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Can Occupy Strike Out Beyond the Barricades?

h5. See "Motherboard's new documentary about Occupy and hacktivism, "Free the Network," "here"::http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/3/28/motherboard-tv-free-the-network A couple of weeks ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement re-upped and returned to...
See "Motherboard’s new documentary about Occupy and hacktivism, “Free the Network,” here

A couple of weeks ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement re-upped and returned to Zuccotti Park to celebrate its six-month anniversary. The festivities were, predictably, extinguished by the NYPD and the particulars received little play beyond the standard "Protestors Clash with Police" narratives.

A tour of the six-month anniversary re-occupation of Zucotti Park, and the police eviction (Alex Pasternack)

A notable exception was written by Ryan Devereaux of the The Guardian, who described this scene: "McMillan was one of at least 73 people arrested Saturday, and videos and eyewitness accounts of her detention suggest she had a seizure while in police custody at the park. In multiple videos McMillan is seen writhing on the ground with her hands cuffed behind her back. Bystanders are heard screaming at police to call an ambulance and remove her handcuffs, while a number of officers are seen standing around her convulsing body. Numerous witnesses told the Guardian that McMillan’s head was unsupported throughout the incident and claimed her skull repeatedly struck the pavement."

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A video claiming to document brutality against Occupier Cecily McMillan on March 17th (MrPotatoHeadNews)

The NYPD's relationship to Occupy has been a central component of the movement's brief history, its tumultuous union kicked off by Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, who pepper sprayed nonviolent protesters in September. Initially, a focus on the police crackdowns seemed like a distraction, a diversion from the subjects Occupy sought to bring to the forefront of public discussion. But eventually the repression and subsequent indifference and justifications from the ruling political class crystallized into the form of one recognizable problem: the status quo. The dreary reality of the neoliberal consensus would be protected through violence. That police brutality, which has been a fact of life for the underclass, was suddenly generating more coverage seemed to further solidify the criticism of America's class structure.

Nonetheless, Occupy needs to transcend the circular, game-like nature of police action and protest-against-police-action if it wants to have a definitive impact. It's hit the ground running with actions in Union Square – the new historically-charged epicenter of the movement (it has a long history of activism) – and weekly marches. Occupiers have taken the more comedic aspects of the relationship to absurd extremes, for instance, with an ongoing rap battle against an ever-silent phalanx of helmeted police officers. On Wednesday morning, shortly before commuters jammed up NYC's subway cars, protesters posted fake (yet incredibly authentic looking) signs explaining that the subway would be free. Then, in conjunction with Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Amalgamated Transit Union, which are in negotiations with the MTA, they opened twenty gates to allow passengers to board without paying.

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This tactic comes a little over a week after Chris Longenecker, an Occupy organizer, published an editorial titled, "Why Occupy Needs Days of Action" in which he wrote, "Days of mass action are about more than simply what happens on the day of; the preparations for them are campaigns unto themselves. They are about coalition-building, outreach, engagement, solidarity and showing strength. The process of planning our May 1 'Day without the 99%' and general strike, for instance, has brought us much closer to allies in the immigrant worker justice movement and the labor movement than we would have imagined three months ago. Together, we're organizing a unified solidarity march at the end of the day, which is unheard of in recent May Day history here in New York. "

There's a very good reason why it's unheard of in recent history: since the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, general strikes are illegal and carry harsh penalties for public workers who engage in them. Arthur Cheliotes, the President of Local 1180 , was quoted in a recent Buzzfeed article on Occupy's disappointing relationship with labor: "I think the concept is a great one but the reality is very tough. We're public sector workers—we take a day off for a general strike and we're fined two days' pay. I don't think my members are inclined to engage in that process."

These kinds of logistical barriers, between Liberty Square, and the reality of working men and women in this country are precisely what the movement should aim to eradicate. Now that the weather is nice, the Occupy movement's struggle with that barrier will prove to be a much bigger test of its power than the struggle its waging at the other ones.

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Photo: Jed Brandt