Comments

1
My recommendation is don't litter or tag.

And ignore all the Fear Uncertainty and Doubt the One Percenter who posted that js trying to scare you with.
2
Just another public defender attempting to foment a defeatist attitude. "Public defender" is a misnomer; they only help people plea-bargain for crimes they don't commit.
3
My suggestion is to be kind to everyone. This is world revolution. Peace.
4
Recommending that people stay home and play xbox doesn't really seem to mesh with the "in solidarity" part.
5
In Austin they 'took over' the wide-open public plaza outside the City Hall...inasmuch as you can 'take over' a wide-open space intended for public gatherings.

The police posed for photographs with the protesters.
6
I will be there - I am also a lawyer - I do not plan to get arrested - if and when things heat up, it probably will become obvious which attendees will accept the role of detainee. I also plan to be a witness, if necessary. Fear has never kept me from participation.
7
Yep, it took exactly as long as I thought it would for someone to stick him with a 1%er label. Folks... He's right. Please, by all means, protest how you want. But nothing he said about what you can expect to happen is factually incorrect. I hope you realize that. Cops are likely to act like assholes. Provocation will only add to that. And merely looking at a cop the wrong way counts as provocation.

He's not saying don't do it (despite pointing out how little he thinks it'll change in the end). He's just pointing out what to be ready for. And if you're not ready for it, you probably oughta not be there.
8
This dude is pretty pessimistic...

http://questionland.com/questions/22492-…
9
Echoing @2 and @3. This guy probably isn't the one percent - he's just one of the many cynics who don't believe this occupation will change things. As it grows, from city to state to nation to all over the world, it becomes more likely that it might.

As my "I went through the sixties" friends and loved ones have said, their protests DID cause change for years to come. They started something.

Now we have the chance to take it one step further and create a revolution.
10
@7: His statements about potential police action are true, and his explanation of charges are as well, but his defeatist tone and assertion that one won't get hired anywhere/will question everything about themselves is an implicit statement that protesters just shouldn't do it, because hey, it's not worth it, it won't change anything, and in the end they'll regret it and feel humiliated.

I'm all for understanding the direct legal consequences of one's actions, and the legal leeway the police, government and their high-paid attorneys have. But hell, isn't that part of what we're protesting?
11
Václav Havel . . . *swoon*
12
200 people marching in Tacoma right now according to the Tacoma News Tribune
14
@13
FTW
15
Yeah, cuz those hobos in the 1930/40s didn't get what they wanted from protesting. Next you'll be telling them to hang out with the illegals at Home Depot so they can hopefully get a job.
16
@13: Absolutely love it.
17
Total FUD. The take away from this is "you have no rights, the police will probably shoot you with bean bags, maybe with bullets if you try to speak". It isn't true and it's the opposite of helpful.

What protesters need from lawyers is advice about what rights they do have, how to keep things from escalating into the riot-gear, police brutality stage, and how to protect themselves if it does.
18
Ok, so your ass gets searched. What if you have a vagina? Does it get searched as well? Should I bedazzle it beforehand?
19
Occupy Vagina Pre-Protest Bedazzling Party.

Location TBD.

Bring Your Own Jewels.
20
He could have also mentioned that, in general, the more people that show up the less likely you are to be arrested or to get in trouble (assuming you're an "innocent" person just walking around).
21
This suggestion to stay home and out of trouble is a beautiful illustration of the reason protests don't work in America. Americans don't want to be inconvenienced, are terrified of losing our comfortable lifestyles, are unwilling to sacrafice anything, and are absolutely programmed to believe we're powerless. I count myself in this.

Do you think any of the protesters in Egypt gave a shit whether or not they had to be at work the next day, or if they'd have a police record, or if they'd get a booboo? Those guys wanted change and were willing to sacrifice whatever they had for it, and that's why they got it.

Not us. We have X-Boxes to think about.
22
why would i be arrested for peacefully attending a legal gathering? i thought there was a permit in place for Westlake tomorrow.
23
Fuck this twerp. And fuck Sarah for posting this bozo's barf.
24
How many teabaggers were maced and arrested during their reign of terror?
25
That was beautiful and very realistic. And for god's sake, he didn't really mean stay home and play Xbox; he meant think about it really hard before you get yourself arrested. Somehow I doubt Seattle cops are any better than Portland cops. One of ours killed someone and simply quit the force.
26
my question wasn't rhetorical. i was honestly (and naively) asking why i need to be concerned.
27
@26 If the police feel that the gathering is getting out of control, theoretically they could shut it down & order everyone to disperse. I really, really doubt that will happen tomorrow, but a permit is not a 100% guarantee that people won't get arrested.

