No Permit

My girlfriend told me last night that the NYPD started cracking down on protesters yesterday. Haven't seen any mention of it on the news yet, but if anyone knows, I'd appreciate a heads-up.




FOUND IT: Nearly 1,000 arrested, most of them peaceful according to the report, although it admits "a few exceptions," whatever that might mean. Can't say I like the smell of this. I see three possibilities for what's going on:


1. There are more than "a few exceptions", and the police are knocking heads. I can't say I trust the mainstream press to report it, if the protesters really were getting out of hand. But I might have heard a trickle from the blogosphere. Likelihood: Below-Average.


2. The "few exceptions" have provoked the NYPD into an all-encompassing crackdown, bringing batons on heads regardless of what protesters are doing at the time arrested. Given my gf's anecdotal evidence, this very well could be the case. Likelihood: Average.


3. This is the usual back-and-forth between cops-and-protesters, who have two different definitions of "peaceful." This article about the 2002 World Economic Forum protests in NYC might lead one in that direction. It's from the World Socialist Web Site, and they seem to have a different idea of what protesters should be allowed to do than the NYPD does. I figure most protesters would prefer the WSWS' idea. Likelihood: Above Average.


Thoughts welcome.