newleftmedia:

Occupy America  -  New Video!

New video, please help us spread the word!

Have the Occupy Wall Street protests that sprung up across the country this fall already passed? Shot in NYC, Oakland, and Cincinnati, this short explores the state of the #OWS protests now that local governments have removed permanent encampments, and asks what the future will be for this still-young nationwide movement.

Produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews), Erick Stoll (camera), and Liz Cambron.

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Occupy Homes lauds a radical new phase for the movement

The drive to stop foreclosures and squat bank property marks a radical shift from the occupation of public space to the public repossession of private property.

 

The Occupy movement is racketing up the resistance. Inspired by the Spanish indignados, this Tuesday activists all over the United States will be taking the struggle indoors: to the homes of poor families who are under threat of being evicted by large and powerful Wall Street banks. The move from occupying public space to reclaiming private property marks a radical escalation of civil disobedience, striking the capitalist system right at its institutional heart.

On December 6,  during a national day of action, the Occupy movement will mobilize activists in over 25 cities to “protest fraudulent lending practices, corrupt securitization, and illegal evictions by banks,” by physically halting the attempt to evict families from their homes and by occupying vacant bank-owned homes and donating them to those in need. As Occupy Wall St. reported, “the day of action marks a national kick-off for a new frontier for the movement.”

The action is partly inspired by the 15-M movement in Spain, which — through the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hypoteca, or the platform of those affected by their mortgage — has stopped hundreds of evictions in Spain and has occupied numerous large vacant buildings and offered them to people who had been kicked out of their homes by their banks. Locally, the action also builds on the groundbreaking activism of Take Back the Land.

(Source: occupywallstreet)

How Occupy is Transforming Our National Conversation

Pay no heed to what the self-serving mainstream pundits of the 1 percent say about the Occupy movement. The reality is this: Occupy has already succeeded. It has succeeded in shaking us as a society out of our hypnosis. Occupy has already succeeded in its role as a social movement in challenging the old, faulty dominant story spread by the 1 percent and replacing it with another one that resonates with what most Americans know to be true.

The truth: The policies and practices of giant corporations and the U.S. government over the past three decades have rigged the system to benefit the 1 percent. The truth: The resulting inequality has grown to grotesque levels not seen since the first “Gilded Age” 100 years ago. Inequality is crushing millions, while destroying our democracy.

Ignore also what the pundits of the 1 percent are telling you about who is at Occupy. The Occupy sites are not filled with partying spoiled rich college kids. There are ordinary people, some who have lost jobs, some who have lost homes, some who cannot find jobs, most who had lost hope. People who are tired of being blamed, tired of feeling alone, and tired of not being heard.

(Source: azspot)

socialistictendencies:

The death of a Bronx man who suffered a fatal asthma attack after cops pepper-sprayed him has been ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner.

An autopsy found that Kemp Yarborough cause of death was by“acute bronchial asthma attack during a physical altercation including pepper spray,” the city medical examiner told….

More at link

http://rt.com/usa/news/death-pepper-yarborough-nypd/

(Source: occupyzigbe)

I just got home from Occupy Orlando :D I’ve been meaning to go out there but I wasn’t really sure about going by myself. Started talking to a guy in my class about our jeeps and he mentioned that he was going there so I tagged along. I definitely recommend going to them. It was really eye opening and you’re not going to hear the news any faster than being there for yourself. I would have slept there but I have a test tomorrow :/ which is also why I’m not writing the article for Real Talk tonight. Later haha but it will be an interesting one, so keep your eyes out for it.

thepoliticalnotebook:

UC Davis. Students wait outside Chancellor Katehi’s press conference yesterday to call for her resignation after police pepper sprayed and arrested protesters on campus on Friday. They lined the walkway to create a “walk of shame” when she emerged, celebrating after she drove away. Brian Nguyen, photographer for UC Davis’s newspaper The Aggie, has once again offered his photography for publication here on The Political Notebook.

Visit his Flickr page and his Tumblr.

youthiswasted:

Image of protester hit in the face with a police baton by NYPD officers. Eyewitnesses then say what happened next was that the officers repeatedly “stomped” on him when he was on the ground. Inexplicably, NYPD officers stripped him of his pants and shoes and arrested him. Ustream.tv/theother99 reports seeing bloodstains on the ground mixed with the dirt and rain.

wespeakfortheearth:

Former Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis Joins With Occupy Wall Street Protesters

Highlights of Interview with Captain Lewis (click here for full article and video):

“You should, by law, only use force to protect someone’s life or to protect them from being bodily injured OK? If you’re not protecting somebody’s life or protecting them from bodily injury, there’s no need to use force. And the number one thing that they always have in their favor that they seldom use is negotiation–continue to talk, and talk and talk to people. You have nothing to lose by that,” Mr Lewis said. “This bullrush–what happened last night is totally uncalled for when they did not use negotiation long enough.”

“They complained about the park being dirty. Here they are worrying about dirty parks when people are starving to death, where people are freezing, where people are sleeping in subways and they’re concerned about a dirty park. That’s obnoxious, it’s arrogant, it’s ignorant, it’s disgusting,” Mr. Lewis said.

