Bi-coastal Coverage of the Occupy Wall Street Movement

Jane Ready For Action in Oakland 

On 11/09 Jane Tyska, a photojournalist friend, tipped me off that the destruction of the Occupy Oakland encampment was imminent. I flew out from New Orleans the next day. I had a chance to meet some of the protesters and document the site before it was torn down by the police on 11/14. The police did their job with professionalism, unlike an earlier raid where excessive force and tea rgas were used. The press were allowed some access to the encampment during the teardown. The next day there was a march, rally and start up of a new encampment at UC Berkeley. Robert Reich addressed over 5,000 people gathered in in Sproul Plaza, famed as the location of protests in the '60s. I spent the night there while the police kept reminding students who spent the night in their newly built tent city that they were subject to arrest. In the group was Daniel Ellsberg, who chatted with me about the Occupy movement, war and whistle blowers. He told me the Obama administration has gone after more whistle blowers than any other: seven, to date. As morning broke I headed for the airport and a flight to NYC.

As the sun came up on November 17th, I got my first post-eviction look at Zuccotti Park. The police had the park barricaded. except for a few points of access. Cleaners were spraying down parts of the park. Protesters who met across the street before a march on Wall Street were tense. Hundreds if not over a thousand police were on hand. My experience with the police varied: One officer told me that the police are part of the 99% and only doing their job; another used his baton to push me back when there was no back to back up to.

With Occupy Wall Street going into its third month, American journalists no longer have to fly to a distant land to be in harm's way covering the news. Nor do they have to be in a third world country to find they do not have the freedom to cover the story.

Check out my story/slide show on the Atlanic's site on the raid of Occupy Oakland's Camp
and story/slide show from the NYC Day of Action http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/an-inside-look-at-todays-occupy-wall-street-scuffles/248673/#slide3
Watch the Barricades in Zuccotti Park being taken down by Occupy Wall Street protesters
Set of Occupy CA on Flickr
Set of Occupy Wall Street  on Flickr

Riot Police Raid Occupy Oakland

Trading Post at Occupy San Francisco

Berkely Students Marching Before Occupy Plaza

Daniel Ellsberg Early Morning in Sproul Palza

Robert Reich Speaking in Sproul Plaza

 Nadina Laspina Arreseted on Nov. 17th NYC

Police Push Press Back With Billyclubs in NYC

"Pancho" Ramos Stierle Arrested during Raid on Occupy Oakland Camp

Berkeley Student Set Up Tents in Sproul Plaza During Rally

Photographing Occupy Wall Street for 5 Weeks in NYC

Snow covers Tents and Sculpture in Zuccotti Park in October

Charlie Gaeta and Jess Wood in Fox New reporter costumes

LINK TO RECENT INTERVIEW  FROM FOX 8 MORNING SHOW in N.O. 
Rob Masson asks me about OWS





In the five weeks I covered Occupy Wall Street, I watched the movement grow and spread around the world. Last week in NYC, protesters took to the streets after ex-Marine Scott Olsen was injured by the Oakland police when they broke up Occupy Oakland's encampment. Violence against protesters further strengthened the activists' resolve. Those in Zuccotti Park braved an October snowstorm and two days later joined in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade.
The movement continues to evolve. In the 47 days since the protest began, OWS has changed the national dialog from the deficit to economic inequality. People are switching to credit unions and investigating banking options in record numbers.
Check out my recently updated set on Occupy Wall Street my flickr 
A video of Marine,  Sgt. Thomas explaining why he thinks participating in OWS is important
and A video of the Drunken Wife, playing in the Halloween Parade while marching in the OWS contingent.

Protest sign on the bottom of  pizza Box in Zuccotti Park

OWS protesters in NYPD costumes at the NYC Halloween Parade

OWS protester as dressed as a foreclosed home

OWS protester dresses as Jesus in the NYC Halloween Parade

Peter Rostusky with Pipe-cleaner 99% glasses in the Halloween Parade

Occupy Wall Street Movement in Second Month

Members of the Grannie Brigade at a Lincoln Center

As The Occupy Wall Street movement grows, it has embraced various groups protesting specific social and economic injustices. I have been covering events initiated by these affiliated groups: The Grannie Brigade at a peace vigil at Lincoln Center (these senior citizens have been protesting against war for six years); a march to the New York District Attorney's office by Vocal NY, a group of community activists,protesting police brutality and arrests of OWS participants; a march and protest at a meeting aagainst fracking; a rally and civil disobedience action led by Cornel West and religious leaders in Harlem that kicked off a campaign against the NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy; and a march to Union Square by The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.

