Occupy Wall Street

[Donky]

[Hume]

Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) wrote a piece on some of the issues surrounding Occupy Wall Street. check it out:

http://occupywriters.com/by-lemony-snicket

he's super intelligent and eloquent, and i think he raises some interesting ideas.

[flapjacks]

Saw that today circulating on Tumblr! The guy is a great writer, I like his subtle jabs lol.

Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) wrote a piece on some of the issues surrounding Occupy Wall Street. check it out:

http://occupywriters...-lemony-snicket

he's super intelligent and eloquent, and i think he raises some interesting ideas.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

[key2thecup]

[ronthecivil]

If by occupy you mean buy, then sure.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes

Scott Olsen, 24, in hospital with fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile in Oakland

An Iraq war veteran has a fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile.

Scott Olsen is in a "critical condition" in Highland hospital in Oakland, a hospital spokesman confirmed.

Olsen, 24, suffered the head injury during protests in Oakland on Tuesday evening. More than 15 people were arrested after a crowd gathered to demonstrate against the police operation to clear two Occupy Oakland camps in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Jay Finneburgh, a photographer who was covering the protest, published pictures of Olsen lying on the ground.

"This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up," Finneburgh wrote.

Olsen was taken to Highland by fellow protesters.

The Guardian spoke to people with Olsen at the hospital. Adele Carpenter, who knows Olsen through his involvement with anti-war groups, said she arrived at the hospital at 11pm on Tuesday night.

Carpenter said she was told by a doctor at the hospital that Olsen had a skull fracture and was in a "serious but stable" condition. She said he had been sedated and was unconscious.

"I'm just absolutely devastated that someone who did two tours of Iraq and came home safely is now lying in a US hospital because of the domestic police force," Carpenter said.

Olsen had only moved to Oakland in July, Carpenter said. He is a member of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, and met Carpenter through her work with the civilian soldier alliance.

Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq, arrived at the hospital after protesters contacted him through Facebook. He confirmed Olsen had a fractured skull, and said he had been told by a doctor Olsen also had brain swelling.

A neurosurgeon was due to assess Olsen to determine if he needed surgery, Shannon said.

"It's really hard," Shannon said. "I really wish I had gone out with him instead of staying home last night."

Shannon, who is also 24, said he had seen the video footage showing Olsen lying on the floor as a police officer throws an explosive device near him.

"It's terrible to go over to Iraq twice and come back injured, and then get injured by the police that are supposed to be protecting us," he said.

He said Olsen had served two tours of Iraq, in 2006 and 2007. Olsen was in 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines with Shannon before leaving the military in 2010.

He moved to the San Francisco area in July and works for Opswat, a software company, living with Shannon in Daly City, just south of San Francisco.

Shannon said Olsen was hit in the head by a tear gas canister or smoke canister shot by a police officer. He said Olsen had a curved scar on his forehead consistent with a canister.

Protesters who had accompanied Olsen to Highland hospital got in touch with Shannon through Facebook, after Olsen said he lived with someone called "Keith". Shannon said he was told Olsen was unable to say his surname.

Olsen is originally from Wisconsin and some of his family were planning to fly out to California to be with him, Shannon said.

Video footage published to YouTube shows Olsen lying prone in front of a line of police. Around 10 people gather around him in an apparent attempt to provide aid, before a police officer throws an explosive device into their midst, scattering the group.

Footage captured after the explosion, which appears to be from a flash bang grenade, shows Olsen being carried away by a group of people.

Oakland police confirmed at a press conference that they used tear gas and baton rounds, but said they did not use flash bang grenades. Police could not be immediately reached for comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbbWAgBy7E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqNOPZLw03Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9e3sXxFG2M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vyv4zWi394

Makes me sick.

[ronthecivil]

^ Occupy Oakland?!? ^

That would be like the protestors here deciding to occupy the downtown eastside, but much, MUCH worse. The cops would be the least of my worries if I ever decided to go camping there!

[Wetcoaster]

In the 1994 Vancouver riot, Ryan Berntt, a rioter was shot in the head with an Impact Baton Round projectile fired from an ARWEN (Anti-Riot-Weapon-Enfield) baton by a VPD officer (Constable Hancock) causing a four-week coma and permanent brain damage. He sued but his case was ultimately dismissed by the courts.

