{"id":1545,"date":"2011-10-03T20:49:04","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T01:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomathon.com\/mphp\/?p=1545"},"modified":"2013-10-16T20:12:11","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T01:12:11","slug":"the-nypd-is-doing-pr-for-the-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tomathon.com\/mphp\/2011\/10\/the-nypd-is-doing-pr-for-the-protesters\/","title":{"rendered":"OWS: “The NYPD is doing PR for the protesters”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wait...<\/a><\/p>\n

Yep.\u00a0 It was a trap.\u00a0 I saw it myself (and was old and chicken enough to avoid it). But don’t fret.\u00a0 Someone said that day that “the NYPD is doing PR for the protesters.”\u00a0 I’m begining to believe this is bigger than the NYPD “can possibly imagine.”<\/p>\n

My report was posted with my photos below, but you should really read my friend Billy Wharton’s account of the October 1st Brooklyn Bridge march<\/a> and the more than forty other stories by people who were there, collected nicely at The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the end, it makes no difference.\u00a0 We know what Kelly and his men are up to.\u00a0 Every “clever” NYPD attempt to discredit and destroy the Occupy Wall Street movement just seems to backfire, as I’m sure it will when they inevitably decide to forcibly clear Liberty Square<\/p>\n

I’ll share what I sent out to my friends that evening from the middle of a joyous Liberty Square.<\/p>\n

Liberty sq is amazing: these kids who’ve just been beaten by cops are gathered, focused inward, not at the cops scowling at them in a cordon\/ Singing “we are unstoppable” over and over, smiling. It literally sends chills down my spine. One of the most life affirming things I have ever seen. [In Contrast] I walked down wall street, cops nervously guarding Trump tower. The cops were herding, swearing, beating, & arresting them And they are joyful, smiling, welcoming everyone.\u00a0 The media wants to paint these people as hateful, privileged: come here and see #occupywallstreet<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve seen a lot of demos, marches and occupations, back to anti-nuke “Freeze” marches and Anti-Apartheid college occupations back in my teens.\u00a0 I’ve never felt anything like this.<\/p>\n

These Liberty Square occupiers are optimistic and feel their own power.\u00a0 The cops and the press and the mayor may lash out at them, but the people in that square can see through it all.\u00a0 You can feel down there that the press and politicians are on the backfoot, the rich %1 are hiding, and the cops just seem afraid: not of violence, but because they themselves feel they can’t contain what’s starting to emerge in that concrete park in the Financial district.<\/p>\n

Related articles<\/h6>\n