“They’re trying to get me arrested and I may disappear OK?” Mr. Lewis said. “As soon as I’m let out of jail, I’ll be right back here and they’ll have to arrest me again.” [Btw, he’s just been reported arrested. here. - Ari]

Mr. Lewis clearly doesn’t think the NYPD likes him, but he told the protesters he doesn’t think cops are their enemy. “All the cops are, they’re just workers for the one percent and they don’t even realize they’re being exploited,” Mr. Lewis said.

thedailywhat:

Occupy Wall Street News Update of the Day: Following a weekend a crackdowns against Occupy encampments around the country, the “beautification” of Zuccotti Park — the movement’s flagship tent city — began around 1 o’clock this morning, when hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear descended on sleepy protesters.

The action began following a tweet from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office telling the “occupants of Zuccotti” that they must leave the park and take their tents and tarps with them. The announcement claimed protesters would be allowed to return “after the Park is cleared.”

It was made explicit, however, that tents and sleeping equipment would not be allowed back in, which would mean the effective end of the two-month-long occupation.

Many protesters “left peacefully,” according to NYCLU, but others stayed behind and barricade themselves inside the park. At least 70 people were arrested, including a freelance NPR reporter, journalist Jared Malsin, an AFP photographer, and city council member Ydanis Rodriguez.

Mother Jones staff writer Josh Harkinson is believed to be the only journalist who made it into the park; others were kept out by force, even roughed up. Occupy Wall Street librarians reported that the NYPD trashed the entire OWS library, which included over 5,500 books.

Bloomberg released a statement this morning following the park’s “sanitation,” saying that, due to the number of tents and tarps, it became difficult to ensure public safety, making the eviction necessary. Additionally, the park was increasingly attracting law-breaker who sought to harm others, Bloomberg alleges.

“Some have argued to allow the protesters to stay in the park indefinitely,” the statement continues, “others have suggested we just wait for winter and hope the cold weather drove the protesters away - but inaction was not an option.  I could not wait for someone in the park to get killed or to injure another first responder before acting.”

The statement concludes with a “reminder” to protesters that “[n]o right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities.” The tent city era of the occupation is over, says Bloomberg — “[n]ow [protesters] will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments.”

Despite Mayor Bloomberg’s denouement, the movement is far from finished: Justice Lucy Billings issued a temporary restraining order at 6:30 AM this morning allowing the protesters to return to Zuccotti with their tents. Bloomberg was served the order via fax, but took no immediate action.

Protesters attempted to reclaim the park around 10:30, but were stopped by police and security guards who claimed that a “maintenance issue” was preventing the park from being reopened. Arrests have been reported.

An hearing is scheduled to allow the city to show just cause for this morning’s action. Several protesters have already moved on to new sites, including Foley Square and Trinity Church’s Duarte Park. 

Some, including Ezra Klein and Adbusters — the Canadian magazine that catalyzed the movement — have suggested that Occupy Wall Street may have been handed an exit strategy by the city that will allow it to temporarily bow out with its dignity in tact.

Meanwhile, in Oakland, the fallout from yesterday’s raid on the local Occupy encampment continued as co-Deputy Mayor Sharon Cornu followed in chief legal adviser Dan Siegel’s footsteps and resigned. Evicted Occupy Oakland protesters plan to hitch their demonstration wagon to Occupy Cal.

Back to Occupy Wall Street, where a “Day of Mass Action” is planed for Thursday. Watch a livefeed from the ground, below:

Live Update: City Room; The Guardian.

[photo: ap via atlantic.]

(Source: thedailywhat)

Court Order Allows Protesters to Return to Zuccotti Park

…the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing Occupy Wall Street protesters to return with tents to the park. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on Occupy Wall Street protesters.

(Source: occupywallstreet)

OWS has (temporarily) taken root in a new park at 6th and Canal in lower Manhattan. It is owned by Trinity Church, with a delegation of faith leaders en route to support.

ALERT from Occupy Portland

ALERT! A man named Justin James Bridges, musician & ASL translator for Occupy Portland General Assembly, was assaulted by @PortlandPolice today during camp clean out.

He was beaten repeatedly in the back and has now lost use of his right arm. Though Justin was lying on the ground in compliance, Portland Police continuously beat him in the back with clubs until his eyes rolled back in his head. Fellow protesters thought he was dead. He is now in critical care.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE, DO NOT HESITATE TO COME FORWARD. National Lawyers’ Guild # 503-902-5340. Protect rights, protect the truth.

Please share. And if you have info or evidence, for the sake of justice, come forward.

(Source: twitlonger.com)

thedailywhat:

Photography Is Not A Crime of the Day: Just when you think the Oakland PD’s response to Occupy Oakland couldn’t get any worse, a new video emerges to prove you wrong.

YouTuber antiprocon writes:

While filming a police line at Occupy Oakland after midnight on Nov. 3 following the Nov. 2 general strike, an officer opens fire and shoots me with a rubber bullet. I was standing well back. There was no violence or confrontations of any kind underway.

The incident starts @ 0:31, when a tall police officer can be seen raising his rifle. Moments later a shot is heard, followed immediately by a clearly visible smoke trail.

[tp / thanks anon!]

(Source: thedailywhat)

Even though only the second and last things are representative of what’s being protested?

(Source: 3nfp)