TheFightBack

Monday on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT, Pete and occupier Robert Stephens discussed the U.S. Park Police’s recent eviction of Occupy DC.

Of the eleven arrests made Saturday at McPherson Square, two occupiers, Jeremiah DeSousa and Nathan Gorecki, are facing felony assault charges.

Initial media reports stated that DeSousa hit an officer in the face with a brick. But in court that brick “became a plastic bottle,” said Stephens, who attended DeSousa’s arraignment earlier in the day.

“So it was a brick when they talked to the media,” responded Hartmann. “But it was a plastic bottle when they talked to the judge.”  Continue reading →

An occupier at McPherson Square flees to avoid being pushed by police.

“This is not an eviction,” U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser said Saturday morning at an impromptu press conference held at Occupy DC at McPherson Square as a small army of officers searched the encampment.

Throughout the morning, it remained unclear what exactly was happening, but occupiers sensed something more than a health inspection and removal of camping materials was underway. “It’s an eviction,” Melissa Byrne called out, interrupting Schlosser.

By late afternoon, the mood in the park had gone from relatively calm to tense as teams in hazmat suits hauled tents and other materials into dump trucks. In order to separate occupiers from their belongings, officers would force them out of the park one segment at a time.

While skirmishes took place with each police push, none was more dramatic than the grand finale. Mayhem broke out as officers used their shields and clubs, then horses and possibly taser guns, to complete the eviction, pushing occupiers and press onto K Street.  Continue reading →

Picture from Occupy Wall Street

Listen to this week’s show:

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(WeActRadio.com 1480 AM is scheduled to air this program Saturday 9-10 pm and Sunday 8-9 am and 8-9 pm.)

This week, Occupy DC faced the possibility of a confrontation with the National Park Service which said it would be enforcing a no-camping regulation beginning Monday at noon. However, Monday passed with little drama and the occupiers continue to sleep at both McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza.
Continue reading →

stick.man (l) and M-1 (r) of Dead Prez performing at Occupy DC. Photo by The Occupied Washington Times

Listen to Dead Prez:

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“I’m against the US war against everybody in the world,” M-1 of Dead Prez said at Occupy DC in December. “That’s why we’re right here.”

“It ain’t war till we’re fighting back though,” said stick.man, who completes the rap duo. “When it’s just one side, it’s a slaughter.”

As the rain fell, more than a 150 occupiers gathered under a plastic tarp to hear the politically conscious rappers perform.

Afterwards, stick.man told TheFightBack, “I’ve been struggling in these types of situations for a long time, since my teen years, so it ain’t new for me to see protests. What I’m interested in seeing is effectiveness.”  Continue reading →

“HIGH NOON: U.S.A. Park Police Showdown,” read a banner at Occupy DC at McPherson Square. Notices posted by the National Park Service at both of DC’s occupations stated that “on or about noon” today, NPS would begin enforcing the prohibition on “camping and the use of temporary structures for camping in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza.”

As the moment of truth approached, Pete joined Ch. 8’s NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt live from McPherson Square.  Continue reading →