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Press clash with police during Occupy Wall Street raid; seven journalists arrested

By Dylan Stableford | The Cutline – Tue, Nov 15, 2011

A protester is arrested in New York. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

Zuccotti Park, which has been ground zero for the Occupy Wall Street protest since mid-September, was cleared by police in riot gear early Tuesday morning. As NYPD officers carried out the raid, they turned away members of the media--occasionally by force, with several arrests ensuing .

And like the protesters they were trying to cover, the journalists swept up in the raid have been crying foul.

"I'm press!" Rosie Gray, a reporter for the Village Voice, claims she told a female police officer.

Her response: "Not tonight."

Reporters such as Gray took to Twitter, using a #mediablackout hashtag to update their industry colleagues.

At a press conference, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police barred the media from covering the raid for their own protection, and "to prevent a situation from getting worse."

"The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out, but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others," Bloomberg said. "Nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law."

"Could #Bloomberg be a secret Occupy Wall Streeter?" Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on Twitter. "He seems to have just revived the movement."

According to Gothamist.com, the NYPD restricted airspace in Lower Manhattan to prevent local news helicopters from CBS and NBC from capturing video images of the raid. Police also used pepper spray on a "large number" of reporters.

Reporters from NPR and the New York Times were among the 200 people whom police officers arrested during the initial raid. Julie Walker, a freelancer for NPR, was arrested "despite the fact that she was wearing an NYPD-issued press pass." Police held her for four hours before releasing her.

Jared Maslin, a reporter for the New York Times's local East Village blog, said he was arrested as he tried to comply with the police orders to move away from the area.

The "reporter was put onboard a police van with eight other arrestees, including two New School undergraduates, a photographer with Agence France-Presse, and city councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, all handcuffed behind their backs," the Times said. Rodriguez "had blood on his temple from what he said was an earlier confrontation with the police."

On Tuesday afternoon, police arrested at least four other journalists who were tracking OWS protestors as they tried to gather at another nearby park. Among that group of arrested reporters were journalists from the Daily News and the Associated Press, according to the Times.

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392 comments

JEC • 1 mth 17 days ago
The first amendment in the US constitution has been blatently overlooked, what happened to freedom of speech, the right to peacefully assemble and freedom of the press?
ToughUSA • Washington, United States • 5 mths ago
The banks , wall street and war mongers can't hide from Ron Paul.
Robert • San Diego, United States • 5 mths ago
Thank You Ron Paul, the Barn Door is Now Open and Will Never Be Closed Again!!! After all your years of Truth, Honor and Integrity filled Work, Standing Up for what's Best for America First. .........."Most Americans will never allow themselves to be Propagandized, live off Lobbyist sound bites", etc.. because "WE FREE AMERICANS ARE NOW MORE AWARE AND KNOWLEDGABLE, about the game the Fed Reserve, the IMF, War, Corp, Banking, etc.. Lobbyist are playing in the purposeful destruction of America. And we all know (especially since our founding fathers fought for this country To Be Free), that you can never control or hold "truly free people down". Looks Like the Gig Is Up. Thank You President Ron Paul.
stormisdad • Chico, United States • 6 mths ago
This is what a Police State looks like...
Occupy exposed that much.
- Nicole J. 6 mths ago
  Yep, how to control the media with brute force.
The Other Mitt • 6 mths ago
There are way too many lobbyists in Washington. When wildlife becomes overpopulated we open up a season for hunting them.... to control their numbers and get them back to manageable levels.

