Occupy Tents Gone in NYC, But Protestors Vow to Stay
Earlier this week, Mayor Mike Bloomberg ordered the evacuation of the Occupy Wall Street protests at Zucotti Park under the cover of darkness- while several journalists were arrested in the process and news helicopters were ordered not to film the fracas, spurring allegations of an attempted media blackout, particularly from some members of the press on scene.
Since then, the future of the Occupy Wall Street movement has been murky, as the city- apparently having dealt with all other important matters- has shown its willing to go to all lengths to ensure that illegal camping is a crime that does not go unpunished in Gotham. Yesterday saw a brief reprieve allowing Occupy tents back into Zucotti Park before a second court order ruled that protesters had not properly demonstrated that the First Amendment allows for their particular brand of protest, again leaving the demonstrations without a clearly discernable path heading into the brutal New York winter.
Many of the protesters remain resolute, saying even without their Occupy tents, they plan to stay behind in snowboarding gear and continue the fight. The New York Daily News quotes one:
The protesters are not going to go away. Take away their tents, and they’ll live in snowboarding gear, said occupier Faith Augier. She said there are no demands that the city can meet to satisfy protesters.
“Placing demands to a completely corrupt government and expecting change to come from them is ridiculous. It’s like slaves asking the master for change,” she said.
Occupy Wall Street Finance Committee Member Pete Dutro said the raids and removal of Occupy Tents only made the movement stronger:
“We’re not going anywhere. They just made this worse,” he said. “This is just a symbolic center, as is Oakland. Each time they do these things, it localizes the movement more. If they had half a brain they wound have let us stay here… They threw away our books, hit women, trampled our American flag. No one was fighting them. The live stream clearly shows that.”