I think this guy's legal advice and advice to not bring expensive things you don't want to lose is good, but he lost me on the stay at home part; he seems a bit jaded. I've seen cops act like real assholes at some protests since WTO, but those were smaller, fringier protests with no mainstream media or labor support. I think there will be a lot of both tomorrow, so I'm not worried.

A few people might get arrested if they get angry & confrontational with the police, but I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Also everyone: bring snacks and water!
28
@21 Yah but they don't have the comfortable lifestyle thing. I mean when it gets right down it, that is sort the point. Security, food, shelter, the ability to think what you want, et al. A comfortable good life. So if for the most part you have that, why would you want to give it up? What more are you really hoping for?

They lived under a dictator with no right to vote, express oneself, and most were poor in a way we really can't fathom.

And remember while suffering is indeed up, for most people life has pretty much gone on as it always has be it a rich life or a poor one.

I'm all for some change, but we have it pretty damn good. Hardly worthy a revolution. Unless your too fucking naive to know what that really means.
29
The only problem with Portland is that no one cares about Portland, kind of like Canada. You are preaching to the choir in an easy environment. Your numbers don't mean anything in the context of the hot nation.
30
PS We don't have the balls for revolution. Get over it. Sorry.
31
Will!
you old douchewipe!

The police are part of the 99% as well.

Perhaps the "movement" would more accurately call itself 19%.

Assuming EVERY self identified Liberal in the country is in agreement with them.

But, really, "9%" is probably more accurate name.

(spoken on behalf of the 69% that will enjoy seeing the police beat your asses....)
32
6

you are so brave!

no wonder the capitalists own your sorry asses.....
33
9

ah- the sixties!

yes, things did change.

in fact, we are almost to Gommorah!

thanks dirty filthy selfish hippies.....
34
@25: agreed. A lot of people seem to get involved in large protests thinking it will be a weekend outing to a park and have no idea what getting arrested could mean. If you're going to engage in civil disobedience, you need to be prepared to go to jail and possibly go through the justice system. And that could have impacts on your future employability and other aspects of your life. If that's not something you're ready for, get your entertainment in other ways, or help distribute raw footage from people who are getting arrested and cavity-searched out there.

Sorry this guy was a downer, but I am so glad he wrote this. If reading this is too depressing or discouraging, then a police baton is going to be a rude shock.

(this from someone who was arrested for civil disobedience and then flown across the country in shackles. I was ready for it, but it was not a barrel of laughs)
35
This is decent advice when framed as a worst-case "this could happen" but is ridiculous when framed as "this will happen". It isn't impossible, but it isn't likely, unless you are drunk or high or something else idiotic.

My advice from years of working with greenpeace etc:: Remember, the police are not the people you are protesting (not the 1%). Be polite and cooperative, but they will get frustrated and make mistakes if things go sour. Dont get angry. Do be prepared to get hurt. Have your bail money with some one you trust, and know their number by heart (better: write it on your arm with a sharpie). Protesting is always a potentially dangerous activity.
36
Just a reality check, I was arrested at Westlake last Wednesday. Because I am a balding, middle aged white guy, I did not get into a WWF style confrontation my younger more energetic co defendants engaged in. The cops were so fucking relieved I was going to walk with them they let me carry my sign and handed me off to two polite, professional and may I say very attractive members of the Bike police for a little latex glove treatment around the wasteband, through all my pockets, ect.

Like the man says it can get worse. I have been strip seached in jail, deloused with chemicals, had my glassed take away, put into orange coveralls and thrown into general population. I have been peppersprayed, arm-barred, kicked in the stomach while on the ground and threatened with sexual assault (digital rectal thermometer cavity search) by police. But each one of those times I made a critical error, I attempted to talk to the police, to argue, to shout, to persuade, to fight with my bare hands. They don't want to be talked to, persuaded, spat on or touched in any way, they hate you because you are preventing them from getting back in their car and pretending like they are doing something. I have seen way too many eager young people place the focus of the movement on the bozos doing the shit work for the corporations and gov't. Don't do it.

Block streets, occupy banks, march into corporate boardrooms, chain yourself to a bulldozer; hate the game, not the player. Change the system, not the man. Expect the worst but don't make the BDSM that cops engage in all you can think about.
37
@36, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad the writer took the time to share his/hers as well - I hope nobody ignores the lawyer's factual offering because of ideological impurity.
38
@ 28, that's exactly my point. We have it so good, and we're so unwilling/unprepared to give that up, that we can't affect change here.

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