See Berntt v. The City of Vancouver et al, 2001 BCSC 1754

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/01/17/2001bcsc1754.htm

[Satan's Evil Twin]

In the 1994 Vancouver riot, Ryan Berntt, a rioter was shot in the head with an Impact Baton Round projectile fired from an ARWEN (Anti-Riot-Weapon-Enfield) baton by a VPD officer (Constable Hancock) causing a four-week coma and permanent brain damage. He sued but his case was ultimately dismissed by the courts.

See Berntt v. The City of Vancouver et al, 2001 BCSC 1754

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/01/17/2001bcsc1754.htm

[dudeone]

Iraq War vet critically hurt in 'Occupy Oakland' clash with police

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Oct 26, 2011

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/10/iraq-vet-critically-hurt-in-oakland-wall-street-clash-with-police/1

A Marine veteran who served two tours in Iraq was injured critically Tuesday night during a clash between Oakland police and Wall Street protesters, according to news reports.

Dottie Guy of the Iraq Veterans Against the War tells the Associated Press that a police projectile fractured the skull of Scott Olsen, 24, of Onalaska, Wis. A hospital spokeswoman confirmed he's in critical condition but would not release more information. A vigil is to be held tonight near Oakland City Hall.

Police fired tear gas, bean bags and, reportedly, rubber bullets. Witnesses said he was shot, but police said Tuesday night the police did not fire rubber bullets.

The Oakland Police Department "is investigating a use of force incident that caused serious injuries, but that it may not be OPD who was responsible," The Bay Citizen reports.

Here's video showing Olsen being carried away by other marchers.

The clash occurred after riot police disbanded an Occupy Oakland encampment at City Hall and protesters were attempting to regroup.

Occupy Oakland supporters are planning another demonstration tonight. Police are scheduled to hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m. PT (7:30 ET).

[Navyblue]

[aGENT]

[key2thecup]

Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen awake ahead of brain surgery

Iraq veteran seriously injured by police projectile is lucid and responding but brain swelling still a risk, say doctors

Scott Olsen, the Iraq war veteran who suffered serious head injuries after being hit by a projectile fired by police during the Occupy Oakland protests, has woken up and is lucid as he awaits surgery, hospital officials and family members have said.

Olsen, a 24-year-old former US Marine, was struck in the head during anti-Wall Street protests on Tuesday night. He has been upgraded from critical to fair condition.

Olsen "responded with a very large smile" to a visit from his parents, Highland General hospital spokesman Warren Lyons said. "He's able to understand what's going on. He's able to write and hear but has a little difficulty with his speech," Lyons said.

Doctors had not operated on Olsen yet and were waiting to see if swelling in his brain eased, Lyons said.

Olsen's aunt, Kathy Pacconi, told Reuters in an email that her nephew was showing signs of improvement.

Olsen, 24, has become a figurehead of the Occupy Wall Street movement and Oakland organisers have said they will stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters, including the former Marine.

Oakland's police chief, Howard Jordan, has promised a vigorous investigation into the incident which has provoked heavy criticism across the US, sparking solidarity marches in dozens of Occupy camps in the country.

This week's violent clashes with police in Oakland appear to have re-energised the Occupy movement in America, creating political liabilities for civic leaders across the United States, who had seemed poised to follow Oakland's lead and, in some cases, issued orders to clear the streets.

The White House said yesterday that Barack Obama understood the frustration of the Occupy Wall Street protesters but stressed the need to uphold the law.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, responding to reporters' questions about the Oakland violence, said he had not discussed protests in specifiic cities with the president, only the protests in general.

Obama has tried to maintain a balancing act as the protests have grown, leaning towards support while avoiding a full embrace of the movement. But it would be a huge step for the president to go on to criticise any police force.

Carney said the president could sympathised with the frustration over the role of Wall Street writ large in the worst recession since the Great Depression. There was a long and noble expression of free expression in the US, he said. But, as to the violence, he said the federal government obviously insisted that everyone behave in a lawful manner even as they expressed their frustration.

