011

Watch Live: Twin Cities Tar Sands Action
Today 10AM to 2PM CDT!
http://www.ienearth.org/ien-pipeline.html

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE OTTAWA TODAY
“We have hundreds of people who have signed up to risk arrest,” said Clayton Thomas-Muller, a campaigner with the Indigenous Environmental Network. “At a time when we need to be fundamentally reducing our emissions, at a time when we need to be generating investments in zero-carbon energy technology, we’re allowing Big Oil and this Harper majority government to lead us on a backward path, which is destroying Canada’s image internationally,” he said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/oil-sands-opponents-to-descend-on-parliament-hill/article2179710/

Embattled pipeline at centre of mass Ottawa protest
CTV News Canada
Protesters started collecting on Parliament Hill on Sunday, taking part in protest training sessions ahead of a planned mass confrontation with the federal government over its support for the oilsands and a proposed pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
Hundreds of environmentalists are expected to turn out for Monday’s mass rally, which organizers expect will become “the largest civil disobedience action in the history of Canada’s climate movement.” More:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110925/protesters-gather-for-pipeline-protest-110925/

KEYSTONE XL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT HEARINGS COMING TO YOUR AREA
Background
www.ienearth.org

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would consist of approximately 1,711 miles of new 36-inch-diameter pipeline, with approximately 327 miles of pipeline in Canada and 1,384 miles in the U.S. TransCanada filed an application for a Presidential Permit with the U.S. Department of State to build and operate the Keystone XL Project. The proposed Project would have the capacity to transport 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to delivery points in Oklahoma and southeastern Texas.

On August 26, 2011, the U.S. Department of State released a final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline saying the pipeline would have “no significant impact” on the environment. According to the U.S. administration, they are saying President Obama now has three months to determine whether the controversial project is in the national interest of America.

Our concerns with this FEIS are similar to the concerns of a previous pipeline project called Keystone (with no “XL” attached to it, sometimes called Keystone 1) and its final EIS that was done in 2008. The basic concern was the EIS was incomplete, and didn’t thoroughly address all the issues. Keystone XL fails to take seriously the potential damage to American Indian Tribes and their Tribal members in the States of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. These damages could threaten, among other things, water aquifers, water ways, cultural sites, agricultural lands, animal life, public drinking water sources and other resources vital to the Tribal peoples of the region in which the pipeline is proposed to be constructed. Lack of adequate consultation has been a consistent concern expressed by Tribal members of all the affected Tribal Nations who to this day have not been thoroughly informed of the potential effects of this pipeline.

With over 12 spills caused by the Keystone 1 pipeline, which runs through eastern North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas with links to Missouri and Illinois, it is critical that the State Department take the potential environmental and cultural resource impacts seriously. The FEIS is not even requiring TransCanada, the company that hopes to build Keystone XL, to submit an emergency response plan before final approval. In spite of the reported spills on Keystone I, the XL EIS predicts 1.78 to 2.51 spills, of any size, per year.

Tribal Nations deserve and have a right to be thoroughly informed and have a truthful account of the damage Keystone XL can cause. The toxic corrosive crude oil that would flow through the Keystone XL pipeline comes from the tar sands in northern Alberta, Canada. The tar sands are located in the homelands of the Cree, Dene and Métis communities. The pipeline will cross hundreds of miles of indigenous territory, including Lakota territory, and violate treaty rights under the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 as well as human rights under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

U.S executive approval is needed before the pipeline can be laid in place. The State Department has announced the schedule for a series of public input meetings in States along the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Written comments will be accepted by the State Department until October 9th, 2011.

Public Hearings on Keystone XL Pipeline

Monday, September 26, 2011

Texas:
Bob Bowers Civic Center
3401 Cultural Center Dr., Port Arthur, 4:30 – 10 p.m.
Kansas:
Kansas Expo Center
1 Expocenter Dr., Topeka, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4– 8 p.m.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Montana:
Dawson Community College
Toepke Center Auditorium, 300 Community Dr., Glendive, 4:30 – 10 p.m.
Nebraska:
Pershing Center
226 Centennial Mall, South Lincoln, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4. – 8:00 p.m .

Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Texas:
University of Texas Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium,
2313 Red River St., Austin, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, September 29, 2011
South Dakota:
Best Western Ramkota,
920 West Sioux Ave., Pierre, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m.
Nebraska:
West Holt High School, 100 N. Main St. Atkinson, 4:30 – 10 p.m.

Friday, September 30, 2011
Oklahoma:
Reed Center Exhibition Hall,
5800 Will Rogers Rd., Midwest City., noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m.

Friday, October 7, 2011
Washington, D.C.: To be announced via website and public notice.

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http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/09/watch-live-tarsands-civil-disobedience.html

Occupy Wall Street March Turns Violent

Occupy Wall Street March Turns Violent

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Posted 24 September 2011, by Philosopher Artists, David’s Camera Craft, davidscameracraft.blogspot.com

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EXCERPT: Please visit the website of the photographer for more photos and other content. All photographs copyright by davidscameracraft.

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Occupy Wall Street march September 24th 2011.

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The peaceful Occupy Wall Street protest march turned violent as the NYPD corralled and pepper sprayed the participants. Mass arrests were made and loaded onto a NYC bus further locking traffic. The protest march took a route from Zuccotti Park to Union Square on East 14th Street. The protesters were marching back to Zuccotti Park when the NYPD turned violent. Hitting, arresting and forcing protesters into a small area. At that point a NYPD supervisor yelled shut up to one of the protesters and shot pepper spray into her eyes point blank range and hitting a half dozen protesters (including 3 police officers) when they had nowhere to go. The same supervising officer was seen (photographed) laughing after the arrests while looking at his text messages. The peaceful protest march started as 300 participants but rose to over 1,000 as the event stopped traffic in lower Manhattan. People spontaneously joined the march over a 2 hour period.

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Occupy Wall Street NYPD supervisor Pepper Sprays young girl point blank

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NYPD making brutal arrests

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This supervisor was the pepper spray officer.

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This supervisor was the pepper spray officer. I see him and one other person walk up to the female victim and then an arm reach out with pepper spray. Here is a slow motion video … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ05rWx1pig and this videoat the 1:15 mark shows him walking up the spot – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMoKsZp5iao.I still haven’t washed off the splattered milk from my shoes. We had to use milk to wash the pepper spray out the woman’s eyes. I still hear her screaming in pain, I can’t believe they pepper sprayed a deaf woman. Her sobbing, saying how much it hurt as we held her head spraying milk into her eyes and on her face. The last time I saw her, we had to flee from the police who were arresting everyone on 12th street. She escaped into a movie theater with the help of others because she still couldn’t open her eyes. After witnessing how much pain she was in I will never forget what this man did on a physical and emotional level to many people on Saturday. He created a war zone. I don’t want to think that all of the NYPD is like this because I also met some very fine members of our cities police force on Saturday. Officers who cared about people and the protesters. I looked around at the police officers who were holding the net around us right after the pepper spray was discharged and they were flabbergasted. Three policemen were in the line of fire and almost got hit. Many of them stared down with sad eyes, not able to let go off the orange barrier to help a human being. They had to do their job but I know concern was in their minds.

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Close up of badge

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NYPD supervisor who maced woman in face point blank

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Occupy Wall Street arrest

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Occupy Wall Street - Arrests start early

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Occupy Wall Street arrest

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Arrested for filming

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Occupy Wall Street is the first movement of many more to come. Even with Police violence. All rights reserved (copyright) by davidscameracraft – of course artists need to make money… click on an ad or purchase the full size images – http://www.citizenside.com/en/reporter-photo-video/davidscameracraft.htmlSorry for the advertising… just trying to eat.

