| Occupy Seattle | |||||||||||
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Occupy Seattle is a direct action and demonstration currently based at Seattle Central Community College with additional activity at Westlake Park and Seattle City Hall in downtown Seattle, Washington.[2] Occupy Seattle is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City in September, which in turn was inspired by the Arab Spring.[3] The protest, like the one in New York, is against wealth inequality, perceived corporate greed, and corruption in the banking and economic systems in the United States.
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Occupy Seattle began with a protest at the Federal Building in downtown Seattle on September 26, 2011 and camping at Westlake Park on October 1. The camp was forced out of Westlake Park on the morning of October 17 and was relocated to City Hall. Several efforts over the following weeks were made to retake the Westlake Location were met with force by the Seattle Police Department. The City hall location was problematic in many respects. Limited Space and terms of the permit, also, the location was undesirable to many. Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) was established on October 29, 2011 and the nightly General Assembly moved to SCCC on November 4, 2011. The SCCC Camp was evicted on December 9 and much of the movement has moved indoors, in backyards of supporters, and several mini-occupies remain throughout the city. Some facilities and camping are also located at Seattle City Hall which continue on to this date. General Assemblies have been relocated to Washington Trade and Convention Center at 7pm on Tues, Wed, Fri and Sunday.
According to a news report, the City of Seattle has spent an extra $104,869 as of October 14, 2011 in response to the protest for overtime pay for police and parks & recreation personnel.[4] Police overtime pay comprised the majority of overtime expenses at $97,200.[4]
Ten protesters were arrested for obstructing on the evening of October 13 after refusing to vacate Westlake Park after it had closed.[1] On October 15, the Occupy Seattle movement had its largest demonstration to date, with over 3,000 people rallying in Westlake Park.[5][6] On the morning of October 17, 2011, Seattle police informed campers at Westlake Park that tents had to be removed for city personnel to clean the park.[5] It was reported that during this incident six demonstrators who didn't comply with the order were arrested.[5]
The city of Seattle issued permits for Occupy Seattle on October 18, 2011, which limits camping at Westlake Park and enforces the park's closure at 10:00 PM.[7] Another permit for protests occurring at Seattle's city hall plaza allows camping with the stipulation that tents are to be deconstructed by 7:00 AM.[7] It was reported that police are enforcing a rule in Westlake Park in which umbrellas are only allowed to be used while being held, and are not allowed to be used as tent-like shelters.[8]
Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School who has called for a Second Constitutional Convention, praised the Occupy Seattle website for having an excellent design but felt there were too many demands listed, although he agreed that the demands needed to be addressed by Congress.[9] Lessig felt that substantive reform begins with clarity of focus in an effort to find common ground with reformers from different parts of the political spectrum:[9]
It begins with––first––clarity. The clarity of Thoreau ... If you come forward with a list of 100 demands, you come forward with noise. And nobody hears anything because they can't hear everything you're trying to say. Instead, this movement needs to find a way to clarify and focus. It needs to celebrate its diversity... They've got to seek common ground, not compromise, but a common ground so that they actually do speak for the 99%.
On November 2, Occupy Seattle protesters demonstrated at a Chase Bank on 12th Ave, the demonstration was a reaction to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's visit to Seattle. At 3:00 five protesters entered the bank and linked together via chain and pieces of PVC and facing out from the tellers. In addition about a dozen demonstrators sat in front of the police van to prevent it from moving and were eventually pulled away. After being given numerous verbal warnings to leave the bank Seattle Police arrested the demonstrators. During the demonstration ten police officers were physically assaulted by protesters, one officer was struck with an empty beer bottle, two suffered minor injuries. Pepper spray was used to provide cover for the officers under attack and disperse the assailiants.[10][11]
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| "Pepper sprayed in the face by the police at #OccupySeattle" | |
On November 15, a march commenced from the Seattle Central Community College campus to Belltown. At one point during the march a 17-year-old female swung a stick at an officer. After officers moved in to arrest the female the officers were hindered in their efforts, after issuing an order to disperse the officers deployed pepper spray to move subjects away from them so they could arrest the female suspect.[12] Police were filmed spraying the crowd of people with pepper spray. It was reported that the victims included "a 4-foot 10-inch, 84-year-old woman, a priest and a women, Jennifer Fox, who claimed the pepper spray led to a miscarriage." [13] The 84-year-old woman, Dorli Rainey, is a former mayoral candidate and retired school teacher who has been active in City government on education and transportation issues since the 1960s. That night, Rainey was enroute to City Hall to attend a scheduled meeting of the Seattle City Council's Transportation Committee.[14] Rainey had served on the school board, and in 1970s ran for a seat on King County Council. In 2009, Rainey, then 82 years old, made a brief run for Seattle Mayor before withdrawing from the race citing her age: "I am old and should learn to be old, stay home, watch TV and sit still." However, regarding the possible miscarriage by Jennifer Fox, doubts have been cast on the truth of her claim.[15][16]
Dorli Rainey was notably photographed as she was being carried away by friends after having been hit with the police's chemical spray.[17]
The demonstrations goal was advertised to "disrupt Wall Street on the waterfront" and in solidarity with Truck Driver and Longshoremens unions.[18] The Occupy Seattle movement was not well received by Maritime Unions, Robert McEllrath President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said "Support is one thing, organization from outside groups attempting to co-opt our struggle in order to advance a broader agenda is quite another and one that is destructive to our democratic process."[19][20]
On December 10, at 1:30 an estimated 400 Occupy Seattle Demonstrators left Westlake Park along 2nd Ave as part of a larger effort to shutdown West Coast ports. After reaching Terminal 18 protesters divided themselves into different zones; red, yellow, and green differentiating the likelihood of arrest. The demonstrators blocked traffic to Spokane Street in both directions. The protesters then took multiple sections of fencing and dragged it across the roadway leading to the terminal gate. There allegedly were numerous dispersal orders were given to the marchers, however police alleged demonstrators pulled more fencing into the roadway and began throwing burning flares, bags of bricks, and bags of paint, rebar and other debris at the police officers and police horses monitoring the demonstration. At least five officers were injured. Eleven adults were arrested for various violations including Failure to Disperse, Obstructing and Assaulting an Officer.[21] Nine were released on own recognizance while two were held overnight for felony assault on an officer.[22]
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