The Cleansing of Zuccotti Park
By Zach Roberts
F**k. My lens is busted – a cop hit it with a night stick. Then he hit me. Then he shoved me – I nearly fell backward into the crowd, tripping over the edge of the sidewalk. I would have been trampled. That’s when it got a bit scary.
He was yelling “GET BACK!!! GET BACK!!!”
Well, there was the road, and moving traffic behind us, but he didn’t seem to care. So, the choice was to keep walking backward and filming, possibly backing into moving traffic, or dart between the taxis. I made the decision to turn and dart, keeping my camera facing back just shooting wide and pointing in the cops’ general direction.
Some kids got plastered into and over the cab, which luckily, at this point, had stopped. Some kids fell, and while trying to get up were whacked with night sticks -“MOVE! MOVE!” The fact that they were on the ground, on their backs, getting hit and held down, didn’t really matter to the NYPD. Eventually the cops allowed other protestors to drag the kids away, and out of the street.
This night wasn’t about making arrests, it was about beating heads and making a point. The National Day of Action today, the 17th, was only 48 hours away at that point, and the police wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were the law (to be read in a Judge Dredd voice).
Free speech, the right to assemble peacefully, and some well-meaning kids were subjugated by a 3-term mayor, who is also a billionaire, and the owner of a media empire. I haven’t seen this sort of police madness since the years of the Bush administration when “dirty hippies,” and the press were fair game. Watching a kid get slammed repeatedly in the face with a police shield has it’s effect on your bias. I’ll admit it here – I’m with the kids, the protestors, with the occupiers. If we have any hope for this nation, it will be from the ones at the business end of a baton – not the one swinging it.
After the initial confrontation with the NYPD, protestors were bottle-necked, and then split into parts – thus their numbers would be too small to take on the masses of overtimed police that were standing, waiting with pepper spray, helmets, shields and batons. I saw all of these used as weapons that night, in a way that made you know their supervisors weren’t watching. As a matter of fact, this was the first time the uniformed NYPD (the blue shirts) were not directly supervised by the white shirts (Leuitenants and higher in rank).
Word got around that everyone was reconvening at Union Square to figure out what exactly to do. Foley square was also mentioned but the group that I decided to go with was going with Union. The group first started out with about a dozen people, then attached itself to a larger contingent of about fifty. This metastasizing went of for a while, until we were in the East Village (about 15 blocks from Zuccotti) and our numbers were 150-200.
Unfortunately, these numbers included what might be called black bloc. These are the people you see on the news – the only ones that the mainstream cameras usually go with – garbage cans thrown in the street are a lot sexier footage than a protestor explaining the intricacies of why they are marching. I understand why they do it. Personally, I’ll take the shots and let my editors decide. Luckily, I usually work for smart editors. I don’t work for the Post.
Somehow we lose the police. I can’t tell if it’s because they gave up chasing us, (your average protestor is in better shape than your average cop – it’s a fact… I’m sorry) or if our quick and flowing changes in direction made them lose us. But either way, there were 150 protestors running down the middle of Broadway with only 5 members of the press (counting me) to cover it. This. Is. Awesome.
[Full disclosure, I used to be a protestor, a community organizer (gasp!) but then I got sick and tired of losing and not getting anything covered by the news so I decided to switch allegiances and start covering the events.]
Then, lights, and they’re coming up quick. Really quick. People are yelling, “Watch out!” “Watch out!” I grab one of my friends, another freelance shooter, out of the way of a cop car flying by… That was close – waayyy too close. The cop drives the car into the crowd of protestors up ahead, nearly hitting about 10 that couldn’t jump out of the way quickly enough. He’s immediately out of the car, baton ready, grabs the first kid he sees and slams him face down into the hood of the car. AP shooter John Minchillo and I are the first ones there as the kids are sprinting ahead now – some staying behind chanting “SHAME!” SHAME!” SHAME!”
He gets hauled away in the cop car, and we’re off again, this time back towards Zuccotti… or at least I think so. The cops are very outnumbered, so they stay behind and let us retake Broadway and then Houston. Some of the black bloc protestors run up the front of taxis that are waiting at the stop light, to the surprise of the tourists inside. The driver actually looks somewhat bored.
So, five hours later, and probably about 5 miles of cat and mouse games with the police, we’re back where this all started – standing near the closest entrance to Wall Street. Well, not on the street. My best friend since grade school CS Muncy – another NY brilliant shooter is standing with me on top of a police car. We’re exhausted. CS was sleeping comfortably when I called him screaming “They’re clearing the park!” He lucked out and made it in the Zuccotti Park to shoot the actual cleanup while I was stuck on the outside. He jumped the police barricades and ignored the cops’ yells to stop – getting some front page shots before being thrown out. Press was not allowed. No photos for the history books – except for the ones that he got. That’s what he does.
It’s 6am, and there is now a general feeling of victory in the air. People are playing music and dancing – a couple makes out for a solid 15 mins on top of a phone booth. Half for the pleasure, half for the photographers. This is their moment in the sun, their 15 minutes – what better way to spend it than making out with your girlfriend?
