Brothers and sisters,
I want to tell to you what happened to me on Monday night into early Tuesday morning and explain what it means for the movement.

Monday afternoon, the mass march of thousands of students and workers joined by MassUniting and the Right to the City Alliance culminated in a demonstration at the park square just north of Dewey Square, across the street.

We decided in a General Assembly style mass meeting to occupy and hold this second park square, which was merely the logical and geographical dimension of the expansion of our peaceful protest movement.  The director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway(RKG) told the Assembly that they respected freedom of speech, and that the North Square had recently undergone renovation of the grass and gardens that she wanted preserved. She implied that if we would respect the greens, and work to restore them later if necessary, then there wouldn’t be a problem.

But the Mayor had a problem: he doesn’t want our movement to grow and expand in any way shape or form. His office reportedly said that if we didn’t leave by midnight, then he would arrest everyone in the square. This was apparently to happen regardless of whether we had permission from the RKG and regardless of our right to freedom of assembly and our peaceful nature.

Waiting till cover of darkness and minimum public scrutiny, the police began their attack at around 1:45am. I watched as they marched into the front line of our peaceful perimeter, which was composed of mostly-elderly war veterans from Veterans for Peace, who were all wielding white flags with a dove and olive branch on them. Some were tackled to the ground, others choke-slammed before being hog-tied with plastic and thrown in the wagon. See with your own eyes in the videos below.

I was arrested shortly thereafter (around 2am), luckily not roughed up, or thrown on the ground, or scratched in the face in the way that many others I saw were. They put me in a wagon and took eight of us to a holding station in West Roxbury.  After about 6 hours, I did get half a cup of water and one phone call but they took my shoes before I re-entered the cell after booking. Then I was confined to a cold cell with no food and, now, no shoes for another 7 hours. Though it doesn’t compare to conditions in Guantanamo Bay, being confined in a cold cell with no food for 13 hours seems to me to be rather cruel and inhumane treatment for peaceful protestors.

Around 3pm (I think) they took us to a the courthouse in Government Center, and offered us a plea deal to move from criminal charges of “unlawful assembly” and “trespassing” to a civil “parking-ticket-type” fine of $50. Some took the deal, others pleaded not guilty and will go to trial in a few weeks.

I got out of jail around 5pm, after a 15 hour ordeal, only to find out that Menino had ordered the square not only to be cleared of people, but cleared of all our property and possessions. Personally, I lost my tent, two sleeping bags, a large comforter and pillow, and a box of DVDs that were given to me for the purpose of creating an educational film series for Occupy Boston. They took ALL the tents and belongings, destroyed them and put them in a trash truck and hauled them away.

What does this mean?

First of all, SHAME ON THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT for their cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

Second of all, SHAME ON MAYOR MENINO for his violent attack on the peaceful protest and his destructive clearing of ALL of our personal property from the Northern Square.

Let us be CLEAR: the top 1% and those with all the money and power, are represented by the Mayor’s office, and it is THEIR interests who the police are here to ‘protect and serve’. Not ours. They want to scare us into submission, and prevent the expansion of this movement.

So our response to these attacks on freedom of speech, assembly, and political dissent should be clear and simple:
We need to DOUBLE and RE-DOUBLE our efforts to DEEPEN and BROADEN this movement.

Every campus, every community organization, every labor union, and every neighborhood needs to know what why we’re here (to protest and organize alternatives to corporate domination of our lives) and how they can PARTICIPATE in changing society with us (join a committee, spread the word, donate supplies!).

Thanks for your support, as evidenced by the MASS turnout at last night’s General Assembly. KEEP IT COMING.

We hope to see you in the Square!

Solidarity forever,
Brian

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FfO2rRbeQ&w=560&h=315]

Boston police arrested 141 people during Occupy Boston demonstrations on Tuesday. The early morning arrests (1:30 am) were for trespassing and unlawful assembly. After almost 15 hours in custody, all of the peaceful demonstrators detained by the Boston Police Department had finally been released as of 6 pm on October 11. Occupy Boston has many eye-witness accounts and videos of police misconduct during the arrests (see above).

Perhaps the most disturbing, and characteristic, clip is of a member of Veterans for Peace being thrown to the ground multiple times without provocation. Street medics and clearly marked legal observers who were also detained despite explanation that they were neutral observers, and in sharp contrast to how non-violent arrests ordinarily take place.

As the Boston Globe said:

Urszula Masny-Latos (executive director of the National Lawyers Guild’s Northeast regional office) said no protesters fought with police. She said police could have employed a technique routinely used at other protests—police approach a protester, tell them they are violating the law, and the protester then submits to being taken into custody—and still achieved their goal of clearing the area.

