The nationwide crackdown on Occupy Wall Street has begun

Credit: Frank Gormlie

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Multiple cities across the nation have begun their offensive against the people standing up for the right to fair representation and a just economic system instead of the corporatist system which we are currently subjugated by.

Some of these have been brutal and vicious attacks on Americans, including what now appears to be an intentional attack on Scott Olsen — a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq before leaving the military in 2010.

In Oakland Olsen was struck in the head by a police projectile, causing a skull fracture which put him in critical condition. Thankfully, Olsen is now conscious, although he is reportedly having trouble speaking and his brain swelling is still a risk according to doctors. The most disturbing part of this incident is not that the police who are supposed to protect and serve are brutally assaulting demonstrators but that the officer apparently meant to hit Olsen in the head.

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As you will see in the following video, Scott Olsen was just feet away from the police barricade when he was hit in the head. The officer responsible clearly did not lob a tear gas canister as they are supposed to do, but instead aimed at Olsen’s head.

You will then see activists rush to Olsen’s aid as he is lying on the ground, unmoving and bleeding from the head.

Notice the police officer move back behind two other officers then lob what appears to be a flash bang right next to Olsen’s body.

What appears to be a flash bang grenade goes off and the crowd disperses for a moment.

Keep in mind that the Oakland Police Department claims that they did not use flash bang grenades against the protesters, although they will not account for the other police agencies involved in the assault.

The Daily Bail posted a picture of some of the ammunition used by police in the attack which clearly includes a rubber bullet, which the Oakland Police also claim they did not use:

In an article published on Business Insider, a Marine is quoted saying that the tactics utilized by police in Oakland are not even allowed in a war zone.

Is there not something seriously wrong when our public servants are utilizing tactics on American civilians that American soldiers are not supposed to use in combat on foreign soil?

Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan said in a written statement that the city has opened an investigation into the use of force, including the use of tear gas on Tuesday.

However, the statement also said, “We are asking you not to camp overnight. Frank Ogawa Plaza is open for free speech activities between 6 am and 10 pm.”

This is the kind of ludicrously un-American thinking that has plagued the response to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

This is a nation with free speech which means that you cannot tell us when and where to speak freely.

You might not like it, but we have every right to occupy a public space all hours of the day. We have every right to freely assemble whenever and wherever we want.

If it really is problematic for you, you might want to explore moving to a nation which was not founded upon the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Oakland is just one of the many places in which police are launching an all-out offensive on peaceful demonstrators who are sick and tired of the elite ruling class robbing America blind while our politicians encourage it.

Indeed California now seems to be a hotspot for these anti-Occupation moves, contrary to what one might assume based on California’s history as a blue state.

However, this is just more proof that the bi-partisan system in Washington is nothing other than a two-party dictatorship in which both parties work towards the exact same goals and push an identical agenda of control and oppression.

San Diego saw police actions against their Occupation at around 2 am in the morning.

OB Rag, an independent news organization out of Ocean Beach, California reports that at least 44 people were arrested in the sweep which began at 1:45 am in Children’s Park without any forewarning.

Police and the Sheriff’s department arrived outfitted in riot gear with batons and at least two men were reportedly beaten in the process of being arrested.

Several of the demonstrators who were arrested were veterans and one man was apparently a legal observer although more specific details are not yet available.

All of the donated food and medical supplies at both occupation sites were confiscated by the police.

Previously Assistant Police Chief Boyd Long told demonstrators that they could remain in Children’s Park so long as they did not set up tents.

Despite this assurance, Long told the OB Rag that they were clearing both sites and people had been ordered to clear the areas before this.

Later, barricades were set up at the Civic Center Plaza and activists were told they could return after the area was power washed, but without any belongings.

A similar incident occurred at Occupy Nashville when, despite false assurances that arrests would not occur until the next day, police rounded up activists in accordance with a new 10 pm to 6 am curfew on the state Capitol grounds.

State troopers arrested some 29 demonstrators at 3 am and kept them in detention until 9 am at which point they marched right back onto the Legislative Plaza.

Thankfully, in this case a tiny bit of justice has already been seen when the magistrate of the court refused to even hear the charges in saying that the state didn’t give the activists adequate prior notice of the curfew since it was only announced yesterday in the afternoon.

The Highway Patrol was advised by the judge to release the protesters immediately but instead they continued to hold them and issued criminal trespass citations.

This was a clear example of the state deceiving activists and the media in order to illegally crackdown on the protests.

