It was dumb when a handful of occupiers were doing it on Tuesday night and it was even dumber last night when another protester, egged on by some of his peers, took it upon himself to taunt a police officer with a donut at the end of a stick. It happened about a half hour after the NYPD moved in and put up the metal barricades at the foot of the steps on the southern end of Union Square and forced protesters to the sidewalk, a practice which has now become a daily ritual as police continue to implement a historically unenforced curfew.
And this wasn’t an isolated act of idiocy. Several attempts by other occupiers appeared to exacerbate what has already become a pretty tense standoff. A little before the midnight deadline, two protesters were all but begging officers to be arrested as they danced in a circle around white shirted officers, brushing up against one of the men. Then someone else lobbed a bottle at a group of cops as they assembled near the George Washington statue.
Earlier in the week, protestors dangled donuts from string-and-pole on several occasions or would toss donuts over the barricades in between the cops. Some even began incorporating the word “donut” into their chants. Some officers did crack a smile, but for the most part weren’t amused. (Although that appeared to have more to do with the act of waving a stick or tossing stuff in their direction, than getting personally offended by the d-word.)
Intentionally fucking with a police force that’s already become notorious for its overhanded response to all things Occupy just doesn’t seem like a wise short or long term strategy that is going to be in anyway beneficial to the movement. Most cops are dicks, that’s a given. But that doesn’t mean you need to be a dick, too.
Not all the protesters were encouraging this behavior last night. One young lady reprimanded the bunch.
“Two wrongs do not make it right. Put it away,” she said.
I don't know….although I see where you are coming from, the police are taking every opportunity to humiliate and demean the occupiers, so responding with these sorts of tactics…although a little un-wise in terms of NOT getting arrested…is not only a way of turning that humiliation on the cops, but also expresses that their tactics aren't necessarily having the desired effect.
Humor is a powerful force.
If the cops are winning the physical battle, this might be the only recourse left…and if so, at least it allows the occupiers to retain a sense of dignity, in effect saying, "Our spirits aren't broken, we can still laugh at your pathetic asses."
I would be more critical if these sorts of actions either lowered the morale of the occupiers or resulted in a number of occupying bystanders getting arrested.
There's few things more dignified than waving a donut in front of a cop's face.
Funny. You think waving a stick with a donut on it will make things change, just like you think making a sign is going to make things change. You sir, are delusional on such a high level of idiocy.
Wow Jimmy…those were quite the assumptions you made there. Whatever makes you feel justified I guess.
keep living in your fantasy world kipwinger. you represent the typical douche protester at union square. congratulations.
"You really think chanting and playing in a drum circle is going to help?"
"What else would you suggest?"
"Don't you have anything for NORMAL people to do?"
"Normal people don't change the world.".
you are right, mass movements have never changed anything. a small group of easily identifiable "revolutionaries" forming drum circles was responsible for every revolution of the 20th century
Why isn't it cool? Since when is showing such contempt for the police a bad thing? The article seems to be premised on a false logic of trying to be nice, and not provoke the police, etc. In fact, the police are part of the apparatus of oppression, and as cops, they are part of the enemy. Yes, it may be tactically unwise now to not practice non-violence, but we should openly display our complete irreverence towards them, and as part of building a healthy culture of resistance to oppression. The Yippies had it right, using ridicule, and mocking, as people's weapon. Plus, "piggy fishing" is fun, and everyone knows that revolutions, for everything else they are, also have a big component of "fun" for the people, hence being festivals of the oppressed.
I don't know, I think it's kind of funny.
Dignity goes out the window in an kind of protest while it's happening. It's only in retrospect protest earns dignity.
You shouldn't penalize social movements on the grounds of style points. If you did, gays would be jailed because guys in leather thongs swung from floats to the beat of Abba for half a day.
The thing I like or love about the Occupy Movement is the focus of those involved in listening to the voice of the 99% and then evolving it. This stops happening when Occupiers redirect their focus and begin taunting the police. The militarization of the Police is yet another example of how wrong things have gotten. A problem is never solved on the level that it was created. When taunting Occupiers only become part of the problem.