Posts Tagged ‘#OWS’

The #Occupy movement may have been ousted from parks, universities and churchyards, but it’s certainly taking up its share of digital space.

All over the wireless airwaves, citizens are testing out their political voices on social mediums. We’ve gathered eight of the best tweet-sized statements from #OWS.

If you have better ones, send them to @Amanda Cosco using the hashtag #OWSSpeaks.

1: This tweet plays on the popular quote “Dance like no one is watching, sing like no one is listening, and love like you’ve never been hurt before,” only this time, we have an #OWS slant, which raises concerns over health insurance, freedom of speech and the legality of (gay?) marriage throughout the United States:

2. I love this sign because it captures how #OWS transitioned from being about a few people gathering in New York City to a worldwide movement: “Occupy All Streets” reads the rewrite, a sure sign (pun intended) of the movement’s trajectory

3. Anyone who quotes Goethe on a protest sign is guaranteed to land a spot in my top ten list. Goethe was known for writing in fragments, not unlike tweets. The  demonstrator in this picture obviously sees relevance in Goethe nearly 180 years after his death:

4. This tweet evidences that the #Occupy protestors understand that their fight will not easily be won, but they believe in what they’re fighting for.

5. Aside from being visually stunning, this protest sign plays on the famous line from the Watchmen, “THE END IS NIGH.” Instead, here we have “The beginning is near,” with a raging bull on his way  down. The bull could represent a few things— capitalism, American bankers, a bullshit economic system—to name a few, and the statement, “the beginning is near” hints at a new dawn that could be born out of the #OWS movement.

6. I love this tweet because it’s simple, direct, and it emphasizes the three most important sentiments from #OWS: conversation, community and children:

7. This young man made the cover of The Economist: 8. A little love to those who bring humour into the picture:

@Amanda Cosco is a freelance writer, content queen & social media girl genius. To learn more about her, visit her professional blog here.

An officer of the NYPD (“JustACop”) from the Occupy Wall Street detail took it upon himself to hold an AMA on Reddit. He openly answered questions about OWS and NYPD’s response. Unfortunately, the AMA thread is no longer available for users to read or add comments.

The two-year veteran answered questions such as “Which side is responsible for the tension between the protesters and the police?” The officer responded, “Both. We stepped in to prevent anything unlawful by setting up a perimeter, but protesters saw that as us moving in to shut them down, which is not what we came in to do.”

Another question was “If cops are part of the 99%, why don’t they join the protest?” The officer replied, “I wouldn’t join because if I happen to do something dumb in the crowd and get arrested for it I can lose my job…I know a few that have attended off duty.”

One Reddit user asked how the protests will end; the officer replied two possibilities: “1. They will convince the national government to change. 2. A spark will ignite and it will turn into a riot, forcing us to maintain order in the area with poor results on both ends.”

The officer also commented “I love interacting with the community,” and is aware of the fact that most of the demonstrators are not violent: “We know that for the most part that the protesters are being quite peaceful, however there are a few out of the bunch that get nasty and break the law.”

The NYPD officer (his identity was verified in confidence by Reddit’s staff) also commented about pressure from the Internal Affairs Bureau, raising a family on $50K a year, and the one of the best details an officer can have: “Damn I would LOVE to work a Yankee game. Make friends in high places for that kind of job.”

The Reddit thread was an insightful read. But unfortunately, the officer’s comments, answers and prompt for discussion were deleted.

“JustACop” explained why in the thread was deleted:

“Hello, reddit. Thanks for having me for that AMA – however it seems that someone found out who I was and thought it was a good idea to contact the department. I don’t want to risk any trouble, so I thank metaranha for clearing out that thread. Thanks for your questions and comments. For the most part you all had very interesting and intelligent questions, with the occasional ‘fuck da police’ thrown in. I had an awesome time answering everyone. You’re more than welcome to message me privately if you have anything you want to talk about, but I’m deleting the rest of my comments from that thread.”

Reddit Editor responded as well:

“I don’t have all of the details on this, but there’s some concern that a party-spoiling AMA subscriber or even the mods (moderators) were responsible for a breach in trust here. From what I understand, someone in OP’s (original poster) department saw the AMA, put the details together and reported it.

I’ve said elsewhere here that it’s not my business to go into who or why OP’s identity was disclosed, but I do think it’s important for everyone to understand that this wasn’t a rogue redditer out to prove a point and it was absolutely not a mod.”

It’s no surprise that Twitter had something to say about the eviction of protesters from Zuccotti Park; after all, the microblogging service has served as a tool for spreading awareness about the #Occupy movement, and has played a crucial role in organizing conversations surrounding #OWS.

On Tuesday morning, more than 200 protesters were arrested and removed from Zuccotti Park in a surprise police raid. Law enforcements were following orders from New York’s Mayor,  Michael Bloomberg, who ordered a “park cleaning” early last week.

Bloomberg said that the occupiers were welcome to exercise their right to protest, though he said their tents and living arrangements in the park had become a “health issue,” and were no longer welcome. Mayor Bloomberg told The New York Times that although New York is a place where you can express yourself, he didn’t feel the occupiers were doing that. What’s more, he said, the protestors and their mock-village have made Zuccotti unavailable to anyone else.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, the movement hasn’t stopped:  thousands on videos, images, and tweets continue to pour in under the #OWS hashtag. Just search #OWS, #OccupyWallStreet, or any of the other hashtags used for the movement and you’ll find thousands of pieces of citizen journalism, like these images, which document the eviction:

This image was captured by @JATayler and circulated by Andrew Katz (@katz) on November 17. Here’s the caption he provides beneath the image:

And then there’s this image, captured by @OccupyWallStNYC:

If a picture is worth a thousand word, then this image says a lot about the control that’s being exercised over the demonstrators. In the image, we can clearly read that this is a shot of  Zuccotti park—a supposedly “public” space. The sign, which clearly reads “open to the public,” is sealed off behind bars, capturing the power-struggle narrative running through the entire story of #Occupy.

And then there’s this video:

While the protestors in New York were being evicted, student demonstrators in California were being pepper sprayed by police officers.

While the examples above are by no means a comprehensive analysis of Twitter’s reaction to the #OWS eviction, the tweets selected demonstrate the general spirit of media being pushed through Twitter under the #OWS hashtag. Almost al of the #OWS citizen media contain the same tropes: cops acting badly, protesters being victimized, and the crowd shouting that one resounding line: “the whole world is watching.”

The whole world is watching, and we’re staying tuned to see what will become of the new arrangements in Zuccotti Park. According to The New York Times, New York police reopened the gates to the park shortly after dark on Tuesday evening to allow 750 people back into the park, single file, and one-by-one. The Times says that people with large backpacks and large amounts of food were turned away.

@Amanda Cosco is a freelance writer, content queen & social media girl genius. To learn more about her, visit her professional blog here.