Naomi Wolf: how I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street

[EFerrari]

Naomi Wolf: how I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street

Arresting a middle-aged writer in an evening gown for peaceable conduct is a far cry from when America was a free republic

Last night I was arrested in my home town, outside an event to which I had been invited, for standing lawfully on the sidewalk in an evening gown.

Let me explain; my partner and I were attending an event for the Huffington Post, for which I often write: Game Changers 2011, in a venue space on Hudson Street. As we entered the space, we saw that about 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters were peacefully assembled and were chanting. They wanted to address Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was going to be arriving at the event. They were using a technique that has become known as "the human mic" – by which the crowd laboriously repeats every word the speaker says – since they had been told that using real megaphones was illegal.

In my book Give Me Liberty, a blueprint for how to open up a closing civil society, I have a chapter on permits – which is a crucial subject to understand for anyone involved in protest in the US. In 70s America, protest used to be very effective, but in subsequent decades municipalities have sneakily created a web of "overpermiticisation" – requirements that were designed to stifle freedom of assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances, both of which are part of our first amendment. One of these made-up permit requirements, which are not transparent or accountable, is the megaphone restriction.

So I informed the group on Hudson Street that they had a first amendment right to use a megaphone and that the National Lawyers' Guild should appeal the issue if they got arrested. And I repeated the words of the first amendment, which the crowd repeated.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/19/naomi-wolf-arrest-occupy-wall-street

[deaniac21]

1. Heartbreaking...

[pnorman]

2. OWS---I'll use that! THANKS!

K & R!

[myrna minx]

3. Thanks for posting. Unbelievable. K&R n.t

[AngkorWot]

4. "Arresting a middle-aged writer in an evening gown"

Is that Wolf's own words, or did an editor add that?

[Hissyspit]

5. VIDEO of Arrest Here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=626561&mesg_id=626561

[valerief]

The thugs make up the laws as they go along. It's a banana republic. nt

[EFerrari]

9. We're now Supersized Guatemala.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, EFerrari.

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. All the right people are getting upset and involved, calling BULLSHIT!

It's a beautiful thing.

[Quantess]

8. Shameful.

[a simple pattern]

10. I love the mic check

I would choose the human mic over a megaphone any day. It is so much more than amplification, it is solidarity in action.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Lovely write up of a dreadful situation. In some way, I am glad she got arrested.

Her eloquence and fame is perfect for advertising the NYPDs repressive tactics.

"Give Me Liberty" is a great book, by the way.