12 Most Absurd Laws Used to Stifle the Occupy Wall St. Movement Around the Country

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12 Most Absurd Laws Used to Stifle the Occupy Wall St. Movement Around

the CountryAs protests spring up in cities across

the country, authorities arethinking up creative ways to contain this peaceful uprising.October 14, 2011 |Protester arrested by NYPD. Via @NYCRevMedia on Twitter. Photo Credit:@nycrevmedia on Twitter LIKE THIS ARTICLE ?Join our mailing list:Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Occupy Wall Street headlines via

email. TAKE ACTIONChange.org|Get Widget|Start an Online Petition ? AsOccupy Wall Street protests spring up in cities across the country,authorities are thinking up creative ways to contain this peaceful andinspiring uprising. Although laws and municipal ordinances vary fromcity to city, there is a consistency in the tactics being used tostifle the movement. More importantly, as demonstrated by theprotesters at Zuccotti Park who kept strong in the face of a loomingeviction that never came to fruition, these maneuvers are not working.Still, there is no shortage of justifications and rationales behindthe constantly evolving schemes being implemented to destroy thespirit of Occupy Wall Street. Here are 12 desperate and unsuccessfulmeasures the authorities are using to discourage, deter and crack downon peaceful protests.1) No Snoozing In PublicMost cities

have an anti-camping ordinance on the books that prohibitscamping or sleeping in public spaces, particularly public parks, tominimize the risk of nighttime criminal activity. But the ordinancesare frequently used to cleanse cities of the inconvenient anduncomfortable scenery of homeless people; police in San Francisco areknown for enforcing the city's camping ordinance primarily against thehomeless.But now, all over the country, anti-camping ordinances are being usedto arrest and deter protesters from occupying public spaces.Local news stations covering Occupy Dallas report that police plan tobegin enforcing the city's ordinance against sleeping in public, firstwith warnings, then tickets, and eventually arrest. Due to a cityordinance that prohibits sleeping in Los Angeles public parks, OccupyLA activists move their tents to the sidewalk every night, and movethem back to the park every

morning. Occupy Chicago protesters haveresorted to staying awake in shifts, then switching with one anotherto sleep in cars or someone's home nearby to get around the banagainst sleeping on the public sidewalk.2) No UmbrellasOfficials in various cities are citing ordinances that prohibit theerection of permanent or semi-permanent structures, referring totents, tarps, sleeping bags, and in one city, umbrellas.According to Seattle's newsweekly, The Stranger, the Seattle PoliceDepartment warned protesters that, "You can't have an umbrella openunless you're standing and holding it," otherwise they are consideredstructures and will be confiscated. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn laterclarified the reasoning in a statement, saying, “As for umbrellas,police were concerned that protest participants were using umbrellasand tarps to create makeshift tents to evade the no-camping rule."In a

city known for its heavy rains, it’s rather extreme to ban theuse of umbrellas. But the absence of tents, tarps and even umbrellasduring downpours in New York City and Washington DC has yet todiscourage protesters.3) CurfewsFortunately for the Occupy Wall Street protesters in NYC, theprivately owned Zuccotti Park is open 24 hours a day, unlikecity-owned parks that are usually closed in the late night to earlymorning hours. In city and state-owned parks occupied by protestersthroughout the country, authorities are using park curfews to theiradvantage. Just after 3am on the morning of Friday, Oct. 14, Denverpolice raided the Occupy Denver encampment citing an 11pm to 5amcurfew at state parks, making at least 21 arrests. A similar 11pmcurfew in Iowa led to 32 arrests on Oct. 9. The same thing happened atOccupy Sacramento.4) No Open FlamesThe "burn ban" generally applies to

outdoor cooking, like grilling inthe park, and is strictly followed by Wall Street protestors whorefuse to give NYPD any reason to evict them. In the early days ofOccupy San Francisco, SFPD issued protesters a notice of the locallaws and ordinances they were allegedly violating, to justify apending police crackdown. Included in the list was a “fire codeprohibiting open flames that applied to outdoor cooking setups.†Thelesson here is no barbequing.5) No Sitting or Lying DownSFPD’s notice also informed protesters that they were in violation ofa sit-lie law that prohibits sitting or laying down on San Franciscosidewalks between 7am and 11pm. This criminal offense can result in afine starting at $50 and possibly lead to jail time.6) No Obstructing the Pedestrian WalkwayOccupy Chicago faced major obstacles early on but has managed toremain intact. The group initially had

