Morning Fizz
Weekend Arrests
Caffeinated News and Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. Jonah broke the story this weekend that the SPD arrested the local costumed and self-appointed crime fighter Phoenix Jones.
And he's got more this morning , including video of the incident that led to Phoenix Jones' arrest.
2. The other big news this weekend: The Occupy Seattle demonstrations. Mayor Mike McGinn, whose response to the prostesters has been a little bipolar, was on the scene at Westlake on Sunday chatting with protesters (he also brought a huge Igloo coffee dispenser and served coffee from Diva Espresso). He told demonstrators they needed to get "beyond tents" to talk about the larger issue at hand—the unbalanced economy.
3. There was also a big march on Saturday in front of the Bank of America offices on 5th Avenue and Columbia Street downtown. The march then headed back to Westlake Plaza for a General Assembly meeting, but not before sitting in the intersection of 4th Avenue and Pike Street and stopping traffic for about an hour; that act of civil disobedience led to two arrests.
Police had been present throughout the protest, but they came out in bigger numbers when the intersection was blocked. Officers spoke with protest leaders during the sit-in, trying to negotiate an end to the blockade so traffic would be freed up. The 100 protesters sitting in the street—about half the number who had demonstrated in front of the bank—eventually voted to clear out the intersection and let a line of buses and a handful cars pass. [pullquote]Protesters can't seem to escape the problem that comes with any large rally; one that, fair or not, is extra problematic for a group that hypes its grassroots consensus approach.[/pullquote]
Three demonstrators did not leave the intersection with the rest of the protesters, though. Instead, they stayed in place as police cordoned the rest of the protest onto the sidewalks surrounding the intersection. The police line remained as SPD officers talked to the remaining three protesters; after about a half hour of persuasion and confrontation, one of the sitting demonstrators left the intersection. The remaining duo got arrested and were placed in a waiting van. One of them resisted and had to be carried off by about six officers.
Before the arrests, at least 200 protesters occupied the plaza outside Bank of America's building for an hour. Demonstrators shouted a smorgasbord of left wing slogans—"we are the 99 percent," "cuts no way/make the rich pay," "banks got bailed out/schools got sold out," "no cuts/no fees/education should be free"—and waved a diverse set of signs (Fizz saw a "Ron Paul Revolution" placard).
Messaging aside, the major protest demonstrated that Occupy Wall Street (or Westlake ... or Seattle) has resonance. But the protesters can't seem to escape the problem that comes with any large rally; one that, fair or not, is extra problematic for a group that hypes its grassroots consensus approach. The two arrests exposed that consensus doesn't carry the day, and that means their message—whatever it may be—was overshadowed by the attention-seeking theatrics of a few individuals.
1. Jonah broke the story this weekend that the SPD arrested the local costumed and self-appointed crime fighter Phoenix Jones.
And he's got more this morning , including video of the incident that led to Phoenix Jones' arrest.
2. The other big news this weekend: The Occupy Seattle demonstrations. Mayor Mike McGinn, whose response to the prostesters has been a little bipolar, was on the scene at Westlake on Sunday chatting with protesters (he also brought a huge Igloo coffee dispenser and served coffee from Diva Espresso). He told demonstrators they needed to get "beyond tents" to talk about the larger issue at hand—the unbalanced economy.
3. There was also a big march on Saturday in front of the Bank of America offices on 5th Avenue and Columbia Street downtown. The march then headed back to Westlake Plaza for a General Assembly meeting, but not before sitting in the intersection of 4th Avenue and Pike Street and stopping traffic for about an hour; that act of civil disobedience led to two arrests.
Police had been present throughout the protest, but they came out in bigger numbers when the intersection was blocked. Officers spoke with protest leaders during the sit-in, trying to negotiate an end to the blockade so traffic would be freed up. The 100 protesters sitting in the street—about half the number who had demonstrated in front of the bank—eventually voted to clear out the intersection and let a line of buses and a handful cars pass. [pullquote]Protesters can't seem to escape the problem that comes with any large rally; one that, fair or not, is extra problematic for a group that hypes its grassroots consensus approach.[/pullquote]
Three demonstrators did not leave the intersection with the rest of the protesters, though. Instead, they stayed in place as police cordoned the rest of the protest onto the sidewalks surrounding the intersection. The police line remained as SPD officers talked to the remaining three protesters; after about a half hour of persuasion and confrontation, one of the sitting demonstrators left the intersection. The remaining duo got arrested and were placed in a waiting van. One of them resisted and had to be carried off by about six officers.
Before the arrests, at least 200 protesters occupied the plaza outside Bank of America's building for an hour. Demonstrators shouted a smorgasbord of left wing slogans—"we are the 99 percent," "cuts no way/make the rich pay," "banks got bailed out/schools got sold out," "no cuts/no fees/education should be free"—and waved a diverse set of signs (Fizz saw a "Ron Paul Revolution" placard).
Messaging aside, the major protest demonstrated that Occupy Wall Street (or Westlake ... or Seattle) has resonance. But the protesters can't seem to escape the problem that comes with any large rally; one that, fair or not, is extra problematic for a group that hypes its grassroots consensus approach. The two arrests exposed that consensus doesn't carry the day, and that means their message—whatever it may be—was overshadowed by the attention-seeking theatrics of a few individuals.
