As you know, just after midnight on Tuesday, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg had to forcibly evict peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters with NYPD riot police, in order to send them in to the streets in middle of the night, for their “health and safety.” As we reported yesterday, one of those cops reportedly threatened a Mother Jones journalist by dragging him behind a truck that was backing up, telling him “you could get hurt.”
After the NYPD succeeded in removing the peaceful demonstrators — or “thugs,” as they are often described to propaganda-receptive Fox “News” viewers — from Zuccotti Park, these are the fine folks (off-duty NYPD officers?) hired by the park’s owners, Brookfield Properties, to replace them as it was cleaned…
In very related news…the Occupiers in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with their brethren in New York City, decided to Occupy the headquarters of Brookfield Properties yesterday. Some video of their “People’s Mic” session in the lobby follows below…
Doesn’t each and every one of the people filmed look so guilty, uncomfortable, and so not proud of what they’re doing? Though I’d wager they would not see it that way. I’d bet they’d blame their own discomfort on the guy filming them and the rest of the protesters and not spend a lot of time wondering if they were doing the right thing or not. Hope I’m wrong.
You can feel the seething contempt these security parasites have for the cameramen. They seem to have no clue that they are the enablers of their corporate masters. It’s incredible.
I especially like the last part of this video. Talk about a smackdown of the hairless/ball-less coward. Kudos.
Concerning who makes up the private security (off duty NYPD?) at Liberty Plaza: This Q&A by Amy Goodman with writer Jeff Sharlet on DemocracyNow!.org today.
AMY GOODMAN: And there’s also a difference in who’s in charge now. Now, while there were a number of police, and especially as you walked away from the plaza, there were many, many police vehicles, actually surrounding the general assembly and Zuccotti Park last night was Brookfield Properties security. It’s now corporate security that is standing there, not clear exactly where they come from. But the Mayor has made very clear now they are in charge.
JEFF SHARLET: But when you talked to those guys, that was interesting, too. You know, you had guys who were ex-military. You had a lot of guys whose experience was as bouncers. You know, there’s that popular—I mean, the police are 99 percent, as well. Those guys are really—I mean, they don’t have any of the police protection—you know, any of the pension, the union, all that kind of stuff that police. And they were sort of, one by one—there was, you know, the angry guys, but there was a lot more of them who did not feel like doing this job. And you saw that break down. They had been ordered to sort of search bags as people came in, and they just stopped doing it. And, you know, so there was just that kind of nice sort of on-the-job resistance to even what they were being ordered to do.
I should have added that Jeff Sharlet was there at Liberty Plaza.
Way to go OccupyDC! Solidarity! OCCUPY EVERYWHERE for as long as it takes to Get The Money Out Of Politics!
I am reminded of Libya when the protests first began in Ben Ghazi. Ghadafi sent in a large number of mercenaries and paid goon thugs. They were all wearing yellow hardhuts and carrying clubs.
Orwell is spinning in his grave.
America is now proto-fascist.
Just think of the THOUSANDS of lifestyles and people he chose NOT to insult while harassing citizens.
Hey, Mr. rent-a-cop…you’re gonna be famous!
Public confrontation and shaming is a fantastic weapon; it reveals the truth without violence. In this and the UC Davis pepper spray videos, the individual/crowd that was under attack rallies and fights back by confronting the abuser(s).
I don’t think I have seen that tactic used before. Is it relatively modern?
When I saw the video with the rent-a-cops, my first impression was they looked like want-a-be cops.