Notes from Naomi Wolf's arrest :

[mmonk]

Let me explain; my partner and I were attending an event for the Huffington Post, for which I often write: Game Changers 2011, in a venue space on Hudson Street. As we entered the space, we saw that about 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters were peacefully assembled and were chanting. They wanted to address Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was going to be arriving at the event. They were using a technique that has become known as "the human mic" – by which the crowd laboriously repeats every word the speaker says – since they had been told that using real megaphones was illegal.

She informed them that "they had a first amendment right to use a megaphone and that the National Lawyers' Guild should appeal the issue if they got arrested".

She and her partner decided to take the protestors' grievances inside the event and if they got an opportunaity to speak to the governor, they would hand over a list of protestor demands. They left before that opportunity but were to present them to his office the next day. "On our exit, I saw that the protesters had been cordoned off by a now-massive phalanx of NYPD cops and pinned against the far side of the street – far away from the event they sought to address".

She went up to the police to ask them why. They said the event had a permit that forbade protestors from the sidewalk. "I knew from my investigative reporting on NYC permits that this was impossible: a private entity cannot lease the public sidewalks". She wanted and requested a copy of the permit and was told by an event organizer "that while it did have a permit, the permit did allow for protest so long as we did not block pedestrian passage". She and her partner then joined and locked arms with around 30 or 40 protestors.

Evidently, a group of the white shirts in the NYPD came with a megaphone and said "You are unlawfully creating a disruption. You are ordered to disperse".

October 20th update: "I wanted to send a thank you note to your group (ed. note- Naomi is referring to the demonstrators who were there the night of her arrest) and to the NLG observers who came to look for us at the first precinct".



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnv_PrZxELg&feature=player_embedded">Video




Further details:

http://www.facebook.com/naomi.wolf.author">Facebook

http://markcrispinmiller.com/2011/10/naomi-wolf-on-her-arrest-and-the-repeal-of-freedom-of-assembly-3-items/">Mark Crispin Miller

http://naomiwolf.org/2011/10/i-was-arrested-for-disorderly-conduct-although-my-conduct-was-peaceful-respectful-law-abiding-and-orderly/">Naomi Wolf.org

[glowing]

1. I was watching the live stream last night. They were pretty funny

when they were talking about this little protest stunt. I'm not exactly sure how the people at the event wouldn't notice 200 protestors across the street and the cops in front them as well. AND its not like people don't know, especially in NY, who they are and what they are protesting in general. The people who are in direct action all the time have to plan on their own what they wish to do and how far they wish to take their civil disobedience. If Naomi Wolf thought it was a good time to protest and get arrested, then good for her. Notice she attends the event first, sips on champagne with the elite, and then comes out and ends up getting some of these kids to walk back across the st to protest and to get arrested. LOL.

Anyway, the human mic thing is a bit ingenious because everyone has to participate and listen. When you have one person on a microphone, people in the back can't hear anyway, and people lose patience and those on a mic normally start looking like leaders and less like democracy. Anyway, I believe that is why many of the groups actually have picked up the human mic even though they can have amplification. AND they do get permits for the concerts. There's supposed to be a big concert in Nov in Central Park. I believe they are also talking about taking over Central park to occupy. At least then people can sleep on grass, rather than concrete.

Not sure what they are going to do for the winter yet. There are office spaces available around the Park. I personally think they should rent out the space, create a place where they can go inside to warm up and sleep during a blizzard. They would have bathrooms and could probably build a few shower stalls and bring in a couple of washer/ driers to do laundry. It actually would make some sense to have an central "inside" area, especially for the electronic equipment and such. Not sure how much money they have, but I'm sure they would have enough funds to rent or buy into a space for the occupation.

[mmonk]

2. Winter will be interesting.

I'm thinking heaters with blowers of some type, compact and small. Either that are rechargeable battery driven blankets.