This morning the NYPD moved into Zuccotti Park and forcibly removed the Occupy Wall Street community. At this hour there are widespread reports of beatings, pepper spray, tear gassings. Bulldozers were apparently used as part of the effort. Other reports tell of police helicopters overhead and sonic cannons deployed, although whether they were actually used is not clear at this moment.
One tragic outcome is the destruction of the “People’s Library” and the more than 5,000 donated books, last seen in a dumpster. Â Another is a report that some protesters chained themselves to trees in the part, and police cut down the trees in order to remove the protesters.
In taking this action, the NYPD and their superiors have demonstrated for all the world to see the utter poverty of their stance against the ideas and ideals of the Occupy movement. There may still be any number of slow thinkers who can’t or won’t grasp the message of the protesters, but there can be little doubt about the message of the Powers That Be: dissent will not be tolerated.
In reasoned academic and intellectual discourse, the side that resorts to posturing is considered the loser, as it is a clear sign that they have no cogent arguments left. They cannot overcome the logic and facts put before them. This action by the NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg is the ultimate in such posturing. You would think that by now, they would have learned the lessons from Spain and Egypt and Tunisia and Wisconsin, that repression only causes certain kinds of ideas to flourish. OWS is one of those ideas, and it will continue to grow.
Update: Â Remarkable. From Reader Supported News:
…the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing Occupy Wall Street protesters to return with tents to the park. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Mayor Bloomberg is going on about “sanitation” and public safety, when this is clearly a sham. OWS has its own sanitation teams and power washers; the park is as clean as ever. The city has also been making a point of dropping off released criminals, drunks, etc. near the park in the hope that they will make their way there and dilute the protesters with unsavory characters.
In a way, I can see why they felt they had to destroy the community at Zuccotti Park. They were demonstrating what a just and fair society looks like, and proving that it could be done. That is the idea that the 1% is desperate to kill.
Too late.