Yesterday Lola Potter, the Tennessee state spokeswoman told reporters that demonstrators wouldn’t be arrested until they had an opportunity today to apply for one of the new state permits required to hold demonstrations at the State’s Capitol.

Despite the claim that they were “not going to enforce it today” they indeed did just that.

The Occupy Nashville movement is having none of it, calling the state’s policy “a direct violation of our constitutional rights” which indeed it is.

Undeterred, the activists held another meeting on the Plaza steps at 7 pm in defiance of the state’s unjust actions.

Then in New York, where the Occupy Wall Street movement first began, the police is utilizing more indirect methods to push the activists out of Zuccotti Park.

Instead of utilizing brutal police state tactics like we witnessed in Oakland, the city has confiscated all fuels and generators.

This comes as the cold encroaches and a forecast includes more wet cold weather in the near future. Tomorrow has a 100% chance of precipitation and tomorrow night has a forecast of snow and 90% chance of precipitation.

The city claims that they are worried about the Occupy camp becoming a “fire trap” due to gasoline powered generators.

However, no open flames are used in the camp and dishwater is brought in pre-heated, and the movement is even planning on setting up a volunteer fire brigade with fire extinguishers.

It appears that this is nothing more than a tricky tactic to pressure the activists to leave and stop exercising their right to free speech and assembly.

The president of the Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, also made a somewhat absurd statement to The New York Post, saying that the NYPD will sue “obnoxious” activists for physical confrontations with police.

Mullins said, “I am deeply concerned that protesters will be emboldened by the recent rash of violent acts against police officers in other cities. New York’s police officers are working around the clock as the already overburdened economy in New York is being drained by ‘occupiers’ who intentionally and maliciously instigate needless and violent confrontations with the police.”

They will reportedly seek the “harshest possible civil sanctions – including monetary damages – against any individual protester who causes injury to [police].”

Unfortunately most protesters don’t have the attorneys on retainer to harass the police who brutally assaulted them for no reason.

These are just a few examples of how crackdowns are occurring across the nation as those in power attempt to shut down the Occupy Wall Street movement which shows no signs of slowing down or giving up.

It appears that politicians, even ostensibly “liberal” ones like Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein, are becoming fed up with the Occupation movement.

Immediately following the disturbingly vicious attack on Occupy Oakland, Feinstein made a painfully ignorant statement that exposed her for what she truly is: yet another elitist, corrupt, freedom-hating politician.

Feinstein said she did not think that the “protesters have the right to occupy forever.”

Sorry, Dianne, they have every right to occupy forever despite what you might hope.

“I don’t think people, for example, can sleep in a square for weeks on end. You have to have some order to it,” she said.

Again, sorry Dianne but you don’t get to decide when and where people can assemble and speak freely or for how long they do it, or in what manner.

Feinstein parroted the typical ignorant objection to the Occupy Wall Street movement in saying, “There are all kinds of different agendas going on [and it is] hard to figure out what people want,” as if that is some kind of indictment of the movement.

Feinstein doesn’t understand what people want because she is part of the 1% that is unconcerned with the economic situation in our country and the implications it has for average Americans.

You can view Feinstein’s financial statements here which include a purchase of over $1,000,000 in JP Morgan Chase just last year.

Obviously, despite her purported leftist leanings, she is just another Washington elite that seeks to profit at the expense of the American people.

In 2009 Feinstein’s net worth was between $46,055,250 and $108,109,018. Can anyone expect someone of such massive wealth to understand the plight of most Americans?

Interestingly, the 2009 report of the top 16 richest members of both the House and the Senate included five individuals from California.

These include Darrell Issa with a maximum net worth of over $451 million, Jane Harman with a maximum net worth of over $435 million, Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi with a maximum net worth of over $108 million and Gary Miller with a maximum net worth of over $84 million.

Could this overrepresentation of multi-millionaires be related to the mistreatment of anti-corporatist demonstrators in California? While it is pure speculation, it seems to be a somewhat valid conclusion.

Regardless, there is an irrefutable trend sweeping the nation encouraging the oppression and crackdown on peaceful protesters seeking a new direction for the hijacked American economy and government.

Hopefully people will see this and it will encourage them to take action and fight back against the un-American restriction of free speech in any and every way possible.

The last thing we need is to allow the Occupy Wall Street movement to either be co-opted by the Democratic party, unions, or any other group with an ulterior motive, or to be shut down through police force.

Through bringing these issues to the forefront we can help keep the movement alive and kicking despite the many attempts to marginalize it and/or co-opt it for questionable ends.