the guy by the door …

…autocracy looks like:

Transit police block egress from the south side of  Occupy Boston expansion camp. The main tactical force was on the north side. It was much more intimidating, being Special Operations police in full riot gear. I tried to get pictures, but the north side is much darker.  In planning the operation, they probably had an idea how many cameras would be in the crowd.  Also, they were fairly quick to clear us out of that area.

The folks on the sidewalk are, like me, “alternative media”. The Special Ops cops have just pushed us out of the park.  We were all trying to photograph the arrests going on inside. Despite what they say, it is legal to photograph the police in a public place.  Do NOT,  however, make an audio recording with a concealed device. You do not need permission, but you must inform them. The problem is being able to prove that you informed them.

Behind the two prisoner transport vans are two garbage trucks used by the Special Ops cops to make sure the camp equipment was thoroughly destroyed. The total volume was nowhere near enough to require a compacting truck to carry it off.

…democracy looks like:

The citizens of Occupy Boston Extended await the anticipated police raid.  I could not get the picture I will have in my mind for the rest of my life.  Perhaps that is sad perhaps not. Can silver halide or CMOS be expected to capture communicn of spirit and purpose?

Citzens of Occupy Boston Extended link arms behind a sign of the quote from Michael Harrington, “To be radical is in the best and only decent sense of the word, patriotic.”

Citizens of the original Occupy Boston camp lining the south perimeter in anticipation of a second raid. The original ultimatum said that if the new portion was not evacuated, both portions would be cleared. However, while the Special Ops cops were trying to clear the media from the sidewalks outside the park, they said, “Go to the old camp, you won’t be arrested.” We were worried about being arrested, but more importantly about documenting arrests.

Since this blog is hosted on a Berkman Center host and the BC started life as part of the Harvard Law School,  I’d be happy to hear legal scholarship on issues raised here.

The expansion of the camp took place on a day when many Americans honor Christopher Columbus for “discovering America.” This is inaccurate in several ways,  and this is also a significant part of the story, but I’ll have to come back to that.