Despite Mayor Bloomberg's promise to be tougher on protestors who don't obey the law, no further mass arrests have been made in New York City. The only arrests made were those of Cornel West and others protesting the Stop and Frisk policy. NYPD gave the group time to say their piece in front of a Harlem precinct headquarters before arresting those who were determined to be arrested, locking arms until they were taken away.

Two days ago police in Albany refused orders to arrest protesters, while the encampment in Oakland was broken up by police with tear gas and arrests. What is next for protesters in Zuccotti Park, no one knows, but their agenda is growing and tents are replacing tarps as cold weahter moves in.

Click here to see images available through Corbis and others through Flickr set

Cornel West leads a protest against NYPD policy, Stop & Frisk

Man at a meeting on Spectra Pipe Line

Protestor at a meeting on Spectra Pipe Line

Protester offers flowers to NYPD in  front of DA's office

Occupy Wall Street, Continued

Wall Street barricaded off empty except for NYPD

On Oct. 5, while protesters were holding a rally in Foley Square, the NYC police were barricading off all paths to the Stock Exchange on Wall Street. I photographed the march form Zuccotti Park to Foley Square and then took a subway to Wall Street, thinking i would meet the marchers there. Instead i found lines of metal barricades and loads of police. It became clear to me the marchers weren't going to make it to Wall Street so I left the area and made my way to Zucotti Park, which was full to capacity. For the first time, the park was barricaded. You could get in but only at the corners of the park where police were controlling movement creating a claustrophobic environment.

Protestors in Foley Square

As i was leaving, I witnessed a long procession of cops headed to Wall Street. Something menacing was in the air. When I got back to my base, I read tweets that said ambulances were stationed at the Wall Street bull and cops had attacked protesters. Later on Fox News I saw a report from the front lines: The cops used their batons to strike not only protesters but the media too.

There was footage of protesters knocking over a police motorcycle and trying to enter Wall Street before violence began. Once again the police have their side of the story to justify their heavy-handed tactics. But I wonder why didn't the police let the Occupy Wall Street people march on Wall Street? The crowd was much smaller than the thousands that had marched to Foley Square. The Wall Street offices were closed, so business would not have been disrupted. Had they let the protestors march the streets in the financial district, that would have been that. Instead, countless man hours were spent to make the streets impassible turning downtown NYC into a police state, setting up a situation bound to lead to confrontation.

Is it Police Commissioner Kelly or Mayor Bloomberg calling the shots in this uncharted new chapter of civil disobedience in NYC, a city that is big on law and order? Whoever it is in charge has empowered the protestors once again with their actions. If the whole world wasn't watching, they certainly are now.

To see my images from the Oct 5th march and rally click on my set on Flickr.
Click here to see a slide show and my first hand account from the Brooklyn Bridge on the Atlantic's website .
And here to see video of one of the protestors resisting arrest on the Brooklyn Bridge.
And advice given to protesters by Lawyers Guild before the march started.

Occupy Wall Street Protestors march to Foley Square

Occupy Wall Street Protestors march to Foley Square

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Protestor in Foley Square

Wall Street crashes as bailout plan is voted down

Today at noon there was a rally near the stock exchange. Jesse Jackson spoke to a crowd of 500. He called for “More Roosevelt and Obama not Bush and McCain.” While the rally was going on, the market was crashing in what turned out to be the biggest drop of points in a single day. I got into the Stock Exchange and shot from the visitors’ observation deck before the final bell range. The mood didn’t seem particularity down, I think the brokers are getting used to things crashing.Outside I took pictures of the brokers as they left the building. The press treated the brokers the way paparazzi treat Paris Hilton. The brokers for the most part weren’t amused and some acted like perps I photographed when stopped by the National Guard. Anyone who was willing to speak was surrounded by cameras. TV crews anxious for information. Most expressed their surprise and disappointment that the house didn’t pass the bailout plan. What it means I’m not sure but after reading Naomi Klein’s Disaster Capitalism, I’m glad the warning Bush put out that bailout has to happen fast isn’t being heeded. I want the politicians voting to take time to understand what it is they are voting for or against before they act.