OntheWilderSide

A scan of the regular news headlines says 50 people were arrested last night, for trying to find more space at the park they are occupying in Boston. The Harvard student newspaper says 100. Link to the official, Occupy Boston website: here. It appears that a legal observer from The National Lawyer’s Guild was arrested, and some medics trying to help people hurt by police.

The video below shows the Boston Police arresting veterans who were demonstrating. It also shows the Boston Police throwing peace flags and the American Flag to the floor. I found two numbers to call. The regular Police switchboard was sent out over the Live Stream to call: (617) 343-4200. And, I think another (maybe better) number is the Police Commissioner’s Office: (617) 343-4500. Here is a contact page for Commissioner Edward Davis’s office: http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=106

(excerpt from) The Crimson
Boston Police Arrest 100 Protesters in Dewey Square
Harvard students and alumni were among the protesters
Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BOSTON—Boston Police arrested about 100 protesters affiliated with the Occupy Boston movement in a swift raid on Dewey Square in the early morning hours on Tuesday.

The arrests were the culmination of a standoff between protesters and police after a weeklong protest in downtown Boston expanded into the northern part of Dewey Square. The protesters have permission to occupy the southern portion, but when they expanded into the northern part on Monday, Boston police decided to take action.

_______________________________

Press Release from Occupy Boston:

Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston
Posted on October 11, 2011 by JPo

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 11th, 2011*

Contacts: OccupyBostonMedia@gmail.com
Twitter: @occupyBOS_media

Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston

At 1:30 this morning hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston, which had peacefully gathered on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers, arresting legal observer Ursula Levelt, who serves on the steering committee for the National Lawyers Guild, as well as four medics attempting to care for the injured.

Earlier in the day, an estimated ten thousand union members, students, veterans, families, men, and women of all ages marched from the Boston Common to Dewey Square, and then to the North Washington Bridge to demand economic reform on Wall Street and the end of special interest influence in Washington.

Following this massive outpouring of public support, dozens of police vans descended on the Greenway, with batons drawn, assaulting protesters and arresting more than one-hundred people. Members of Veterans for Peace carrying American flags were pushed to the ground and their flags trampled as the police hauled them away.

Following the raid, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis made no mention of veterans, organized labor, students, or families, nor did he issue an apology for his department’s aggressive tactics. Since the beginning of its occupation, Occupy Boston has worked tirelessly and successfully to maintain a positive working relationship with city officials. Today’s reprehensible attack by the Boston Police Department against a movement that enjoys the broad support of the American people represents a sad and disturbing shift away from dialogue and towards violent repression.

Despite the city’s attempt to silence us, Occupy Boston remains, and bears no ill-will towards the men and women of the Boston Police Department who were simply following orders. We hope that someday the peaceful pursuit of economic justice will not provoke the beating of elderly veterans and the arrest of medics and legal observers. We encourage everyone who continues to feel as strongly as we do about limiting the influence of Wall Street on our democracy to join us tomorrow, and in the future, down in Dewey Square.

“We will occupy. We are the 99 percent and we are no longer silent.”

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Occupy Boston is the beginning of an ongoing discussion about reforming Wall Street and removing special interests from government. The continuing occupation of Dewey Square (outside South Station) is just one of more than 120 separate Occupy encampments in cities across the nation and a symbol for “Occupiers” everywhere who support real and lasting change. Video: http://youtu.be/ZpttXetMX78.
Pictures of the night’s events.

Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, grassroots democracy, News, politics, progressive politics, social & economic justice, US Politics Tagged: | Boston Police, Boston politics, contact Boston police, Dewey Square, occupiers, Occupy Boston, Occupy Wall Street