(Ed Note: Please visit the original site for more photos and other content, and please support this brave citizen-artist who has displayed the extraordinary courage to speak truth to power. These iconic photographs symbolize the struggle of the 99%. Occupy Wall Street! We are the 99%.)

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Previous protest photos

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http://davidscameracraft.blogspot.com/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-march-violence.html

Officer Bologna

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Posted 26 September 2011, by OccupyWallSt, Occupy Wall Street, occupywallst.org

 

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Late last night we found out which white collar officer had maced our innocent protesters. We did not release this information as we had not yet come to a consensus on how to approach the situation. Earlier today we discovered that this information had already been released.

Yesterday, an NYPD spokesperson implied that we had edited the video to remove incriminating actions on the part of our peaceful protesters. Here are a few different angles and cuts of the event that we had not previously released:

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As you can tell, we did not need to edit the video to implicate this officer in a gross and unconscionable crime.

This is the man who maced these young women without provocation.

His name is Antony Bologna. We demand that he is charged for his crimes. We demand that he receives jail time.

We demand that Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly resigns. Not only can he not control his most senior officers, he is involved in actively sheltering them from receiving any punishment.

We demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg address our General Assembly and apologize for the police brutality and the cover-up that followed.

This was an attempt to make us weak, this was an attempt to destroy or derail our message, our conversation. It has not succeeded. We have grown, we will grow. Today we received unconfirmed reports that over one hundred blue collar police refused to come into work in solidarity with our movement. These numbers will grow. We are the 99 percent. You will not silence us.

Please call:
Mayor Bloomberg: +1 (212) 788-7550
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: +1 (646) 610-6700
NYPD Switchboard: +1 (646) 610-5000
First precinct: +1 (212) 334-0611

Make our voice heard. Make sure that the world knows that everyone deserves equal protection, service, and punishment.

Remain true to our principles of non-violence.

 

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https://occupywallst.org/article/Officer-Bologna/

Stop the Machine! Create a New World!

Stop the Machine! Create a New World!

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Posted 26 September 2011, by angelbabe43, Angelbabe43’s Blog, angelbabe43.wordpress.org

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A Call to Action – Oct. 6, 2011 and onward

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.

We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening.

A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government.

Forty-seven years ago, Mario Savio, an activist student at Berkeley, said, “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”

Those words have an even greater urgency today. We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. We are on a fast track to making the planet unlivable while the middle class and poor people of our country are undergoing the most wrenching and profound economic crisis in 80 years.

“Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!” is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace.

As Mother Jones said, “Someday the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit!”

We are the ones who can create a new and just world. Our issues are connected. We are connected. Join us in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2011, to Stop the Machine.

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Take the pledge and sign up to attend here. Let America know you are coming to make history and a new world!

“I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that criminal occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine to demand that our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning .”

http://october2011.org/statement

Related articles

• Stop the Machine! Create a New World! (stevebeckow.com)
• Stop The Machine! October 2011. (ismaelmelendez.wordpress.com)
• October2011 Movement Urges Solidarity with Oil Pipeline Tar Sands Protesters (edmortimer.wordpress.com)
• Debt Ceiling Deal Trickery: A Catalyst for an Uprising? (dissenter.firedoglake.com)

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http://angelbabe43.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/stop-the-machine-create-a-new-world/

At Least 100 DHS Funded Chemical And Biological Response Unit Surrounding Occupy Wall Street Protesters

At Least 100 DHS Funded Chemical And Biological Response Unit Surrounding Occupy Wall Street Protesters

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Posted 25 September 2011, by Staff, The Intel Hub, theintelhub.com

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UPDATE: 11:57pm EST – I have just confirmed with our on the scene reporter that there were over 100 Chemical and Biological Response Units stationed all around Liberty Park.

The idea that these were just a few Marine tourists is 100% disinformation. These units were stationed near the protests ON PURPOSE.

This was NOT just the small unit shown in the video below.

Note: Both the Facebook and Twitter buttons above have, out of no where, restarted. The likes were above 600 and the tweets were over 140.

