Occupy Wall Street

[Johnny Roastbeef]

Those officers have been placed on leave

[Johnny Roastbeef]

Someone takes a conspiracy theory approach to the violence against the Occupy movement

[fermun]

That isn't a totally crazy conspiracy theory, if the DHS is consulting on local matters, they have been ordered to do so. As far as I can tell from that article though, it looks like the only confirmed consulting was in Portland, which initially was on federally owned land, and the DHS could have done consulting on that without any involvement of congress or the president.

[thermus aquaticus]

Wouldn't all the beating be counterproductive?

[Zach]

I don't really think that's much of a conspiracy theory so much as an observation about how humans behave when their stockpiles of wealth are threatened. I would not be at all surprised if we start to see many more "less-than-lethal" weapons being used against peaceful protestors, many of which have been created by and for the military.

[thermus aquaticus]

It's a theory about folks conspiring. Why isn't it a conspiracy theory? Too mundane?

At any rate, I think it's weak as hell.

As the puzzle pieces fit together, they began to show coordination against OWS at the highest national levels.

No, they didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if such coordination existed, but Wolf's (the author of the piece) puzzle pieces are stupid. She used the fact that rightwing pundits and politicians were on-message. That's what wings do. They agree on certain things. And that leaked memo. A failed attempt at a conspiracy isn't evidence of a real conspiracy. It could just as well be used as evidence against it. Either way, it's weak.

And the beatings. My gut tells me they would help the protesters' message. Apparently Wolf's gut tells her the opposite. Now, I wonder who's right.

[HyperGlavin]

This calls for a good ol' American Gutfight

[fermun]

Naomi Wolf's national-level suppression conspiracy theory thingy wasn't so much based on right wing politicians and pundits being on-message, as it was the Department of Homeland Security admitting to consulting on stuff without further explanation, initially. The DHS is not allowed to consult on local policing unless it involves federally-owned land or if they are ordered to do so by the homeland security subcommittee or the president. The Department of Homeland Security did consult on how to get rid of the occupiers in Portland, but the occupiers in Portland were initially on federally-owned land, which is still within the DHS mandate.

If the Department of Homeland Security consulted on shutting down occupations other than Portland, then that would be pretty reasonable fuel for a conspiracy theory. If you know a bit about what the DHS is allowed to do but didn't know that Portland's occupation started on federal land, then you'd be left with the conclusions that either the DHS operated outside of their mandate or that they were ordered to consult on suppressing the occupations.

[Bettytron]

There's a march happening on Thursday in NYC. Zuccotti Park is basically empty since the raid, and weirdly surrounded by about three sets of police barricades, with only narrow entrances on either side of the park. This seems like a terrible public safety strategy; it's pretty clearly just to act as a deterrent and to force anyone entering the formerly un-fenced, open space to pass by several police beforehand. Maybe if interest builds for the march it will rejuvenate the New York branch of the movement.

This seems like the kind of thing that should re-invigorate activists, too, or maybe stir up interest with people who weren't involved before.