Added: Nov 17, 2011

From: NeedToAwaken

Duration: 46:29

From: Democracy Now November 16, 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protesters Return to Zuccotti Park After 200 Arrested, Camping Barred Thousands of defiant Occupy Wall Street protesters streamed into Zuccotti Park late Tuesday, less than 24 hours after police forcibly removed them from their camp. Police arrested more than 200 people, including about a dozen who had chained themselves to each other and to trees. As protesters returned, a judge upheld the city's ban preventing them from bringing backpacks, tents and sleeping bags with them into the park. Democracy Now! spoke with protesters as they regrouped after the raid. "The reason I'm down here is because I'm tired of seeing suffering of so many people while you have 1 percent who is accumulating all this wealth on the backs of all the workers," says Ray Lewis, a retired police captain from the Philadelphia Police Department. He critiques his colleagues for "basically just enforcing the laws of the dictators, which is the 1 percent. And they're having their healthcare cut, their pensions cut, and their salaries reduced, and they don't even realize it." [includes rush transcript] NERMEEN SHAIKH: Defiant Occupy Wall Street protesters streamed into Zuccotti Park late Tuesday in a bid to rebuild their cause less than 24 hours after police forcibly removed them from their camp. A fired-up crowd of [thousands of people] joined in the first general assembly since the surprise eviction. The eviction had occurred around 1:00 a.m. with hundreds of police storming the camp and dismantling tents, tarpaulins, outdoor furniture, mattresses and signs. They arrested over 200 people, including about a dozen who had chained themselves to each other and to trees. Even as protesters returned Tuesday evening, they were banned from bringing backpacks, tents and sleeping bags with them. A judge ruled yesterday afternoon that the city had the right to enforce rules against camping gear in the park. Justice Michael Stallman found the city, at least for now, can ban the protesters from pitching tents and unrolling sleeping bags in the park. Democracy Now! was at Occupy Wall Street last night to talk to some of the protesters as they regrouped after the raid. PROTESTER 1: The fact that the police have done this, have dismantled it—and, I mean, the video, they're just throwing stuff, they're just throwing people's possessions. And, you know, like, there's a Borders that used to be down there. If we had gone down there and thrown all their books out, and then we had gone to, like, a camping store and thrown all their tents out, there would be hell to pay. But I think that people are starting to look at that, because this has such a psychic hold, because it's such a big symbol at this point, whether anybody wants it to be or not. It's causing a lot of attention. And that's good. And hopefully, at that point, we can start the conversation again, and we can say, like, "All right, no tents. What's the alternative?" And ultimately, that was a conversation that needed to happen anyway. PROTESTER 2: Please tell me why everyone in this park has a solution... GABRIEL JOHNSON: We kind of needed to re-evaluate where we stand as a movement, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us to grow and to strengthen from it. And I think we've been ultra within the law, and like we've always played by their rules. And now that they've thrown this at us, it's just good that we get a chance to show how intuitive and how ingenious we are as a movement. I can only see growth from here. And I think people have come back not with a vengeance, but with a lot hope, strength, energy, and just more love for each other. It's caused us to refocus a whole lot, so I'm really grateful for them cleaning the park. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/16/occupy_wall_street_protesters_return_to http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/16/occupy-protesters-day-of-solidarity http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/16/michael-bloomberg-brave-new-world?CMP=twt_gu

Channel: Education

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