Chemical and Biological Response Units funded by the Department Of Homeland Security have been confirmed to be on the scene in NYC possibly converging on the Occupy Wall Street Protesters.

The units were seen and filmed watching the protesters as if their appearance was a completely normal occurrence in a supposed democracy.

It remains to be seen exactly why these units are there, but it would seem to indicate that the police are either worried about the protesters using chemicals or are planning to use chemicals on the crowds themselves.

Considering the fact that the Occupy Wall Street protesters have no chemical or biological weapons,(that we know of) the only need for these type of response units is if the government planned to either let loose chemicals to blame on the protesters or if they plan on using chemicals on them.

Fundraiser To Help Us Cover The Costs Of On The Scene Reporters At The Occupy Wall Street Protests – This Info Came From On The Scene Reporting!

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From YouTube Description:

Personally interviewed and confirmed with members of the unit they are DHS, and they will not give straight answers for why they are here.

Pretty embarrassing for some of them.

Note: Some people have claimed that these response units were Marine tourists who just happened to walk by. We are investigating this claim.

If this claim is true it would be a huge coincidence that at this point seems to be highly unlikely. If they are a Marine Corps unit then it would actually be under the DOD but could still have anti terrorism funding from the Department Of Homeland Security.

Regardless whether they are DHS or DOD, the fact that this unit thinks its funny to scare and intimate a group of peaceful protesters shows you deep the police state we now find ourselves in actually is.

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In regards to who the protesters actually are I would like to point out the fact that just because the Unions and liberal groups started the Occupy Wall Street protests does NOT mean that all the people speaking out against the banks in NYC are somehow Communists.

We have confirmed that MANY of the protesters are anti Federal Reserve Ron Paul supporters!

The fact that the controlled right wing blogsphere is labeling the whole protest as Communist shows once again how anti freedom these neo con blogs actually are.

Article Updated at 10:06pm EST to reflect new information and speculation that has come to light.

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http://theintelhub.com/2011/09/25/dhs-funded-chemical-and-biological-response-unit-surrounding-occupy-wall-street-protesters/

A Message from Occupied Wall Street (Day Nine)

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Posted 25 September 2011, by OccupyWallSt, Occupy Wall Street, occupywallst.org

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This is the ninth communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street. The police barricades that have been surrounding the Stock Exchange help.

Sunday has been decreed, once again, a day of rest. We didn’t march. We have made a new world, a new city within the city. We are working on a new sky for where the towers are now.

Throughout the day our sisters and brothers arrested yesterday came back home to Liberty Plaza. They greeted the new faces that have joined us here. They shared their stories of imprisonment, of medical care denied and delayed. We welcomed them and listened.

We had visitors.

Immortal Technique

Reverend Billy

Yesterday was a day of action, and today was one of healing, discussion, and preparation. Working groups met in small circles around the plaza, planning their work and preparing to report back to the General Assembly as a whole. The Assembly debated, as always, the hows and whys of being here. In the morning, we talked about the occupations rising up in cities around the United States, joining us in what we’re doing, as people begin rediscovering the power in themselves against the powers looming over them in buildings. We talked of calling more people to do what we’re doing. In the evening we talked about staying, or leaving, and what this space means for us. We love it, we’re almost addicted to it, but what we are is more than this.

We strolled around the plaza. We wrote songs with new friends. We argued about politics with each other, but not a politics of puppets: a politics for us. We fed the hungry and gave sleeping bags to the cold. We roughhoused. We talked to the world on our livestream. Most of all, we kept on organizing ourselves. Our library grew.

Drums blared for hours into the night when the Assembly wasn’t in session, until the time came for quiet. The drummers ended by reciting from the Principles of Solidarity we approved in Friday’s General Assembly, in the rain. Before the police lined along the Broadway side of the plaza, they cried together, “We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality.” And more.

“Safety in numbers!” a sign by them says. “Join us.”

