This is Happening
My name is Kelly Schomburg, I’m the girl with the red hair in these pictures. I was protesting at the Occupy Wall Street march yesterday when I and several other women were sprayed with mace and subsequently arrested. Many have already seen the video, which has been spreading like wildfire over twitter, Facebook, tumblr, and other video feeds, along with hundreds of other photos and videos. This is my recount of what happened.
Scores of protesters were arrested in Manhattan Saturday as a march against social inequality turned violent.
Hundreds of people carrying banners and chanting “shame, shame” walked between Zuccotti Park, near Wall St., and Union Square calling for changes to a financial system they say unjustly benefits the rich and harms the poor.
At least 80 people were carted away in police vehicles and up to five were hit with pepper spray near 12th St. and Fifth Ave., where tensions became especially high, police and organizers said.
The National Lawyer’s Guild, which is providing legal assistance to the protesters, put the number of arrests at 100.
Witnesses said they saw three stunned women collapse on the ground screaming after they were sprayed in the face.
A video posted on YouTube and NYDailyNews.com shows uniformed officers had corralled the women using orange nets when two supervisors made a beeline for the women, and at least one suddenly sprayed the women before turning and quickly walking away.
Footage of other police altercations also circulated online, but it was unclear what caused the dramatic mood shift in an otherwise peaceful demonstration.
“I saw a girl get slammed on the ground. I turned around and started screaming,” said Chelsea Elliott, 25, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who said she was sprayed. “I turned around and a cop was coming … we were on the sidewalk and we weren’t doing anything illegal.”
Police said 80 protesters were arrested or ticketed at multiple locations for disorderly conduct, blocking traffic and failure to obey a lawful order but the number could rise.
If the NYPD’s excuse for this disgusting behavior — which should make decent police officers anywhere cringe with shame — is that the protestors didn’t have a permit, then fuck that. Of course, Mayor Bloomberg is probably off in Bermuda on his usual weekend getaway, so neither he nor his police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, won’t have to be held accountable for these wanton acts of police brutality until Monday. At least.
For shame.
(Photo: Jefferson Siegel / Daily News)
The Onion Could Move To Chicago, Forcing NYC Writers To Relocate Or Leave | HuffPo Comedy
While the publication currently serves 3.6 million print readers and boasts 7.5 million unique visitors a month to its website, there have been signs of financial strain. The company instituted a pay wall for its overseas readers in August of this year, and entered into a spat with the WGA over payment of its writers leading up to the second season of “ONN” on IFC.
Initial calls made to the company’s Chairman and CEO Steve Hannah in Chicago were not returned, however, a company spokesperson told HuffPost, “We’re still in the very early stages of this process, but we’re looking forward to eventually having everyone under one roof in Chicago.”
This excites me. Chicago is finally solidifying its rightful spot as THE city to be for comedians.
Thomas Hoepker, Lover’s Lane, New Jersey, 1983
What iconic symbols we take for granted now are going to be utterly destroyed 20 years from now?
Alec Baldwin May Run for NYC Mayor Eventually, But First Grad School | NYTimes.com
The actor will go back to grad school after 30 Rock to get a masters in politics and government. He’s currently talking to two top universities about enrollment.
