A Protester's Mother Writes a Letter to Mayor Bloomberg about the Police Brutality

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( Originally posted 11.21.11)
Daniel...Leading a March on Wall Street, November 17th, He had been arrested on Tuesday early AM at Zucotti Park, was freed and then hours later there was a March. Daniel is an Organic farmer from New England, his family lives in Japan. And In Kobe Japan his family and friends have been watching Occupy Wall street unfold. They are proud of Daniel standing up for such an important cause.
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Police beating down the protesters, and clearly you can see very long weighted sticks now. ( What ever happened to little 12 inch long billy clubs ?) When did these huge weighted sticks become the new norm? How many people have been hurt by the Police Brutality by these new tactics. Oakland with VETS being wounded with a ruptured spleen and a Vet with a Head Injury. And the Vet that was wounded got NO Medical Care for many hours, it appears that Beatings now are encouraged and Medical Care is not to be given, regardless of the wounds.
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Daniel's Parents all the way in Japan woke Friday Morning to See this on the New York Times and for many hours they had no way to check on Daniel , even though they had seen that the Police Beat peaceful Protsters.The Police would give them no information. They were not even sure he had been arrested, or merely beaten.
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Today is Monday November 20th This is the Letter that Lori Vest Wrote to the Mayor and the New York Times,



From Lori Vest..
(*mom of young man in the NYT Front Page Photo*)

Nov. 20, 2011

To the editor of the NY Times, Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Kelly, and US citizens,

I made my first trip to New York City last summer and spent a small fortune (not for you, Mr. Bloomberg, but on our school teachers' salaries) enjoying city life. We paid our share of sales tax, city fees, tourist fees, etc. Little did I realize that this would help fund the NYPD to beat my son over the head with a metal club, as he was peacefully trying to follow his convictions and help the US people. He was on the front page of this paper, the NY Times, on Friday, Nov. 18th. My son is a self-employed farmer, a small business owner, an educator in sustainable farming, and a young man who has helped build houses for Habit for Humanity in three different countries.

As a first grade teacher, I spend lots of time discussing that it is not okay to hurt others, no matter how mad you are. Lately we have all seen pictures of dictators abusing the people of their country and we are appalled. President Obama said on Jan. 28th, 2011, “The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere “. However, the same brutality is being shown to peaceful US citizens. It is time we get appalled and stop it, whether we agree with the OWS protests on all levels or not. Each one of the demonstrators is someone's son, daughter, parent, brother, sister, etc.

Sincerely,

Lori Vest
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"When I see a policeman with a club beating a man on the ground, I don't have to ask whose side I'm on." ~~George Orwell

The Amazing Library at Zucotti Park Occupy Site was destroyed, so please help them rebuild it.....

Zucotti Park Occupy Site had an amazing Library of more than 5000 books on so many subjects, from Peace Leaders and Non Violence Training and Economics and even health eating and childrens books and Pet Care. When the Camp was raided at 3:30 AM Very Late Monday Night ( early Tuesday Morning) Much of the camp was destroyed or scooped up and put into the trash dumpsters that came. Tents were slashes and pulled apart and belongings thrown away. It had been set up in a Tent donated by rocker Patti Smith.

There are some items that are still being searched for including the Bike Powered power generators and the Professional Drums and yes The Library.At first it was said it was destroyed in all the confusion this seemed likely, and the protesters were given less than 10minutes warning and were asleep, so there was not time to gather that many books. And then later yesterday the Mayors Office said that the books were moved to a storage area, but the photo showed only a few hundred books. So on Twitter the cry went up to Rebuild the Library and yes, you can ship them to NYC. Here is more about how to Ship them, So let's all give to the People's Library, here's the link, let's get busy sending them Zinn, Mandela, MLK etc etc... You can also go help retrieve the ones that Sanitation Dept stored.

The UPS Store
Re: Occupy Wall Street
Attn: The People’s Library
118A Fulton St. #205
New York, NY 10038
(via Occupy Wall Street Library Blog)

Here is the People's Library blog and they also explain that they need help rebuilding the Library and Retrieving the Books from the Sanitation Storage Locker. And if you are on Twitter you can follow here, @OWSLibrary (The People's Library). UPDATE :: Today People did go and try to retrieve the Library, and you can read their blogpost that the Mayor's Tweet that the library was "saved" is not true, only a little of it was saved and a good bit of it is gone forever and other books that were saved are damaged. They are still doing inventory at the Sanitation Garage as of 1PM.

*** Here is more from last Night when the Mayor's Office issued statement about the People's Library and that it was stored or part of it was stored, LA Times has more details about the Situation. If you can help them retrieve the books please contact the twitter address above.
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The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC also covered the Peoples's Library Tuesday Nov15th:
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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY UPDATE ON THE DESTROYED LIBARY SITUATON:::


So the day after the Raid of Zucotti Park, teams of people with vehicles went to the Sanitation Garage to retrieve the Library that the Mayor had claimed via a Tweet had been saved and taken to the Garage. These photos are what is left of the OWS Library. Gone are all the Shelves of books and materials, even the Reference Library and the Kids Library. 5500 Books, the Laptops that kept track of everything. These photos show only a few hundred books and a damaged chair. When Books are treated like Garbage we are indeed in Dark Times. I do ask that you read the attached websites and do find a way to give or send books. ( I personally think we should all mail copies of "1984" to the Mayor's Office). Books had been donated from all over and even autographed and sent, so we need to Rebuild what was truly a wonderful thing. Libraries have been closing all over, but that Librarians worked so hard to make this a REAL Library is beyond heroic. ( And the Librarians were even Jailed that night as well.) Please do what you can to Help this Noble Cause.

*** AS OF THURSDAY NIGHT NOW THE THUGS GUARDING ZUCOTTI WILL NOT ALLOW BOOKS IN OR MUSIC OR FOOD. IT IS TRULY BECOMING A WARSAW GHETTO.****

More Police Brutality From Occupy Around the Country During the Media Blackout ....

At Seattle Occupy on Tuesday Night this woman who is named Jenn or Jennifer was taken away after being sprayed and according to one report ( not verified) that she was hit and kicked ? Also according to internet and facebook and Twitter reports is Pregnant ( some reports said 2 months, others said 4 months).Again if anyone can verify her condition and situation that would be appreciated.
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This Man was taken away from Zucotti Park ( According to Tweets it was after the Food Tent was sprayed and people were tweeting that some was having trouble breathing. If anyone knows him or his condition please do make contact). Also this situation arose after the Police had destroyed and dismantled the Medical Tent which clearly put so many at risk as that tent was supplied for injuries, but also even for Breathing troubles and even had patients when it was raided. If you look at his Stomach clearly Someone on site was writing his vital signs on his stomach.
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Monday Night at 3:30AM Zucotti Park This cop is clearly punching a woman.
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