– Nathan Schneider

Editor, Waging Nonviolence

http://wagingnonviolence.org

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https://occupywallst.org/article/Day9/

A Climate Convergence in San Francisco

A Climate Convergence in San Francisco

Organizers call San Francisco “flagship” event for worldwide campaign

Christopher Penalosa / KQED More than a thousand people marched down Market Street in San Francisco for the Moving Planet rally.

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Posted 24 September 2011, by Sarah Terry-Cobo, KQED News – Climate Watch, blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/

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About a thousand people marched in San Francisco on Saturday, chanting slogans, carrying signs and wearing costumes. But unlike many demonstrations that frequent the City by the Bay, the Moving Planet rally was one of hundreds around the world, calling for action and awareness to halt global climate change.

Organized by 350.org, the non-profit founded by author and activist Bill McKibben, the San Francisco rally brought together some predictable allies, such as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the Berkeley-based Ecology Center, but it also included groups with broader aims, such as the National Organization for Women, Food Not Bombs and 100,000 Poets for Peace. McKibben’s group is devoted to reducing carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere to 350 parts per million (from the current 390 ppm), a number that some scientists estimate could stave off catastrophic effects of climate change.

Chris Penalosa / KQED Bill McKibben addresses the crowd at the Moving Planet rally in San Francisco

“Every country on Earth — except for probably, North Korea — is having rallies around this wonky data point, 350 parts per million CO2,” said McKibben in an interview after addressing the San Francisco gathering.

n the absence of national climate change legislation, McKibben told the crowd, it’s important to “put our bodies on the line.” The Vermont-based activist is one of about 1,200 people that was arrested August 20 for protesting in front of the White House the proposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Texas.

Michael Brune, President of the national Sierra Club noted that his organization was the first to create “blue-green” alliances between environmental and labor groups.

“What we’re trying to do is find a way to make this an issue that brings us together, that doesn’t divide folks, so this doesn’t punish one industry and reward another,” said Brune in a separate interview.

Brune added that the Sierra Club is working with clean technology companies to ramp up renewable energy. “We firmly believe the road to a clean energy future is one that will make our country more economically resilient,” he said.

Chris Penalosa / KQED Carl Anthony, a long-time Bay Area activist for environmental and social justice, addressed the crowd.

Another focus of the afternoon rally was the connection to environmental justice, the concept that poor communities and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by pollution of all types. Carl Anthony, founder of Urban Habitat, one of the nation’s oldest environmental justice organizations, spoke to an energetic crowd packed into Civic Center Plaza. He emphasized that people, not just polar bears, are affected by climate change.

“Global warming is a climate justice issue,” he told the rally. “The people of color, the poor people, the indigenous people will bear the burden of climate change, even though they, less than anyone else, are responsible for our CO2 emissions.”

He continued, “This means that any solution we come up with for climate change must also be a solution for social and racial justice.”

“We have the opportunity in California, to take money away from suburban sprawl…to rebuild a public transportation system that works for poor people as well as rich people,” Anthony said, citing the Sustainable Communities legislation that would redirect $218 billion to rebuild public transportation.

Many people took public transit to the day’s event. Cassie Barr rode BART to the rally from Oakland with her six-year-old son, Philip. She said she wanted to make a statement that people should do more to avert climate change and that she supports an outright tax on carbon emissions. “I think it’s the only way to get businesses — corporations — serious about lowering their CO2 levels,” said Barr.

Jordan Pacheco also took BART from Moraga with his five-year-old daughter, Macy, “…because this is her planet too.” Pacheco works for the solar panel installation company Sungevity, on the firm’s design and engineering team.

In the future, he said, “I would like to see a more openness to any kind of alternative energy, whether its solar, wind, anything. I think the politics have taken over to the point where there’s no common sense anymore.”

Chris Penalosa / KQED Employees from Sungevity hold a parachute painted with a depiction of the Earth.

Bill Carney, president of Sustainable San Rafael helped to organize participation from Marin county. In recent years, activists there won state approval for a community-owned energy company, after much resistance from the investor-owned Pacific Gas & Electric, he said.

