Once Again Its Time To Occupy Jail Cells
The Northwest is known for two things: great coffee and left-wing nuts. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has been forced to make an emergency declaration to allow police to confiscate items that can be used as weapons following violent Occupy May Day protests where criminals under the guise of protestors destroyed storefronts and smashed car windows.
Seattle Police made at least two arrests after hundreds of Occupy protestors marched through the city’s center Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor McGinn said dozens of black-clad protesters were using items that looked like flagpoles as weapons. McGinn said his order would enable police to take those items away from people before they are used to cause damage and help protect public safety as protests continued into Tuesday evening.
At the federal appeals court building protesters used rocks to destroy the glass doors near the entrance and then threw a smoke bomb toward the lobby, but the device hit one door and started a small blaze that quickly burned itself out.
The entrance to the Niketown store was completely smashed in, with chunks of broken glass littering the sidewalk. The criminals splattered paint across the store and a neighboring business. Police on bicycles moved in and dispersed people, closing off the store entrances with crime scene tape.
While Occupy Wall Street actions in the East have been on the decline since last winter, on the West Coast and Northwest a tight linkage between Occupy forces and unions have kept the flames burning.
Roots of Occupy Reside in Soviet Union
The first of May, also known as May Day, is hailed by the Encyclopedia of Marxism as an international day of worker’s rights, also played a major role in the Russian Revolution that brought Vladimir Lenin to power.
The May Day actions reveal the dark underbelly of the Occupy movement.
Seattle’s Mayor had warned the public of possible traffic delays and disruptions. Graffiti and posters placed by Occupy protestors made it clear that some of them intended to use the demonstrations for property damage.
Next door to Niketown at the American Apparel store, assistant manager Mia Harrison was folding sweaters when she heard the commotion.
“I decided to go out on the sidewalk, and I saw all the people in black masks running to Niketown and our store. They started to throw smoke bombs and canisters,” she said.
The vandals shattered a door and cracked two windows. No one was hurt. “It’s pretty sad, almost like someone broke into my house,” Harrison said.
Lawlessness tolerated is an invitation to more crime and violence. West Coast public safety officials have, for the most part, taken a conciliatory approach to the Occupy demonstrations which has led to a continuation of property damage and a range of other criminal activities.
Oakland, California, another Occupy tinderbox, continued suffering under the Occupy crime spree. Police lobbed gas canisters at May Day Occupy protesters forcing them to flee downtown Oakland taking at least four people into custody.
While there were sporadic reports of similar actions across the country, most were small nuisance protests that received little attention. On the East Coast, in New York, where the roots of the Occupy Wall Street movement formed, police detained at least six people.
Protest organizers said they intended to show the “one percent” what life without the “99 percent” would look like, as they encouraged workers and students to take a day off in solidarity against income inequality and “unjust” corporate practices.
The Occupy movement has had no effect on corporate behavior nor has it instigated any form of political reform; it’s nothing more than an excuse to avoid work, complain about the inequities of life and create mayhem. If the Occupy movement had a clear goal and worked within the system to discuss what they find unfair they might be worthy of a modicum of respect; as it is they are nothing but a bunch of thugs only interested in making some vague point while acting out like spoiled children.