Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
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Occupying sounds like sooooo much fun..
SNIP:
By Scott Johnson
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/19/2011 05:48:30 PM PDT
Updated: 10/19/2011 07:59:19 PM PDT
OAKLAND -- Tension had been building for days in the Occupy Oakland camp before it erupted into violence Monday and Tuesday. When it finally did, Don Hughes, a substitute teacher and full-time tent resident of the camp, found himself amid a full-blown melee.
The next thing Hughes knew he was in a headlock, then he was being punched, and then he was on the ground as a large man began to choke him.
"This is a revolution, and we want it to be open to everybody," said Hughes early Wednesday morning, "but this guy crossed too many lines."
As dawn came Wednesday, the protest's 10th day, an almost overwhelming sense of urgency was developing around the need to resolve internal security issues that have bedeviled residents and passers-by alike. The tent city that has sprung up on the steps of Oakland City Hall has attracted a diverse range of people, many with competing ideologies and world views. Homeless people, ex-convicts, at least one registered sex offender, students, unemployed hotel workers, anarchists and reform-minded activists freely mingle together in what amounts to a democracy free-for-all.
Sometimes, everyone appears to be on the same page. But the skein of civility has been frequently shattered as bullies, the mentally ill, drunks, thugs and anarchists have threatened the safety and well-being of the camp's more peaceful residents. Occupy Oakland has grown out of demonstrations that began in a New York City park a month ago as a protest against what occupiers see as corporate greed.
Organizers have stressed the need for consensus in the camp's decision-making process. But as the demands for individual safety and security have grown, the movement's priorities have begun to bump up against people's concerns for their own well-being and that of their friends and, in some cases, their children.
One Oakland police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for reasons of police protocol, described the scene in tent city as akin to a scene from "Lord of the Flies." And, indeed, the on-the-fly rule-making can often veer into an oppressive, anarchic mood.
Journalists are routinely shooed away and told off by angry residents. One Oakland police supervisor said that the participants first appeared to him as "freethinking activists" but have since devolved into something more sinister. He said it was "interesting for a group that claims to be against current civilization and rules to set up a far more oppressive society than our own."
Many camp residents, however, have celebrated their growing ability to deal with serious conflict on their own terms, and without the help of police or county medical staff members. They say internal conflict resolution is necessary if the larger aims of the Occupy movement are to mean anything. "If we're going to be concerned about injustices on a large scale, we have to be concerned about injustices on a small scale, too," said Hughes, a slight and bespectacled 30-something who does "freelance security" around the camp.
The tumult around security centered on the man who throttled Hughes on Monday morning. His name remains unknown, but camp followers described him as a large man with an intimidating physical presence and a penchant for harassing residents verbally and physically. He worked in the camp kitchen and made regular appearances at meetings and gatherings.
On Monday morning, tensions came to a head when the man attacked a woman who was staying in the camp. That's when Hughes intervened. A large group of people immediately surrounded the two, and pulled them apart.
read it all..
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19150644?nclick_check=1
SNIP:
By Scott Johnson
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/19/2011 05:48:30 PM PDT
Updated: 10/19/2011 07:59:19 PM PDT
OAKLAND -- Tension had been building for days in the Occupy Oakland camp before it erupted into violence Monday and Tuesday. When it finally did, Don Hughes, a substitute teacher and full-time tent resident of the camp, found himself amid a full-blown melee.
The next thing Hughes knew he was in a headlock, then he was being punched, and then he was on the ground as a large man began to choke him.
"This is a revolution, and we want it to be open to everybody," said Hughes early Wednesday morning, "but this guy crossed too many lines."
As dawn came Wednesday, the protest's 10th day, an almost overwhelming sense of urgency was developing around the need to resolve internal security issues that have bedeviled residents and passers-by alike. The tent city that has sprung up on the steps of Oakland City Hall has attracted a diverse range of people, many with competing ideologies and world views. Homeless people, ex-convicts, at least one registered sex offender, students, unemployed hotel workers, anarchists and reform-minded activists freely mingle together in what amounts to a democracy free-for-all.
Sometimes, everyone appears to be on the same page. But the skein of civility has been frequently shattered as bullies, the mentally ill, drunks, thugs and anarchists have threatened the safety and well-being of the camp's more peaceful residents. Occupy Oakland has grown out of demonstrations that began in a New York City park a month ago as a protest against what occupiers see as corporate greed.
Organizers have stressed the need for consensus in the camp's decision-making process. But as the demands for individual safety and security have grown, the movement's priorities have begun to bump up against people's concerns for their own well-being and that of their friends and, in some cases, their children.
One Oakland police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for reasons of police protocol, described the scene in tent city as akin to a scene from "Lord of the Flies." And, indeed, the on-the-fly rule-making can often veer into an oppressive, anarchic mood.
Journalists are routinely shooed away and told off by angry residents. One Oakland police supervisor said that the participants first appeared to him as "freethinking activists" but have since devolved into something more sinister. He said it was "interesting for a group that claims to be against current civilization and rules to set up a far more oppressive society than our own."
Many camp residents, however, have celebrated their growing ability to deal with serious conflict on their own terms, and without the help of police or county medical staff members. They say internal conflict resolution is necessary if the larger aims of the Occupy movement are to mean anything. "If we're going to be concerned about injustices on a large scale, we have to be concerned about injustices on a small scale, too," said Hughes, a slight and bespectacled 30-something who does "freelance security" around the camp.
The tumult around security centered on the man who throttled Hughes on Monday morning. His name remains unknown, but camp followers described him as a large man with an intimidating physical presence and a penchant for harassing residents verbally and physically. He worked in the camp kitchen and made regular appearances at meetings and gatherings.
On Monday morning, tensions came to a head when the man attacked a woman who was staying in the camp. That's when Hughes intervened. A large group of people immediately surrounded the two, and pulled them apart.
read it all..
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19150644?nclick_check=1
