Occupy Raleigh, NC (part 13) Not so Proud to be an American (pub 11/27/11)

The Raleigh Occupation now has a base camp called the North Carolina Occupy Movement Resource Center. Its a small triangle plot of land about 4 blocks from the Capitol grounds whose sidewalk we have been occupying for over 40 days now. This was the announcement of this resource center:

A Shared Place for Occupy Raleigh

The “North Carolina Occupy Movement Resource Center” now exists at 11 N West Street.  This is the NE corner of the triangle of land where Hillsboro, Edenton and West street come together.

Some Occupy Raleigh members are concerned about using the term “Occupy Raleigh” to refer to a rented location and some are concerned that calling private property “Occupy Raleigh” may be viewed as a co-optation of the Occupy name, so an anonymous donor created a shared space for all Occupy Movement supporters to come together and establish a community.

The donor believes that influence derived from money distorts our society and so wishes to remain anonymous to avoid getting special treatment from the group.

This donor is offering space to set up the North Carolina Occupy Movement Resource Center, devoted to the principles of non violence and dedicated to the proposition that a nation should be judged not by how it treats its wealthiest citizens, but by how it treats its neediest ones.

The Resource Center extends an invitation to Occupy Raleigh, Occupy NC State, Occupy the Hood, Occupy Durham, Occupy Chapel Hill, other North Carolina Occupations, and any persons who wish to support the Occupy movement to set up tents and stay overnight.

The Resource Center also invites the various Occupations, and individual occupiers, to collaboratively set up resources such as a food tent, first aid tent, and library; and to utilize the Resource Center space for workshops, teach-ins, public forums, and other activities which will generate support for the Occupy Movement.

The Resource Center may not be used to promote or plan a violent takeover of any property, including the Resource Center itself.  Individuals or Occupation groups who wish to conduct such activity are requested do so on their own turf.

All people using the Resource Center must:

Maintain a non-violent co-operative environment
Prohibit drug and alcohol use.
Keep the site in a sanitary and safe condition.
Respect the laws of the City of Raleigh while on the Resource Center property.
Respect the rights of other occupiers, the neighbors, and particularly the students of Exploris Middle School.

While most of us would have preferred to occupy a piece of public land reality basically got in the way. We never amassed the numbers large enough to take a space that would force local government and the police to make the uncomfortable decision to arrest over 100 people or not. While we are growing slowly, it would be some time before we have numbers like that willing to risk arrest. As winter is fast approaching it became paramount to establish a situation which was sustainable with the shelter necessary to keep members of Occupy Raleigh safe from the elements.

Our liaison to the FDL Occusupply was recently on a conference call with around 60 other occupations. Most where small to moderate sized occupations such as Occupy Raleigh. Our liaison commented on how they were suffering the same sorts of harassment and issues we were. One of the reasons this movement survives is because occupations adapt to their particular situations in ways that allow them to continue to resist. One occupation mentioned they were set up on land donated for their use by the AFL-CIO. Not all occupations are on public land and we had to make the hard choice to use a private space donated for our use to set up a base camp. And setting up we are.

Even though there is still more brush to be cleared, already several tents have been erected on the site. There is a larger tent which has been designated for the kitchen. Our Expansions and Tactics working group is still working out the overall layout for the site. Its not very big so we will have to use every inch to the best advantage we can. One positive note in regards to the space is that there is a dirt parking lot bordering the site which three separate entities are fighting over ownership rights too. These means that no parking restrictions are being enforced which has allowed us to use it for our own parking. I also have a feeling we may be able to encroach our camp onto that land a bit without issue, but we will have to play that one by ear.

Needless to say the majority of the Raleigh Occupation is excited about these developments. People are able to sleep comfortably in tents. People are not being woken up by the police at 6am with demands that everything be removed. We expect to have at least one or two generators at the site for power to charge laptops and cellphones. Its my understanding that a couple porta-potties have already been ordered but I am not certain of that yet. There is a general feeling that once we get set up we can start shifting more of our attention to direct actions and outreach.

