Goldy captures remarkable video that shows an interview and the subsequent arrest of a defiant protester at the Seattle Occupation.
The woman has the audacity of building an un-permitted “structure.” It has a sleeping bag foundation (likely not up to seismic or structural codes). Goldy tells me that, aside from asking her to move, they didn’t really take any action until she erected the top portion of the structure, consisting of umbrella-based roofing materials supported by her own arm (certainly not up to structural standards). The city had no choice but to eliminate the dangerous, illegal structure.
As it happens, it was the woman’s only home.
The police first “disarmed” the perpetrator of un-permitted housing construction by taking away a paper cup from her hand and the cigarette from her mouth. It wasn’t just a cup, though, as one cop found out when he pulled the lid off and became moistened by the coffee within.
Dominic Holden has a follow-up report (emphasis in original):
“The only people who we arrest with umbrellas are the people with umbrellas who take their cups of hot coffee and dump it on officers,” says Sergeant Sean Whitcomb. He says you can see in the video below, at about the 1:00 minute mark, the woman “take her hand and forcefully slosh the coffee on one of the officer’s legs.”
[…]The Seattle Police Department is asking prosecutors to charge her with obstruction, resisting arrest, and misdemeanor assault (for the coffee thing). She was one of eight people arrested this morning, Whitcomb says.
A clear case of assault with “hot coffee.”
Except that, as Goldy’s video timestamp shows, the coffee was no less than 38 minutes old at the instant it was used to assault the officer (and it was possibly much older).
And, contrary to Sergeant Whitcomb statement, the moistening/flesh-scorching incident took place after the police had begun detaining her, not before.
In any case, we certainly wish the officer a speedy and full recovery from his coffee burns and a complete dehydration from the moistening. And thank god(s), that when he pulled the lit cigarette from her mouth, the pain of his first injuries didn’t cause him to plant his palm on the lit end of the cigarette.
Thankfully, the dangerous structure was torn down without additional injury to Seattle police officers or innocent bystanders.
Postscript:
As a non-resident of Seattle, I don’t typically have much to say about the Seattle Mayor—I simply don’t have a dog in that race. It seems to me, this video is the nail in the coffin of Mayor Mike McGinn’s reelection prospects. Simply put, his handling of the Occupy Seattle protest has come off as bipolar.
lol…occupy is an antisemitic movement..too funny
And the mayor who sicked the police on the demonstrators is a Democrat or a Republican?
And with that, I believe I just won this argument.
Ok, so when it come to people who assault police officers I think they should get taken to the ground hard, cuffed, and taken to jail. This woman, who seemed to be a little “off,” did not assault anyone.
She broke the rules so arrest her I guess, but don’t try and tell me that was assault.
politician caving to the Downtown Association..
@3
Good one.
At this point it’s not like you can bust up the protests and people will just go home and eat cereal in front of the TV and forget this never happened. Maybe they’ll be back in the streets, maybe they’ll be working on a political campaign, who knows, but the cats out of the bag now and it ‘aint going back in.
@4
Without any demands or specific goals, and with winter just around the corner, the cat’s going back into the bag in about a month or two.
those dang teapartiers, whaty’ll they think of next.
no miss litella, its the occupiers.
oh, nevermind
@5
Good point for once!
But nah, it will move on to things that can be done inside. If we don’t see some changes by spring look for real trouble to start.
Broad based economic justice platforms like the OWS’ers have can be easily summed up and worked on by the folks in power, if they want to. If they don’t want to bricks will fly through windows, a few buildings will burn, the folks in power will be out of power, and the people who take over will put in place what the first folks should have.
I’m not advocating violence, it’s just what will happen if we continue down the road we’re on. That’s how it always happens. So why continue to go down this road? There’s nothing good at the end of it.
@6 “If we don’t see some changes…”
So what kind of changes do you think will need to happen before the protests subside? And more specifically, do you think protesters, in general, want to see the power and influence of the “1%” and corporations reduced, or are they more looking for laws that will help the “99%?”
Someone needs to come out with a Common Sense-like pamphlet.
@7
I think its a mixed bag.
Giving Citizen’s United an super pacs the heave-ho would be a good start. The FCC threatened to crack down on cell phone companies overage charges if they didn’t change their ways and the phone companies agreed to start sending out warning texts that people close to going over.
We have people living in places like southern Ohio where there are no jobs and there’s not going to be any jobs any time soon, but they can’t leave because they’re flat broke & can’t sell their homes. We need a way to help those folks move to places where there are more jobs. And we need to stop lying to people that places like Youngstown Ohio will ever have the numbers of jobs that it used to have.
Deh onle tinG a pOliec kar is be gud fore Is pOopIn oN
@8
The movements still young, give it time.
yeaHs maiyuR mCcheze Isd deh AwSum dOOd!
Common sense- that rules out troll
Shouldn’t the cop get a littering ticket for throwing that cigarette on the ground?
mayor mcmumbles was never going to be re-elected anyway, so who cares.
@11
sounds like constipation to me.
I think there are plenty of demands, and good ones:
These patriotic American citizens are trying to make the world a far, far better place than it is right now.
As for the weather, I recall the good folks of Wisconsin out in the snow and cold last winter, changing the world.
Here some shots of a “small” protest, in February in Wisconsin – wicked cold – and I see thousands of people, demanding Democracy, and kicking Koch butt.
Here’s another protest, a week after the one above, with 70-100,000 people out in the ice and snow of Madison in February.
Fuck you troll.
Opps – here‘s the link for the Occupy demands quoted above.
Eff you, Mr. One Term Mike.
@19 LS, we here at HA like to discuss political issues in a thoughtful, reasoned, and passionate, yet respectful way. If you can’t abide by that, perhaps this isn’t the blog for you.
– comment section moderator
@22
I am completely comfortable with those expectations, and in fact I thrive on thoughtful discourse and passionate, well-reasoned argument with intelligent and well-meaning fellow citizens dedicated to making our community and country, and world, a better place for all of us.
That would, of course, leave you out.
So, as I said before, fuck you, troll.
@19
According to this recent NYT article, many in the movement admit there aren’t a clear list of demands or goals, and, in fact, question the necessity of demands.
That’s why this fleabagger movement will accomplish nothing concrete.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10.....mands.html
Now that I’m in my 60’s, the 60’s are back. I feel right at home.
re 24: I’m too slow to run, so all I can do now is stand and fight. If people like you get in my way, the only way out is through you.
Did you see that 52 year old heavyweight boxer who just won his first heavyweight bout. I’m like that guy.
@25
I’m not going to get in your way. I, nor does anyone else, needs to get in this movement’s way. These anti-American fleabaggers will change nothing. The movement will fizzle out on its own.
I love how these protests have shut Goldy up over on SLOG. He’s really painted himself into a corner, being so anti-protest in the past, he knows he’ll now look like a hypocrite if he supports these left-wing teabaggers.
I love it! HAHAHAHA!
re 26 and 27: I broke the ignore list stricture on you. Won’t happen again.
Folks,
Please don’t blame the cops! If people are going to block public streets they are going to get arrested, because they are breaking the law. Cops enforce the law by arresting those who break the law.
What’s so hard to get?
Don’t waste your time getting mad at cops. There are better ways to highlight the economic injustice going on in the USA.
Little troll is frightened at the power of numbers..
All OWS has to do at this point is grow. As it grows it becomes impossible to ignore..
The next most frightening stage of all is coherent demands.. That’s why little troll demands them now.. If they’re half-baked, they’re easy to ridicule…
Then little troll will celebrate the violence of the police and the provocateurs that will almost certainly come.
Then we’ll win..