I’ve got my injured camera. Black bloc starts letting the air out of the tires of the police cars that we are currently occupying. I’m wondering,though, as the police start pushing forward to clear this part of the street and push us again away from Zuccotti, is this the crest of the wave? Will this be remembered 20 years from now, other than by a couple of protestors and journos drinking together over beers? Will I write about this like Hunter Thompson wrote about the mid 60’s?
To steal a better ending than I could write I’ll use Hunter’s words.
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Hudson, then up the Brooklyn Bridge or down Broadway to Zuccotti. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
Two sides to a story, now what is the other side?
The protesters need to focus on bring back a representative democracy. The first step is to get
money out of politics then the rest will follow. A representative democracy means people IE
voters have all of the power to elect not corporations and money interests.
Police riot in Eugene, Oregon April 1971, breaking up a peaceful demonstration against the logging of the French Pete Creek valley on the west slope of the cascades, the last intact stream course in Willamette National Forest. Police baton blind-sided WC, striking his camera lens while photographing police beating students with nightsticks. Lens shattered, nose broken, lying on ground and cop kicks ribs three times.
Deja vu.
/WC
I remember that riot. I was just a kid, farther north in the valley, growing up but I was proud of all of you then.
Still am proud there are people like Zach.
When seeing and watching my mind goes to T Square, in that country will like to say breaks human rights all the time. Hope they are watching how we do this and bring it up in the next talks where our officials dare to make comments.
I hope this just gets stronger and more organized!
zach…are you needing a new lens?
I think it’s just going to be a repair probably in the range of $200 which is doable for me…
It is disgusting what the police are doing and I hope the whole world is watching.
Sending an email to Gov. Cumo and hopefully Mayor Bloomberg re police brutality.
This is happening in my state and it is appalling.
I drove by town square tonight. Although it hovered around 10 degrees, the crowd was quite large, and very vocal with lots of signs. A tough bunch indeed.
Excellent reporting Zach…THANK YOU.
Two folks from our group went down yesterday…Here at Occupy Fredonia..we stood in solidarity with our signs on the sidewalk…and later held a candle light vigil for safety and unity with all other occupiers. Our positive energy with all.
Last night after reading from our friends who went…and were barricaded between two streets for hours…I posted the song Chicago. Forgot how very bad it was in 1968. I also listened to Mario Savio speech for inspiration.
The time is NOW.
Thanks Zach…keep safe.
Our police look a lot like what our country was condeming in China a few years ago. Our government is regressing to the point that we have no other option than resistance against the loss of our liberties.
Yes, the whole world is watching – and participating. I don’t know why the mayors and the police think that violence on their part is going to make this movement go away. Apparently they skipped the history classes that talked about the 60s. Or maybe the history teachers didn’t think it was important to teach that part of our history.
Thank you, Zach – and stay safe. Sorry about your camera, but better the lens that you.
Thanks for giving us a first hand account Zach! Well written. Absolutely terrifying time. So stay safe! I’m glad you stepped over the line from protester to writer. We need the truth to be told – just as much as America needs people marching.
At a time when so many people have no health insurance, those beatings, injuries and concussions have a secondary major impact. I am in awe of the COURAGE the peaceful protesters are showing.
And the whole world IS WATCHING.
Stay safe, Zach. Bloomberg should resign.
Brings back some memories that is for sure. Same city, different reasons in a sense but not all that different. Fourty years have passed and some things have changed. The New York cops back then were a different breed. They were public servants and they knew how to handle protests that were peaceful. These people sound like Blackwater.
What do the police want? What their bosses want. What do their bosses want? To intimidate. If this kind of mild intimidation does not work, it will get worse. Remember Chicago in 1968? Remember Kent State? Remember the 55,000 who died for nothing against their will? Conscripts sent to fight for oil and tin and ideology. There are differences, there are ironies.
One of those ironies is that in this age of instant communications the protests are not articulate and clear, and most certainly under-reported upon. First they try to ignore you. Do not escalate the violence, escalate the scale of resistance. Escalate the types of resistance. Organize.
If this is not the beginning of the groundswell of resistance to a corporate takeover of the whole world economy, it will still come. It has to come. Corporations are not people. They cannot exist without people.
Another irony – in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Will we pass muster? I don’t know, but we always have. Are we free now? I don’t think so. Can we attain the freedom we once enjoyed? Yes and more, but it will not be given to us. As the right wing is so fond of saying, freedom is not free. But what about justice? Does justice too have a price? Today yes, so it is up to us to take back the law, the government, and cleanse our great idealism of the cynical corruption that has led to this time in history. This moment when things MUST change. China is watching. Brasil is watching. Across the globe, nations small and large are watching. I can’t say what the people here are thinking, I am not fluent enough to converse with them on this level. My interpreters are not fluent enough. But in this strangely similar country, with even more diversity than the US, that has had a grim history of tenacious colonialism, brutal military dictatorships and an entrenched oligarchy, people are paying attention to what is happening.