Just saying....
Kelly • 6 mths ago
Why don't the police want the press there? What were they trying to hide? Excessive force?
Gmaw • Branson, United States • 6 mths ago
In the Spring of 2010, a bespectacled, middle-aged policy wonk named Peter Schweizer fired up his laptop and began a months-long odyssey into a forbidding maze of public databases, hunting for the financial secrets of Washington’s most powerful politicians. Schweizer had been struck by the fact that members of Congress are free to buy and sell stocks in companies whose fate can be profoundly influenced, or even determined, by Washington policy, and he wondered, do these ultimate insiders act on what they know? Yes, Schweizer found, they certainly seem to. Schweizer’s research revealed that some of Congress’s most prominent members are in a position to routinely engage in what amounts to a legal form of insider trading, profiting from investment activity that, he says, “would send the rest of us to prison.”
- ChAoS~dEfInEd 6 mths ago
  let's send them to prison
- MacBode 6 mths ago
  Oh please! Can we?
- WE SOCIETY 6 mths ago
  fannie and freddie paid congressman ex and current millions and millions of tax payer dollars to not regulate them OCCUPY WALL STREET
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Mark • Westfield, United States • 6 mths ago
A year ago a friend said we may be headed for a revolution...I said not here in the US...now I'm not sure he was wrong. And to you law enforcement men and women out there...don't be so primed for comfrontation, like so many of you seem to be...we are your fellow americans..remember that.Simple "following orders" wont fly for long. I have a few cop friends and hope to never be on opposing sides.
- lazy t 6 mths ago
  if ows turns violent it will also be against americans and ows will get shot !
- bigO 6 mths ago
  As a former Deputy, I feel for these officers as there is simply no right nor wrong for them in the eyes of the media. No matter what they seem to do, they are chastised for doing what they where supposed to do. I have met very few officers that look for trouble – most just want to do their jobs and go home. But, when they try to do their job and are physically and verbally assaulted, it makes it very hard to keep ones cool.
  