trouble finding a place tooccupy due to the city’s lack of publicly available land. Occupiersultimately chose to set up camp on the public sidewalk surroundingChicago’s Federal Reserve building. At first, police warned them notto lean up against the building, but that quickly evolved into a banon the area 6 feet from the building (almost the entire sidewalk),followed by the enforcement of a Chicago city ordinance preventingpeople from blocking the public way, aka sleeping or sitting on thesidewalk. (In NYC this is called “impeding pedestrian traffic.â€)7) No Private Belongings in Public SpaceChicago’s spur-of-the-moment version of San Francisco’s sit-lie lawwas made to apply to the private belongings of protesters as well.According to In These Times, this forced them into “packing their gearinto backpacks or putting it onto mobile carts for temporaryrelocation.†An update on

the Occupy Chicago Web site alertedactivists to “Occupy Chicago, Phase 2 – Mobilization,†a new plan thatwould “make all things there 100% mobile, all bodies must beconstantly moving, and absolutely no sitting/sleeping.â€8) Unaffordable FeesThe city of Dallas, Texas, demanded that Occupy Dallas fork up $1million for liability insurance if they want to keep their permit andcontinue occupying Pioneer Plaza past 5pm Friday (Oct. 14). That’squite a hefty price for to pay the working class, jobless and indebtedstudents who make up the majority of protesters. As a result, OccupyDallas took the city to court for unconstitutionally restricting their“right to peaceably demonstrate in traditional public forums."Ultimately they reached a deal that allows them to stay in PioneerPlaza until Sunday (Oct. 16), then relocate to a spot behind City Halluntil mid-December.9) No

PottiesOccupy Dallas protesters have been walking a half-mile to use thenearest toilet since they started camping out in Pioneer Plaza becausethey could not afford the $1 million permit that would have allowedthem to bring in a Porta-Potty. Now, that is commitment!10) No MasksIn NYC at least five protesters were arrested for violating a statestatute that dates back 150 years and prohibits masked gatherings oftwo or more people, with the exception of masquerade balls. WithHalloween just weeks away, it will be interesting to see how the NYPDhandles masked elementary kids hopped up on Sweet Tarts and GummyBears.11) No Amplification…Mic Check?After hearing that NYC protesters were required to have a permit toamplify sound, I would never in a million years have imagined a wayaround the bullhorn, microphone or speakers. I’m still mesmerized bythe brilliance of the human

microphone, in which listeners loudlyrepeat a speaker's words in unison. I don’t think anyone, especiallythe NYPD, saw that coming.12) Mass Arrests, Excessive ForceWeeks ago, the nation watched as the NYPD trapped and arrested over700 Occupy Wall Street protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. Protestersaccused police of deliberately leading them to march onto the bridgeonly to arrest them hours later, suggesting that the move wascoordinated from the top. Prior to the arrests, many Americans watchedin disgust as videos surfaced of officers indiscriminately macingprotestors in Zuccotti Park. More recently, an officer was caught ontape aggressively attacking protesters, including journalists, with ariot baton. Early this week, almost 150 people at Occupy Boston werearrested following a police raid that left some injured.While the purpose of these tactics is to scare protesters and

thosewho are considering joining the movement from participating, theopposite has occurred, galvanizing protesters' solidarity and resolve.When I spoke to Hedges in Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza lastweek, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist remarked, "Thosewhite-shirted cops in New York are the best publicity department thoseprotesters have, because the vast majority of Americans sympathizewith the movement, and when they see those cops coming in and whackingdefenseless people, it just makes them angry.â€More:http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/152743/12_most_absurd_laws_used_to_stifle_the_occupy_wall_st._movement_around_the_country/?page=entire-- Together, we can change the world, one mind at a

time.Have a great

day,Tommy------------------------------------