Inspire them.
I searched around for this for a while, I did not find a very good translation. But it is one of my favorite poems by Pushkin.
Deep in Siberian mines
by Aleksandr Pushkin, 1827
translated by Alfia Wallace
Deep in Siberian mines
hold your proud endurance high,
Your woe-filled work will not be lost
nor the striving of your mind.
Misfortune’s stalwart sister,
Hope, lurks in dungeons’ gloom,
she’ll waken and you’ll jump for joy,
so know the wished-for day will come:
Love and friendship will o’errun you
through the sombre, shackled gates,
As my free voice now comes to you
through these craggy grates.
Your leaden chains fall to the floor,
your prison will collapse –
as freedom greets you at the door –
your brothers hand you a sword.
——————————————–
The versions I remember ended thusly:
as brothers meet you at the door
and freedom greets you in the light.
What he said…which he said really well. Thanks Krubozumo Nyankoye.
wonderful. thank you.
AKM, how about a twitter link so it can be tweeted?
Just click on Tweet at the top of the story!
YAYYYYY ZACH!!!!!
I am appalled at the police behavior. Thank you Zach for your report and video. Stay safe.
Remember that police are para military organizations. That means the guys out on the street are following orders that came down from command staff, and ultimately the mayor of the cities involved.
I’m wondering what the spineless homophobic mayor of Anchorage will do next. He seems preoccupied with the homeless guy who is camped out right now. He’ll eventually turn on the protesters who are across the street.
I truly do not understand why the cops are so violent.
I mean historically, recently in the Arab summer, and in the 60’s and in so many other instances, suppression only makes resistance stronger.
It is not like the peace keepers are keeping the peace. Just the opposite in fact.
What do they, the police, want? What is their end plan? Do they actually have an end plan? Is their violence the only plan they have, so that is what they use not realizing or at least not accepting they they are the ones, now, who are ripping apart the fabric our our society
Like the song says. “When will they ever learn?”
That puzzles me as well. History will show that when protesters are bullied, it only strengthens the movement. On the other hand, it has been a long while since the people have protested on this scale. And this protest has been 30 years in the making.
Why the authorities are using violence to suppress OWS?
Conservatives, in general, are submissive to authoritarianism, so they will predictably give “the authorities” the benefit of the doubt in police-protestor clashes. Add in the fact that much of the conservative (corporate driven) media are already framing the clashes as the fault of the “dirty, hippie, druggies,”….and you can almost see the conservatives further recoil in distaste and outrage.
It’s pretty obvious to me that the plutocracy doesn’t want to risk that the conservative base will begin to identify and sympathize with the goals of OWS. If they lose their conservative voters, they will lose it all at the polling booth. Therefore, the strategy of ramping up the conflict makes eminent sense if the “authorities” can control the message which goes out to the public about the conflict.
As an aside, the violence is a double-edged sword for the protestors: on the one hand, violence generates more publicity for OWS (“if it bleeds, it leads”), but, on the other hand, violence feeds into society’s fears of anarchy, as well as the plutocracy’s message that the protestors are a destructive force.
The protestors’ only way to effectively harness the publicity is with persistent non-violence, documented with cameras….and sheer GROWING numbers. It’s hard to ignore ongoing, repeated protests which involve tens of thousands of people throughout the nation and globe.
And a prediction: expect the GOP and the conservative media in the next few months to aggressively resurrect the meme of socialism, especially with respect to OWS. It will scare conservatives into beating a frantic path to the polling booths to vote against their own self-interests.
I support this movement. Stay safe. Keep it Peaceful.
What is the next step? The fight for real estate is over. Grow the movement to march the Washington Mall, walk the halls of the Congressional offices.
Are the protesters registered to vote? Do they vote? Did they vote in 2010? In order to get the legislation that we need to restore income equality, we have to have Reps in Congress that we can push to make the laws.
Elect more Alan Grayson’s and Anthony Weiners (sans sexting) and Elizabeth Warrens. Obama.
I agree. Become informed, talk to each other. Votes can count.
Well said, Liberty Lover. Protesting is one step but it only makes a difference if there is change. And there will only be change if people are elected who are willing and able to be that voice of the protestors that will put forth and pass legislation.
If only we had more Graysons, Weiners, and Warrens running. When your choice is between two people who both take corporate donations and ignore the will of their constituents, what to do then? Voting is definitely the most important step, and I hope these protests will encourage those who will truly represent us to run for office.
Deep respect for all those protesting and reporting in Occupy Everywhere.
Keep that daylight shining, Zach.
Occupy Anchorage is on the north side of F and 6th downtown.
If this story interest you, or makes you curious, or makes you angry, then come. Tonight. Come to talk, or just to say hi, or just stand around for a bit and read the signs.
Seattle protest, 30,000 people – pre Iraq war – only two groups that made me nervous, the protesters in black with ski masks breaking windows, and the riot police all in black with opaque face shields. Those two groups had much in common with each other.
Thank you for the write up – God’s speed and be safe.
i wouldn’t be at all surprised if some were one and the same.