Saturday, December 24, 2011

Updates 12/24/11

Hello everyone.

My apologies for missing yesterday. I was both ill and suffered from a lack of motivation. The town I'm stuck in will do that to you. Anyway...


Here's the news for today:


-- The man taken to the hospital from the Occupy Eugene encampment has passed away. Occupiers held a candlelight vigil for the man, named Rick Youngblood, as well as other victims of street violence.


-- Michele Bachmann was interrupted again by Occupiers, this time in Iowa City. Roughly 25 Occupy Iowa City protesters mic checked Bachmann, speaking out against her stance of gay rights, taxes, and health care, among other things. Christmas music was used to try and drown out the protesters, but they were still heard loud and clear, telling Bachmann that no one wants her there, and to just go. Police did show up, but no one was arrested.


-- After a judge ruled that protesters statewide could no longer camp on statehouse grounds, Occupy Columbia left, but not without leaving something for South Carolina's Governor. They left a tent for Governor Haley, decorated festively with red and green garland, outside the Governor's home. They sang carols while they placed it.


-- Occupy Berkeley was evicted on Thursday, with Occupiers claiming the police were swift with violence and destruction. An interview with one of Occupy Berkeley's security guards, who is a US Army vet, gives a chilling and eye-opening view of what happened. You can read the interview on Consortium News, here: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/23/police-close-berkeleys-occupy-camp/


-- Police were called to the Occupy DC encampment on Thursday for a report of a man assaulting a woman. Upon their arrival, the woman pointed out the man she said attacked her and her friends. The man refused to show ID to police, then fought back when they tried to put him in a police car. He apparently kicked one officer in the groin so hard that the officer vomited on scene and required emergency care, as well as injuring the vertebrae of another officer. They had to use a stun gun on the man at one point, as he bent the police car's door off its frame by kicking it, while screaming slurs at police.


-- Occupy Albany had a huge skirmish with police on Thursday as well. Believing they had an agreement to keep their "info tent" as long as no one slept there, the Occupiers had left it standing. Police and city workers arrived to remove it, angering protesters who then carried it away to City Hall, where they began to have a general assembly. As police again arrived to remove the tent, a tug of war ensued, with police pepper-spraying the crowd and dismantling the tent. While many protesters had red faces and tears in their eyes, police claimed that only two people were sprayed for becoming overly aggressive, by an officer on horseback. (*wide, sweeping spray leaving multiple people in pain* "Oh, I only got 2 of ya, right?")


-- Occupy London will be able to remain at their encampment until after New Year's, as the judge decided to delay the case until January 11th, rather than make a decision based on what he saw during his tour this week.


-- Here's an interesting article concerning Occupy Boston, the BPD, and Twitter. Apparently the Boston Police are trying to subpoena information concerning Twitter users in pursuance of a "criminal investigation. You can read about this oddity here: http://boingboing.net/2011/12/24/boston-pds-bizarre-occupy-su.html


That's all I have time for today. I'm going to go sit with my little brother for a while. For those of you who are unaware, he's terminally ill with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy. I need to spend as much time with him as I can. :)


***Solidarity***


If you have any questions, comments, corrections, or other information, please contact me at elvishbutterfly@hotmail.com. Thanks.

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