“They really attacked,” Masny-Latos said of police. “They used force that was completely unnecessary. … It was just brutal. I have no idea why they arrested us with such force’’ (Boston.com).

While police contend that their actions were, at least in part, due to an anarchist contingent that had taken control of the group, this was not the case. While police stood across the street from Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, the General Assmebly voted almost unanimously (80%) to peacefully protest Occupy Boston’s removal from the area that BPD insisted the protestors vacate by 12:00 am Tuesday.

Occupiers have been in constant contact with the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, a non-profit that manages the publicly park owned by MassDOT, and, prior to their arrests, they had received verbal consent to stay in the park. Further, Occupy Boston has plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for restoring damaged areas of the park. Last week, members also unanimously agreed to return to Dewey Square—and any other areas that they occupy—to repair any damaged grass.

As the Huffington Post wrote:

The Greenway website confirms that it did have an agreement with the protestors. “Occupy Boston organizers have been cooperative with the Conservancy and the Boston Police Department to date, and have agreed to avoid the planting beds and adhere to common sense rules.” Calls to the Greenway seeking comment were not returned (The Huffington Post).

Here in Dewey Square the sun is shining and we are rebuilding our camp. Tearful reunions and sober reflection have characterized our day here as we seek to land on our feet after the events of early this morning. We will we will hold our general assembly tonight at 7 pm, as scheduled, and remain focused on the central purpose of this movement. Please come join us!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11 OCT 2011

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Contact: occupydartmouth@gmail.com
Twitter: @OccupyDartmouth

Occupy Dartmouth will hold its first demonstration on the Hanover
Green from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm EST today in solidarity with the over
100+ Occupy movements around the world, including Occupy Wall Street
and Occupy Boston.

While the location and timing of the Occupy Dartmouth demonstration
correlates with that of the 2012 Republican Presidential Debate, it
must be made abundantly clear that this is not a protest specifically
against the Republican Party.  The Occupy movements feature supporters
from a wide variety of political affiliations, including Republicans,
many or all of whom are disaffected with our political process.
Anyone supporting a single candidate, party, or political ideology
does not speak for all of Occupy Dartmouth, nor for any of the Occupy
movements.

This demonstration is in part a response to the repeated violations of
the occupiers’ First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble, as
exemplified by the Boston Police at 1:30 am today, when they beat,
tackled, and arrested United States veterans who were peacefully
protesting near Boston’s South Station with an estimated 1000 others.

Today’s event was initially organized by members of Students Stand
with Staff, a non-partisan group formed to lend student support to
both non-unionized and unionized employees of Dartmouth College.
Occupy Boston, Occupy New Hampshire, Occupy Vermont – Burlington,
Occupy Rutland, Occupy Keene and Occupy Worcester are all in support.

Video, last night’s events: http://youtu.be/Iu63e7QD_5k.

Video, Occupy Wall Street: http://youtu.be/ZpttXetMX78.

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 11th, 2011*

Contacts: OccupyBostonMedia@gmail.com
Twitter: @occupyBOS_media

Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston

At 1:30 this morning hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston, which had peacefully gathered on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers, arresting legal observer Urszula Masny-Latos, who serves as the Executive Director for the Massachusetts branch of the National Lawyers Guild, as well as four medics attempting to care for the injured.

Earlier in the day, an estimated ten thousand union members, students, veterans, families, men, and women of all ages marched from the Boston Common to Dewey Square, and then to the North Washington Bridge to demand economic reform on Wall Street and the end of special interest influence in Washington.

Following this massive outpouring of public support, dozens of police vans descended on the Greenway, with batons drawn, assaulting protesters and arresting more than one-hundred people. Members of Veterans for Peace carrying American flags were pushed to the ground and their flags trampled as the police hauled them away.

Following the raid, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis made no mention of veterans, organized labor, students, or families, nor did he issue an apology for his department’s aggressive tactics. Since the beginning of its occupation, Occupy Boston has worked tirelessly and successfully to maintain a positive working relationship with city officials. Today’s reprehensible attack by the Boston Police Department against a movement that enjoys the broad support of the American people represents a sad and disturbing shift away from dialogue and towards violent repression.

Despite the city’s attempt to silence us, Occupy Boston remains, and bears no ill-will towards the men and women of the Boston Police Department who were simply following orders. We hope that someday the peaceful pursuit of economic justice will not provoke the beating of elderly veterans and the arrest of medics and legal observers. We encourage everyone who continues to feel as strongly as we do about limiting the influence of Wall Street on our democracy to join us tomorrow, and in the future, down in Dewey Square.

“We will occupy. We are the 99 percent and we are no longer silent.”