The Oakland protesters were back in force on Wednesday night, 24 hours after they were supposed to be gone for good, demanding the resignation of the city's mayor.

This time the police did nothing except circle around the demonstrators and discourage them from jumping on to an overhead freeway. More than 1000 protesters kept marching through the city streets until long after midnight, shouting an occasional "shame on you" at motorcycle cops and taking care to pick up their own litter. They even picked up pieces of a fence they had earlier pulled down and stacked them in neat piles around Frank Ogawa Plaza, in front of City Hall.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, herself a veteran of street protests from Berkeley in the 1960s to a public demonstration against police brutality in Oakland just lastyear, is facing demands for her recall or resignation. "Mayor Quan, you did more damage to Oakland in one evening than Occupy Oakland did in two weeks," one hastily scrawled slogan left near the entrance to her offices read.

In a news conference, Quan sought to distance herself from the police action, saying she was away in Washington at the time and had not expected it to unfold the way it did. "I only asked the chief to do one thing: to do it when it was the safest for both the police and the demonstrators," she said.

Her interim police chief, Howard Jordan, was similarly defensive when he spoke to reporters, denying that his men had used rubber bullets or flash-bang grenades, as some protesters alleged and adding: "It's unfortunate it happened. I wish that it didn't happen. Our goal, obviously, isn't to cause injury to anyone."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/27/occupy-oakland-scott-olsen-surgery?newsfeed=true

[aGENT]

The longer this goes on and the more of these "incidents" happen, the more pissed off people are going to become. I believe we are seeing the beginnings of TRUE democracy at work and those in power had best be very afraid.

[dudeone]

'Occupy' protesters hold vigils for injured vet

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-28/wall-street-protests/50974252/1

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Anti-Wall Street demonstrators held vigils for an Iraq War veteran seriously injured during a protest clash with police in California as some Occupy encampments came under growing pressure from authorities to abandon sites in parks and plazas.

A crowd of at least 1,000 people, many holding candles, gathered Thursday night in Oakland in honor of 24-year-old Scott Olsen, who is hospitalized with a fractured skull.

Many in the crowd shooed away Oakland Mayor Jean Quan who retreated back into City Hall after trying to address them during a tense late-night appearance. She apologized to Olsen during a hospital visit earlier Thursday.

"I am deeply saddened about the outcome on Tuesday. It was not what anyone hoped for, ultimately it was my responsibility, and I apologize for what happened," Quan said in a written statement to protesters late Thursday. "I cannot change the past, but I want to work with you to ensure that this remains peaceful moving forward."

In Nashville, police cracked down overnight on an Occupy protest camp near the Capitol under a new policy setting a curfew for the complex. Officers moved in a little after 3 a.m. and arrested about 30, who were later released after a judge wouldn't sign the warrants. About 20 protesters who stayed on a nearby sidewalk were not arrested and were still there later in the morning as state troopers stood guard at the steps to the Capitol.

Protesters also held a vigil for Olsen in Las Vegas, which drew a handful of police officers. Afterward, protesters invited them back for a potluck dinner.

"We renewed our vow of nonviolence," organizer Sebring Frehner said.

The Marine veteran, who won medals in Iraq, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the nation, with Twitter users and protest websites declaring, "We are all Scott Olsen."

Joshua Shepherd, 27, a Navy veteran who was standing nearby when Olsen got struck, called it a cruel irony that Olsen is fighting an injury in the country that he fought to protect.

Despite the financial underpinnings of the protests, Olsen himself wasn't taking part out of economic need.

His friends say he makes a good living as a network engineer and has a nice apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay. Still, he felt so strongly about economic inequality in the United States that he fought for overseas that he slept at a protest camp after work.

"He felt you shouldn't wait until something is affecting you to get out and do something about it," said friend and roommate Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq.

It was that feeling that drew him to Oakland on Tuesday night, when the clashes broke out and Olsen's skull was fractured. Fellow veterans said Olsen was struck in the head by a projectile fired by police, although the exact object and who might have been responsible for the injury have not been definitively established. Officials are investigating exactly where the projectile came from.

Even as the vigil was held in Oakland, protest organizers prepared to defy Oakland's prohibition on overnight camping on the now patchy, manure-smelling lawn outside City Hall.

