The Massachusetts Pirate Party condemns the New York Police Department’s unlawful and violent attack on peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters and the clearing of Zuccotti Park. OWS protesters were exercising their constitutional right to free speech and to assemble peacefully. Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD are directly responsible for trampling on those rights as well as the rights of a free press by clearing media from Zuccotti Park and the airspace above it.
We also condemn the recent police attacks on protesters in Oakland, Portland, Chapel Hill and other cities. That these efforts appear to have been coordinated among eighteen cities, as stated by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, puts the lie to the justifications given to clear these protest sites.
We urge all who support Occupy Wall Street to continue our struggle against corporate power and the 1% by increasing our efforts to reach out to and identify supporters. We encourage all Pirates to stay calm, while also escalating their level of nonviolence. Locally, we continue our support of the Occupy Boston movement and urge our members to aid Occupy efforts in their communities.
The Massachusetts Pirate Party can be contacted at:
Phone: (617) 863-6277 (MAPP)
Email: info@masspirates.org
Web: https://masspirates.org
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Please stop with the “Peaceful protest” nonsense! There are some peaceful protesters in the crowd, but a large majority of the OWS movement is not at all peaceful. Not only that, they wouldn’t be bothered by police if they were not blocking traffic during rush hour, stealing, sexually assaulting women and leaving drug paraphernalia laying around the area.. And the only space they should be occupying is the Government! Wall Street doesn’t make the laws!
Wall Street buys the laws often at tax payer expense: i.e. TARP or the $14 trillion the Federal Reserve lent to financial institutions to keep them from going under from 2008-2010.
My experience with Occupy Boston protesters is that they very peaceful even in the face of police violence. From what I have seen of police attempts to disperse Occupy encampments, it is the police which is using violence and certainly in the case of OWS, stealing and destroying people’s belongings and OWS books, computers and other equipment. We oppose anyone sexually assaulting women and people should not engage in behaviors that will harm them or others. As far I have seen, so does the Occupy movement.
You should go down to your local Occupy site and actually talk with them rather than parroting things you have read.