“There are many sources of renewables: hydro, solar wind, or methane and with the funding to our local power provider, they are able to buy that energy but [also] create a local marketplace for additional generators of that clean electricity,” said Carney.

Falling back on a familiar metaphor with a global warming theme, Carney said, “Events like this really are the tip of the iceberg of public awareness that is really growing by leaps and bounds.”

More:

• Bill McKibben: On the Front Lines of the Climate Fight

  Author and climate activist Bill McKibben says that if we want to put the brakes on global warming, it’s time to put our bodies on the line. Today McKibben dropped by KQED for a discussion on Forum with entrepreneur and … Read More

• Support for Climate Policy High in California
• Visualizing California Climate Change

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http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/09/24/a-thousand-descend-on-san-francisco-for-climate-rally/

Media Arrested at Wall Street Protest!

 

Marissa Homes Arrested for Filming Arrests by Public Domain Image from YouTube

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Posted 25 September 2011, by Mark Adams JD/MBA, OpEdNews (OEN), opednews.com

 

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Originally posted on the Daily Censored at this link, but updated with new information.

Current reports indicate that up to 100 arrests have been made at the Wall Street protest.  Those arrested are reported to include members of the media team posting the live video on Livestream. See the live video feed of the peaceful ongoing occupation of Wall Street at this link.

Marissa Holmes, a member of the team posting video on the live feed on Livestream, shown in the photo above, was arrested for filming arrests.  Here is a short video of that plus a report on the various reasons for the protests.

Most of the police have not been interfering with the protesters, and many have expressed support for the protesters’ concerns.  However, the media team has reported that a team of police destroyed cameras and laptops being used to broadcast the protest, and it has reported that some police have indicated that they may order the protesters to clear the square after dark or face arrest.  Apparently, those statements were made after the mass of arrests in order to intimidate the protesters and to try to break up the protests.

Sources report similar protests are occurring in cities across the United States including Los Angeles and Chicago and the rest of the world. Naturally, the “news” media cartel is continuing to do its best to cover up the protests and the banksters’ crimes.

The banksters have committed fraud in loan origination, securitization, servicing, and foreclosure to steal the homes of millions of Americans. See this report by Florida’s Attorney General.

Unfortunately, the banksters’ looting spree is not over. They are in the process of stealing millions more Americans’ homes right now. See how widespread the banksters’ looting spree really is at this link.

By the way, the banksters’ minions in government are paying the banksters to foreclose. See this report and this report.

Don’t think that the banksters will not try to steal your home, too. They have even tried to foreclose on homes with no mortgages. See this report by the Daily Show and subscribe to this news outlet for the latest foreclosure news.

Get out and protest the banksters’ looting spree before they steal your home, your life savings, and impoverish us all. Remember, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, so do something to help.  Even little things can help such as emailing the link to this article to your contacts, calling your local TV news departments and asking them why they aren’t covering the protests, calling your government representatives and asking them why they are doing nothing while banks are breaking the law to steal homes, organizing or attending a protest in your city, or donating to the protesters in New York.

If you want to know how the banksters get away with their crimes, see Why Does the Government Ignore Our Wishes? and don’t miss my short speech. If you take a look, you’ll learn why those in government and those who can illegally influence them get away with violating our rights, abusing their power, and committing horrible crimes. My article on torture includes a link to the U.S. Supreme Court case which explains how one of our stolen rights makes the difference between justice and injustice, between freedom and slavery.

– Mark A. Adams JD/MBA

Notice: You may copy and post this article on other web sites if you include a link to the original article.

 

I am active in the election, judicial and media reform movements. I obtained the first injunctions getting a third party candidate into debates, and I have handled more Congressional election contests than any other attorney. I practiced law (more…)

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of OpEdNews or its editors.

 

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/Media-Arrested-at-Wall-Str-by-Mark-Adams-JD-MBA-110925-476.html