Two stabbings occurred at the Occupy San Francisco encampment in front of the Federal Reserve Bank this past week. On Monday night, a protester was stabbed in the neck. Nobody has been arrested in that case, in which the victim is expected to survive.
On Sunday, Brian "Boston" Reid was stabbed by another protester, unidentified, who came back to the scene of the crime on Thursday and was identified by witnesses. Sgt. Michael Andraychak said that Reid was stabbed in the chest during a dispute about a camera, according to local news, sfgate, and is also expected to survive.
The Occupy San Francisco website stated, "The Occupiers are developing and improving the protocols to ensure that incidents such as those of the last two nights does not occur again." The site depicted the other occupiers as "outsiders", which is typical of how the Occupy movement describes members behaving badly, which is quite often.
The Occupy Movement has been plagued with incidents of theft, sexual assault, conflicts with police officers, violence and more. The Occupy Wall Street website states that they "encourage" the use of non-violence. The statement is weak and should be updated, strongly denouncing violence and that any criminal activity will not be tolerated.
The Occupy Movement's leaders plan to come back in a big way this spring, with rallies being planned all over the country. According to a recent article in the csmonitor, "Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement is launching its second act, kicking off a month-long series of marches, training sessions, and general assemblies with Occupiers from all over the nation."
So far this year, there have already been incidents of violence and destructive acts, such as robbery and a hate crime in Oakland, injuries of police officers in Sacramento, urine bombs in Denver, and even one incident of a protester dumping feces in downtown Manhattan.
The leaders of the Occupy movement should loudly denounce the violence that has picked up again in 2012.
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Comments: 11
Thanks for your comment, and I always enjoy your articles ;-)
At least in the beginning, I am sure there were genuine protesters that only wanted to fight corporate greed. Unfortunately, the movement has morphed into something else, where violence and crime is tolerated. I cannot help but to think of all the cries for the Tea Party to denounce racists in their ranks, a charge with such scant evidence that it is laughable. The negative press for the Tea Party far outweighs the same for Occupy, which dismisses or minimizes reports of violence, if it is even reported, at all.
From a story I wrote in December, "To the Occupy protesters: Do you know with whom you stand?"
The absence of a loud denouncing of violence would be an admission that violence occurs. Since the mainstream media does not report on the violence, the movement is not associated with it.
Riiight ... we yelled at a couple of our own representatives for a summer and got put on the terrorist watch list. Pelosi still has not recanted her "blessed" words in regard to OWS which is actually truly prone to (as well as guilty of) violence... and has been since it's beginning. Ya really have to wonder if she is 'all there' anymore, or if she really truly thinks ows behavior is more peaceful than we were. Talk about congnitive dissonance ... (mine, that is, when contemplating how Pelosi's mind must work in regard to almost anything much less the occupy groups).
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Renee Nal Apr 1, 2012, 2:39am EDT
kind of makes my head hurt, the comparison. The mainstream media's reaction to Occupy (which lets some get away with all sorts of violence and non-civil disobedience) is polar opposite than it was for the scary tea party.
Of course I do think there are a great mixture of folks in that group. And I'm sure the original group wishes most would go away. At least I hope so :)
It's better to rent some ground (Did Glen Beck rent that ground for his group or do you get to use it free?) so you can control who comes in to 'represent' you.
I think it's probably a combination of not really knowing the facts, seeing good as evil and evil as good, as well as blatant lying. One, all, or a combination of one or more (or some other silliness) of that list.
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Glome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ONE of WE the PEOPLE Apr 5, 2012, 7:53am EDT
You know it is blatant lying when they accuse tea party gatherings and Glenn Beck gatherings of being hate groups. And the OWS they see as the serious people trying to save America.
Of course I do think there are a great mixture of folks in that group. And I'm sure the original group wishes most would go away. At least I hope so :)
It's better to rent some ground (Did Glen Beck rent that ground for his group or do you get to use it free?) so you can control who comes in to 'represent' you.
Occupy needs to stop their movement.
They are just taking up space and having no positive influence on things.
Time to stop.