Shake Anderson, an organizer with Occupy Oakland, said half a dozen tents were erected on the plaza by midday Thursday where police armed with tear gas and bean bag rounds disbanded a 15-day-old encampment Tuesday. More than two-dozen tents had been erected as food and supplies arrived late Thursday.

"We believe in what we're doing," Anderson said. "No one is afraid. If anything, we're going to show there's strength in numbers."

Few police were seen in the area during late Thursday, as Quan in her written statement said that she and interim police chief Howard Jordan hope to meet with protesters and urged them again not to camp at the plaza.

Elsewhere across the United States, protesters brushed off pressure from authorities and maintained the camps that have sprung up in opposition to growing economic inequality.

Protesters at San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza braced for a police raid early Thursday that never came. Still, police have warned the protesters that they could be arrested on a variety of sanitation or illegal camping violations.

Officials told protesters in Providence, R.I., that they were violating multiple city laws by camping overnight at a park.

Anti-Wall Street protesters camped out in downtown Los Angeles said they're planning to continue their demonstration indefinitely, although both they and the mayor's office were eyeing alternate sites.

Meanwhile, Olsen has been improving. Doctors transferred him from the emergency room to an intensive care unit and upgrading his condition to fair on Thursday.

Dr. Alden Harken, chief surgeon at Highland Hospital, said Olsen was still unable to speak but had improved dramatically since he was hospitalized unconscious with a fractured skull and bruised brain that caused seizures.

Harken said Olsen was interacting with his parents, who flew in from Wisconsin, doing math equations and otherwise showing signs of "high-level cognitive functioning." The doctor said he may require surgery, but that's unlikely.

"He's got a relatively small area of injury and he's got his youth going for him. So both of those are very favorable," Harken said.

Olsen smiled during Quan's visit and expressed surprise at all the attention his injury has generated, hospital spokesman Vintage Foster said.

His uncle in Wisconsin told The Associated Press that Olsen's mother was trying to understand what had happened.

"This is obviously a heartbreaker to her," George Nygaard said. "I don't think she understands why he was doing this."

The group Iraq Veterans Against the War blamed police for Olsen's injury. Jordan said the next day that Oakland police will investigate whether officers used excessive force.

Police have said they responded with tear gas and bean bag rounds only when protesters began throwing bottles and other items at them.

On Tuesday, Olsen had planned to be at the San Francisco protest, but he changed course after his veterans' group decided to support protesters in Oakland after police cleared a two-week long encampment outside City Hall.

"I think it was a last-minute thing," Shannon said.

A video posted on YouTube showed Olsen being carried by other protesters through the tear gas, his face bloodied. People shout at him: "What's your name? What's your name?" Olsen just stares back.

People at OPSWAT, the San Francisco security software company where Olsen works, were devastated after learning of his injuries. They described him as a humble, quiet man.

Olsen had been helping to develop security applications for U.S. defense agencies, building on expertise gained while on active duty in Iraq, said Jeff Garon, the company's director of marketing.

Olsen was awarded seven medals while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, which he left as a lance corporal in November 2009 after serving for four years. One of them was the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Olsen moved to the Bay Area in July, and quickly found friends in the veterans against the war group.

His tours of duty in Iraq made him more serious, Shannon said.

"He wasn't active in politics before he went in the military, but he became active once he was out … the experience in the military definitely shaped him," Shannon said.

[Wetcoaster]

The longer this goes on and the more of these "incidents" happen, the more pissed off people are going to become. I believe we are seeing the beginnings of TRUE democracy at work and those in power had best be very afraid.

[JLumme]

The longer this goes on and the more of these "incidents" happen, the more pissed off people are going to become. I believe we are seeing the beginnings of TRUE democracy at work and those in power had best be very afraid.

[aGENT]

My prediction is that this protest loses steam as it gets colder outside. Ever been to New York City in December? It's freaken cold.

[Wetcoaster]

Personally I think people are more pissed than that, especially in the US. And there are a LOT of people down there that are the proverbial "sleeping bear". The corporations/elite/politicians have been prodding them with a stick and they've merely started to stir and grumble as yet. If that bear actually gets woken... LOOK THE FRACK OUT!