MEDIA ROOTS – On Thursday, November 17, 2011, Abby Martin of Media Roots spoke with Russia Today TV about the violent mass arrests by militarised platoons of local police, as they wage a coordinated national campaign to crush the Occupy Movement. Abby reminds viewers that the banks are costing the City of Oakland far more than the justified civil disobedience of the Occupy Oakland Movement. Indeed, civil disobedience is the only way to go for the Occupy Movement nationwide and around the world.
MR
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Abby Martin, Media Roots Founder, is interviewed in this RT segment.
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RUSSIA TODAY – Violent arrests have taken place in New York during a huge anti-Wall Street rally. RT correspondents as well as independent commentators bring the latest from the scene.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has marked its two month anniversary with coast to coast protests. Activists flooded US cities in what they called “A Day of Action”, all this as part of the protest against economic inequality.
In New York, the heart of the movement, tens of thousands of activists marched across the city, literally occupying streets.
All that was accompanied by brutal crackdowns and violent arrests, with almost 300 arrests being made in New York alone.
RT’s Marina Portnaya, reporting from New York, has said that an eyewitness told RT the police attacked one of the activists – whether the police were or were not provoked is not clear. According to the witness, five or more police officers jumped on a young activist and started to beat him.
Independent journalist Abby Martin, talking to RT from Oakland, does not agree that the police’s general approach has been helping to restore public order. Though she admits the rallies could cause some anger of the public, the response and support for the movement is stronger than annoyance by inconveniences.
“Civil disobedience is the only way to go. People are waking up to the fact that the police are now militarized, and these absurd methods of crowd control – tear gas into thousands of people if one person throws a bottle – [take place]. All this could potentially cause some anger as people are trying to get to work, but overall I think it’s a great response we are not going to take it anymore and we are not going to step back. If the cops kick us out of Zuccotti Park and outside downtown Oakland, we are going to reconvene and show up stronger”.
Martin also draws attention to the fact that, as she says, banks are actually costing the city more money than the OWS protests.
“If you look at the amount it has cost the broke city of Oakland for this heavy-headed police response, upward to US$ 500 000 for the latest raid. What’s costing the city so much? Banks were exempt US$7 million from taxes just last year.”
© 2011 [RT] Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2011
Noble thought and its been mused in every city. Portland has a lot of empty resi and cc space. However, its fraut with latisgicol and legal problems. The occupy movement here is just a waste. A crying shame. We need the entire society to finally step up and reverse 200 years of corruption and separation of government from the people. I drive by the Portland movement all the time. They are a ratty, unorganized bunch. They go on TV calling police PIGS ala kate 60s, and as each is interviewed its obvious that they have no agenda. Very sad. Power to the people? Naw when they finally rust up and leave, a few will feel good about themselves but they will have wasted a real chance to do anything about anything.
How different the U.S. – and we – look from outside our borders, especially through disparity between the World’s and America’s
Press.