OWS in Exile (Civil Disobedience)

I got kind of lucky with this video in that dramatic things unfolded around me. I hope you like it and you share it.

When I heard that Zucotti Park (Liberty Plaza) had been cleared out I was not surprised. When I found out that the NYPD had destroyed the medical tent along with the donated medical equipment and the 5,000 books in the People's Library, I was horrified.

I followed the facebook updates and news reports then soon found that many of the protesters were coming together less than a mile from my home. So I got my camera and hoofed it down to Canal Street and 6th Avenue. Once there, I started filming.

As I filmed, a plan was announced by an anonymous man in a suit and waving a baseball cap while perched on a wall. A plan to occupy a privately owned lot on the other side of the wall. A plan which was met with a mixed reactions.

Somebody cut open the fence, creating a makeshift door from the sidewalk to a dusty lot and people went in. It then turned out that the guy who announced the plan was not associated with Occupy Wall Street.

Soon, the NYPD's presence is made apparent as I am penned in with the protesters around me. The arrests were then made on the other side of the park which is why they are not in this video. Happily, I was neither injured nor arrested.

Please let me know if you can identify anybody in this video in order to make attributions. Thank you.

They've got the guns, we've got the cameras.

UPDATE: I have been told (and now believe) that the agitator in this video is an anarchist performance artist known as "Ham Bone." Really impressive how he tricked all those trusting and enthusiastic protesters, classy too.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• News
• OWS

[hamburgerholocaust]

8:08 "the general assembly did not approve this!" omg the GA does not exist to micro manage every little autonomous action you fucking fucktard.

[1revjay]

@hamburgerholocaust Certainly, people should be able to work autonomously without being condemned for not clearing it with the General Assembly. But I believe this specific complaint was about doing something overtly illegal. Which is in direct opposition to what the Occupy movement's stated philosophy and which gives the NYPD more chance to crack heads and arrest protesters.

[hamburgerholocaust]

@1revjay i'm not aware that the nonviolence principles preclude ANY illegal action. it should be readily apparent to occupy protestors by now that merely being involved in the occupy movement will necessitate breaking laws. this movement is potent because it allows for autonomous and creative actions like these. further, bringing a proposal to cut a fence to the GA would virtually guarantee immediate police knowledge. more reasons to move towards spokescouncils with affinity groups.

[1revjay]

@hamburgerholocaust Certainly, civil disobedience was (is) on the table but what is technically breaking and entering was not. When I say "overtly illegal" I was referring to things like assaults or destroying private property which has been seen at other occupations. Turns out the guy who initiated the action was likely an anarchist and performance artist so I think that perhaps the other guy was on to something when he questioned him.

[hamburgerholocaust]

@1revjay first, i find it offensive that you mention assault and destroying private property in the same breath as if they're somehow on a par. second, a major facet of the reason this thing has taken hold is the transparent, horizontal process through which everyone's voice is heard and considered as developed and implemented by anarchists. that shit is uncontroversial. read "occupy and anarchism's gift of democracy" released in the guardian a few days ago.

[JoeDixon]

Fascinating.

[JoelBitarProductions]

Holy shit, that guy called out an undercover cop at 5:40. Genius!

[JoelBitarProductions]

What is an anarchist performing artist?

[JesseHaley35]

Fascinating - well done.