Speaking of direct action, we had 6 more arrested on Black Friday. There was a plan to do a flash mob at one of the large malls in Raleigh. However one member of the occupation had posted this event on Facebook. As much as we have tried, its been exceedingly difficult to get this person to understand that the forces which oppose us are malicious and when the cops are working for them they are not our friends. We were gathered at the Capitol grounds preparing to leave for the mall when a group of officers showed up, a mix of the Raleigh PD and mall cops. They told us they had “intelligence” that we were planning a flash mob at the mall today and that we were not allowed to do so. They explained the mall was private property and that we would be arrested if we tried.

As if militarizing our police is not enough, now they think they are the FBI having people to “gather intelligence”. There was a brief discussion with them. At one point I asked them if people started caroling in the mall would they throw them out. One officer claimed they would. I called him a Grinch.  The person who had posted our action on Facebook tried to reason or negotiate with them about where we could do it. Most of us looked on in frustration as a couple tried to get this person to stop talking. Eventually some one mic checked, explained that the officers had delivered their message, and we should thank them and bid them goodbye, which we then did.

I quickly decided I was no longer going to go with the flash mob. If you have read this blog from the start you know I have already been arrested once, and while I may be willing to risk arrest again, it certainly won’t be for a flash mob where they know we are coming because someone posted the information on Facebook. I left for our new base camp to help clear more brush and just to enjoy being there. A handful of people decided to go through with the flash mob at the chosen mall. There were also two who went to the mall to shop. One of the two has a child who has chicken pox and they wanted to pick up a plushie their child wanted at the Disney store. The second just went to keep them company and get some food.

The flash mob folks, about 3 or so people, began speaking in the food court. The spoke briefly about putting human needs ahead of corporate greed. There was a brief chant of “We are the 99%” which onlookers joined them on. At the end they talked about being thankful for their freedoms. They told me that initially the food court was very loud but once they started it got considerably quieter as people stopped talking to listen. They felt very well received overall. While they spoke one of our group with the bright green legal observer hat stood nearby watching and taking notes. The other two who had actually come to shop sat about 100 feet away across the food court eating some fast food.

After finishing their chants they began walking out of the mall. From my understanding the one  wearing the legal observer hat, Emily, was the one first detained. Leave it to mall cops to not have a clue what the green hat means. The rest where detained shortly there after. Derek, the one who was at the mall to actually shop on the busiest shopping day of the year briefly described the events with the following:

Hi. I was arrested for doing nothing. I did not partake in a flash mob. I did not chant. I was 100 feet away with Charles eating McDonalds. Charles followed them out and asked Emily for a cigarette. One of the officers saw Charles, pointed directly in his face and yelled, “He’s with them!”

He was not with them. He was with me. 100 feet away. Eating a quarter pounder with cheese.

I asked the officer why my friend was being detained, and explained to them that he was with me. They then kettled me into the group with them. My intent was to observe the action from a safe distance, then purchase one of these from the Disney store for Cassie, as she is sick.

They were then handed over to the Raleigh PD to be taken to the jail to be processed. While on the way Emily told us that the song “Proud to be an American” came on the radio and shortly after the line “I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free” the policeman promptly turned off the radio. I guess the twisted irony of that moment was even too much for him to stomach.

All six where charged with 2nd Degree Trespass and Disorderly Conduct. In the description of their Disorderly Conduct charge on their paperwork it claimed:

Use any language or gestures that are likely to incite violence or fighting

So in NC alone there was pepper spray used by an off duty police officer on shoppers and a separate incident where shots where fired but a few people speaking peacefully to people at a food court is likely to incite violence or fighting. Perhaps we should feel fortunate they didn’t flat out dub them terrorists. They are already claiming peacefully speaking ideas of economic justice and freedom are disorderly conduct that are likely to incite violence or fighting. The irony is that’s true. It’s just the ones who it may incite to use violence are the police themselves.