"...the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government..."

[elehhhhna]

Doesn't this sh!t ring a bell with anyone?

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. It sounds familiar. :)

[FarCenter]

2. They already were on the City Hall side of the East River

Must have lost their way.

[NightWatcher]

3. We loved it in Egypt, but arrested them in New York

[tblue]

13. American Exceptionalism

Rules don't apply here.

[MADem]

4. People are free to peaceably assemble, but you need a permit to walk in the street.

If you block police/fire/ambulance, and it is YOUR granny who died because she didn't get to the ER in time, you're not going to be a happy camper. The shit that will be ringing a bell with you would be the LAWSUIT shit--but who would you sue? The police, for failing to clear the streets? The mayor, for failing to instruct the police to clear the streets? The organizers of the demonstration--if you can find them?

There are two sides to every story.

Permits in NYC are FREE OF CHARGE. No one has to go broke getting one. The purpose of the permit is to ensure the public safety, to insure that police are on hand to protect property and keep emergency lanes open.

Why is it so fucking hard for these people to get a damn permit? Martin Luther King got a permit, and he threw a demo in DC that no one has forgotten to this day.

I support the goals of cutting the cords between the corrupt corporations and our government, but I think these people are going about their demonstrations in a curious way. They aren't reaching the people they want to reach, I don't think.

[RoccoR5955]

5. If the police had told them, and even "escorted" them to the roadway,

The Police are responsible. This is a tactic that they have used in the past. Not on the bridge, but to corral people. That's why it's best not to follow them. Stay on the sidewalk, and bridge walkways, and what the heck do you need with a permit?

[Gregorian]

6. I don't think they give permits for stroming the barracades.

[RoccoR5955]

7. what the heck is stroming the barracades? n/t

[Gregorian]

9. Haha. I thought I fixed that. I think I'll leave it.

[eleny]

8. +1

[MADem]

11. If that's what they were doing, then they expected to be arrested.

Unless they were idiots, and I don't think they are that.

[Modern_Matthew]

10. Where's the part about the permit and all that other red tape bullshit? nt

[MADem]

12. That's where the state takes over. The federal government does not

interfere in the way the states manages their own affairs. You can't quote a federal document and then suggest that the states and their municipalities have no right to establish regulations to ensure the safe and efficient management of their cities/towns.

The state can facilitate peaceful assembly and the public safety/common good issues that attend said assembly any way they please, by their legislature, representing their citizens, passing laws to manage said assemblies.

In NYC, they do it with permits--free of charge.

[RoccoR5955]

14. The other reason that they want these permits

is so that the police can infiltrate your march. If they deem that it is "unpatriotic" or otherwise not within the corporate mainstream, they will put plain clothes people in there who will instigate people into violence. They've been doing it for as long as I can remember. It goes back to the Viet Nam War days. They did it then, they'll do it now.

You technically don't need a permit if you keep it on the sidewalk, and move it into a park, like Union Square. They will tell you that that you need a permit, but you really don't.

[lonestarnot]

15. Or just deny them in the first place.

[RoccoR5955]

16. Their history is to not deny them

It's to do as I stated. Believe me, I organized folks in the late 60s and mid 80s. When I was on the steering committee of SHAD, against Shoreham, the NYCPD had infiltrated us then several times, trying to get people to act violent.

[MADem]

17. Please--do you think that people --and not necessarily "the police" -- haven't infiltrated

that group already? Come on. And they can "infiltrate" just by walking along with the rest of the crowd wearing jeans and a shirt. The people in the group are not INVISIBLE, after all and they are conducting all their business out in the open, in a frigging park. So really--infiltrate WHAT?

And what's the harm in letting the police know what you are up to--unless you're planning VIOLENCE, you shouldn't have anything to fear. Marches, rallies, demonstrations--Big Friken Deal. Let the police know--that way there's no issue.

These stupid shenanigans where people try to do sit-ins in banks and shopping malls? That's just DUMB. It doesn't make people like them, it makes them think they're jerky punks who don't get how hard it is to work all day at a shit job and TCB, too. It makes them think "Crap--I need to get this deposit in so my rent check doesn't bounce, and these assholes are making me go across town to another branch--now I'll be late for work," or "I just stopped into this downtown mall to buy Granny a birthday gift, now I can't get out because these idiots are blocking the door. My boss will kill me if I'm late back from my lunch hour."

I don't argue AT ALL with the goal of combating corporate corruption, but I really think some of these tactics are the product of Wall Street Corporate Disinformation Artists or GOP activists who are trying to distract from the purpose of the action. Either that, or really stupid people.

I urge you to look up the ACLU instructions on permits and marches in NYC. It's online. The police can ask for all kinds of detail, and people don't have to answer if they don't want to. All they need to do is provide the march route. And permits are FREE. They should get 'em when they go on the move.