(MintPress) – Twenty-five U.S. military veterans stood at a memorial site Oct. 7 with the intent of honoring those who have fallen before them while serving their country. In the midst of their service at the New York Memorial, they were handcuffed and taken to jail. The freedom they had fought for was taken away, at least temporarily.
It was the 11th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, and veterans were gathering to read the names of those who had lost their lives. Their tribute was guarded by police, who were enforcing the memorial’s opening hours in a way not common in the city’s other patriotic venues. It was, according to those present at that gathering, a move by police to intimidate and break up the patriotic memorial, simply because it was sponsored by Veterans For Peace, which has been associated with the Occupy movement.
Among those arrested in the midst of the memorial was a 92-year-old veteran, who was slapped with plastic cuffs and taken to jail with his fellow comrades.
Those there say the arrests weren’t violent, but they were unreasonable, as it’s not everyday police gather to monitor and arbitrarily arrest veterans in the midst of a peaceful memorial.
Their detention represents a growing issue facing the Occupy Wall Street group, which has become a blatant enemy of law enforcement officials. They are prepared to disband demonstrations and ensure that gatherings don’t reach the magnitude they did in 2011, when Occupy Wall Street made headlines for protests that attracted thousands throughout the country.
This has left activists with the challenge to continue to exist, but to do so in a way that doesn’t generate conflict with law enforcement. Some have worked to localize the movement, serving as a voice to those with social and environmental concerns in their own cities. Others have taken to caravans, traveling throughout the nation to meet U.S. citizens and let them know what Occupy really is all about.
Changing attitude toward Occupy
One year after the Occupy movement made headlines in national news media as a revolutionary form of activism, its activists are now struggling not only with a negative public perception, but also with police forces. With media focus on the arrest and violence among the minority of Occupy activists, the entire movement has been subject to labels that have nothing to do with their causes. Their message has gotten lost in translation.
When Occupy hit Wall Street last year, law enforcement officials were somewhat caught off guard, left with thousands of activists occupying the parks and areas around New York’s stock exchange district. But now, with a year’s worth of practice, law enforcement know how to handle the crowds — and activists are tired of falling victim to arrest.
The attitude among law enforcement toward Occupy activists isn’t hands-off. From the moment protests are known, officers are dispatched to the location. It’s no longer a “wait and see” type of enforcement, but one in which officers seem to have the goal of dismantling occupations from the very start.
And if arrests are made, they serve as examples to others involved in the movement.
Take Eric Marquez, for example. The Iraq war veteran was arrested at an Austin, Texas Occupy event in December by an undercover police officer. After being arrested, his case was dropped by Judge Joan Campbell, who ruled there was not sufficient probable cause in the case to move forward. Just a few days later, Marquez was re-indicted by a grand jury for the same charges.
On Oct. 4, Occupy National sent MintPress an email regarding Marquez’s bond situation.
“Although the fund drive sponsored by Occupy Chicago, Occupy Houston, and Occupy Austin came up with and posted the $3,500 needed to free Eric Marquez, held in prison since December because of the entrapment by Austin undercover cop Shannon Dowell, Dallas County, in a further desperate attempt to smear the Occupy movement, has now arbitrarily raised its bond requirement to $100,000, meaning the $3,500 posted by the Occupy fund drive has been forfeited,” it wrote.
Arresting the vets
Bill Perry was one of the veterans arrested Oct. 7 in New York. In an interview with MintPress the day after he was released, he explained the scenario taking place when the handcuffs went on.
He and fellow veterans, along with a crowd of primarily Occupy protesters, were gathered at the memorial, reading aloud the names of those who had perished while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Their list included veterans from as far back as the Vietnam War.
As the clock began to tick past the park’s closing time, police present at their memorial warned that time was almost up. In an act of protest, they continued on, as their list of names was not complete. Then, in what spectator Janet Wilson told MintPress described as forceful, police began to arrest the veterans.
Among those arrested was 92-year-old World War II veteran Jay Wenk of Woodstock, N.Y.
“It’s unbelievable how the people of America are allowing all their rights to be snapped away,” Perry said, pointing out that the police were pleasant to the veterans and were carrying out orders handed down by those with more power than regular officers.
A changing tactic
Even before the one year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, activists from throughout the nation knew what to expect at the New York gathering: a lot of arrests. And they were right. The New York Times ran with a story Sept. 17, with the headline, “185 Arrest on Occupy Wall St. Anniversary.”
The crowd, though hard to estimate by numbers, was nothing like what the city had seen a year earlier. In July, activists converged on Philadelphia for the Occupy National Gathering. There, too, they saw fierce opposition from police, with extra officers from New Jersey and surrounding areas present for the event.
Eventually, activists moved their gathering from Independence Hall to a nearby park, simply to avoid the presence of police, which many activists told MintPress added a level of anxiety and aggression to the gathering, which was primarily meant to serve as a networking and idea generating conference.
What was clear was a sense that activists were sick of fighting with police — it took away from their message and caused heightened levels of aggression. The issues that inspired them to devote portions of their life to the Occupy movement were being lost amidst the complaints that police were arresting their friends for unjust reasons.
That’s an image that was seen in the media, too, leaving those outside of Occupy with the impression that the majority of activists were lost souls, with no jobs and a problem with authority.
Faced with this dilemma, some within the Occupy movement have begun to think outside-the-box. Janet Wilson, a corporate employee turned activist, has spent the last year traveling in a sticker-laden Caravan.
As she makes her way throughout the U.S., she visits Occupy encampments, picks up activists who feel moved to join her and talks with everyday Americans about the true concerns of the Occupy movement. To many, Wilson represents the true meaning of Occupy.
She understands that the movement has to evolve, as the constant bickering with police fails to do good, and she does believe it’s doing just that, with activists focusing on the their own communities, putting into action campaigns that seek to educate and provide real change.
In Minnesota, for example, Occupy activists have turned their attention toward the issue of home foreclosure, forming a group they call, Occupy Homes. And while police presence has been heavy handed, with dozens facing trumped up charges, they’ve seen success. They’ve saved homes for families in need — they’re keeping the spirit of Occupy alive.
The problem with the switch to community-focused Occupy initiatives is the lack of headlines it provides in national media, leaving the country to think that Occupy has died off, with only a few hundred people gathering every year for events that generate a few hundred arrests.
Yet if Occupy activists continue to carry on their work in creative and successful ways, it could become difficult for Americans to deny their existence — or their effectiveness.