  For all of those protesting, please note the police are not your enemies. They are not paid to take sides. So, do not direct your anger at them nor make them feel cornered. Remember, the number 1 creed for each and every office is “I will go home tonight”.
- S. 6 mths ago
  Well when I see the police doing some of the things I see on tv...and there is no "spin" going on here, I can SEE it happening... then I find myself wondering if I can trust the cop pulling me over to give me a ticket. That's the REAL damage happening here, it's not a couple of kids getting pepper-sprayed or some parks being muddied up... it is the fact that when those elected start acting against some of the cititizens that put them in office, against those that they are supposed to help and protect, then the system is seen to be broken and trust is lost in it. And the police are the instrument being weilded by those people. Beating people that are not offering any physical threat to you is NOT being a peace officer, that's being a jack-booted thug.
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DeadliestCatch22 • Houston, United States • 6 mths ago
It's amazing that people who are upset about government intrusion into private life are being called all sorts of silly and negative nicknames containing "Liberal". As far as I can tell, the Tea Party and ALL limited government activists ought to be concerned with a situation in which police restrict the rights of the press.
- indi 6 mths ago
  They will never be, it's all in their favor
- tim 6 mths ago
  I'm a Tea Party guy ....and I can tell you all the Tea Party folks I talked to see this as a huge issue. The press (as much as we Tea Party folks are at odd with them much of the time) should NEVER be kept away from a story of public interest. The excuses Bloomberg gave are riduculous....this is the very thing Tea Party folks hate....government not abiding by the constituion. As a note, most of the Tea Party folks I talk to agree the Occupiers of Wall Street have every right to be there ...but we also think if there was a little more structure and diplomacy (respect might be a better word) towards city officials and local businesses (not that they have to mind you) their cause might be better served. Though I may not agree with them, they are Americans and they have every right to be seen and heard. I only wish the media would stop demonizing us Tea Party folks....we love America and just think it should go another direction ...but first and foremost we want civility and we want to remain within the law to make the changes that are needed. I for one (as do many like me) certainly want respect and want to give resepct when we disagree. Not all of us follow Hannity or Rush with a hook in our nose. In fact most of us think those two do more harm in the way they present .....we fundametally agree with much of what they say as policy ...but their delivery sucks! I would just once like to hear Hannity or Rush give Obama credit for just one thing .....I have given credit to Obama on quite a few issues. I think he handled the Libya issue just as he should. We need to stop being the lead on the world police. I think some (not all) of his healthcare plan is good. I just have a hard time trusting government to contain costs...Republican or Democrat or Speckled Goat (joke) ...
Michael • St. Louis, United States • 6 mths ago
Michael Bloomberg said police barred the media from covering the raid for their own protection, and "to prevent a situation from getting worse." this is how it always starts. tgis way that can act violently and with impunity. what #$%$ we embed journalists with troops in wars and a raid on unarmed protesters is too much for the press to handle?
Truth2Power • Louisville, United States • 6 mths ago
This tactic is nothing new. In 1972, at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, the first thing the cops did prior to attacking the protesters was to tear gas all the media satellite trucks, incapacitating the news crews. The funny thing is, the air conditioners in the convention center across the street sucked a large amount of the tear gas into the convention hall, resulting in a lot of tearful Republicans running from the hall into the tear gas-filled hot summer air that night. The sight was truly inspirational.
Paul D • Decorah, United States • 6 mths ago
The USA has turned into a semi-nazi state and it's all because our citizens are suffering. Isn't that how Hitler came into power?
Chuck • 6 mths ago
So they implemented a no fly zone so no cameras could show the rest of the country what "measures" were taken to "clear out" the park? Isn't it against the law to not allow the press to report on these kinds of things? So, NYPD can break the law, but civilians can't...what makes overzealous cops any different than overzealous citizens? Oh, yeah - the badges and pepper spray - guess I just answered my own question...
- LIB-TARD 6 mths ago
  lol...all liberal lies..go crawl back into your hole
- neftali 6 mths ago
  Lib u r a fool. If you think there isnt a double standard at play here u r letting personal views cloud you from obvious truth.
- Boomer 6 mths ago
  Lib_tart is from Charlotte, N.C. A RED state. Known to some of us as "Dumfukistan".
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Rebekah • Warrior, United States • 6 mths ago
The reason they didn't want press wasn't for their own safety it was so there weren't any pictures in the paper about what happened during the raid. They didn't want any more pictures of police brutality leaking out.
DeadliestCatch22 • Houston, United States • 6 mths ago
Guess where ELSE they arrest journalists trying to cover unflattering actions by the government?
KING • Wichita, United States • 6 mths ago
We suspend your rights and the rights of the press-for your own safety.We suspend Habeas Corpus-for your own protection.We suspend free speech and your right of assembly-to protect you from the jack booted thugs we've sent into the streets.
VANCE • Manvel, United States • 6 mths ago
Simple question: What were the Mayor and the cops afraid for the world to see??? If the cops aren't doing anything wrong, why ban the press? They could show the "good works" of law enforcement. Simply put, when the press is barred in other nations from showing popular unrest, we say reforms towards democracy are needed. When it happened here, it's for the protection(?) of the press. The same press that went to Egypt, to cover their fight for freedom, the same press that goes into war zones and revolutions, knowing full well the riskes. This "news black out" is also Bashir Assads position in Syria. Also, all across the nation on the exact same night, police moved in on protesters, the exact same night. Coincedence? Who "controlled" this coincedence? and why a press black out in a "free" country, like America? America-where are you? I don't recognize you anymore. You can agree or disagree w/ the protest, but as Americans, left right or center, why would you support a black out when the press knows the risk and as "free" citizens, are willing to take the risk? Why would the so-called freedom, constitution, libertarian loving far right agree w/ a blackout, when they don't even want the "hell" of health care forced on them?
Uneducated Stupid Idiot • 6 mths ago
I didn't know there was a media blackout till I read this. Just like the BP Oil Spill. This is something that kinda bugs me about our country - we (or at least the gov't) can't admit our own faults. In some parts you get called unpatriotic, unAmerican, & a terrorist to say anything negative about the country. How can we fix problems if we can't face them?
windydawn • Wichita, United States • 6 mths ago
," Bloomberg said. "Nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law."

UUMMM. Isn't that the whole point of the occupy movement, Banksters and wallstreeters living outside the law? Our country has been looted , these people especially the young have every right to try and see that this can not go on any longer!
END the FED We can type zeros just as well as they can. 100.000.000.000.000.000.00
See nothin to it!Now I'm a trillionair. I haven't a dime but I can type zeros.
ESBAM2002 • Hanoi, Vietnam • 6 mths ago
I thought this kind of thing, denial and arrest of new reporters covering a story even from arial helicopters, which were in no way in danger of being caught in the chaos, only happens in oppressive 3rd and 2nd world countries, not 1st world democracies that claim the will of the people, like North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China....oh sorry no one got ran over by a tank yet....

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