Saturday, November 05, 2011

Fear of Violence Spreading to Occupy Seattle

With violence breaking out among members of Occupy Oakland and Denver, there is a growing concern that the movement may break out into mob storms. With the protesters losing members and even positive press coverage, there is a further concern of outright attacks beginning.

This brings us to Seattle, where these is a very real atmosphere of tensions building in the city. In 1999 the city, known for its hippy and hipster populations, saw violent protests against the World Trade Organization.
Protesters at Occupy Seattle
Now, it has gotten so tense that parents are even cordoning the Occupy protesters from their children. The occupiers had even squatted on a playground, creating an unsafe environment:
“He likes going out in the sandbox and playing and he can’t do that anymore,” Crawford says.

Crawford says he walked around the area near the playground and saw empty beer cans and smelled marijuana.
Just as in Oakland, tensions between the police and the protesters are increasing, so much so that violence may begin in the Northwest city.
Reports of Occupy Seattle's protestors animosity towards police has been noted in confrontations since they took up encampment in Seattle's Westlake Park.
Just several weeks ago came arrests in the city as the protesters refused to move. They were met with arrests:
Those who refused are being arrested and their tents are being moved.

KOMO Radio reports there have been a half-dozen arrests for obstruction.
The costs of all of these protests for Seattle? Over $100k so far. And that's not even counting lost business and possibly lost jobs. With those factors included, the number could be much, much higher.

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10 comments:

  1. Can you elaborate on how you think Occupy Seattle is possibly causing people to lose their jobs?

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  2. Don't be obtuse. Very few people want to go shopping or eat out in an area full of loud, rowdy people known for starting fights with the cops.

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  3. I was at Westlake this afternoon and there seemed to be the usual number of shoppers around. The atmosphere was also normal; nobody seemed tense or agitated.

    The only comment I've heard from a business owner was that at one point Bobachine had lost about 10% of it's regular customers, but I've also seen it full of people during the large rallys, and I know that many of the protesters patronize it regularly. I've also seen long lines at the hot dog stand that last for hours.

    So, I don't think it's fair to claim that the protest is causing Westlake businesses to lose money -- let alone lay off workers -- without substantiating it with some kind of objective data.

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  4. iandunn, most likely this person is referring to other Occupy protests, which have hurt business immensely. They likely fear that the same thing will happen in Westlake.

    Here are some examples from other parts of the country:

    http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/11/03/oakland-businesses-take-stock-of-damage-following-occupy-rampage/

    http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Businesses-Upset-With-Occupy-Protesters/cD-4Cfx1xEa-hYzrm0y3og.cspx

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mayor_bloomberg_blasts_ows_as_bad_GxyjiRXSnwMlPa2tNTn7xK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

    http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8419303

    http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/29683079/detail.html

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  5. "Obtuse"is a pretty good word to use for iandung's comments. Of course nobody would have any problem deciding to go shopping or plan a family dinner when there are drunk people out on the street wearing masks. PERFECTLY sane that plan! What I don't understand is why wearing masks is allowed. In most states, ever since the KKK terrorized people, it has been a violation to cover yourself unless you're a muslim adherent. We're losing track of why people even bothered writing those laws. Time to relearn I guess.

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  6. I'd love to take the kiddies down to a park like that, nothing says "family time" like kicking empty beer cans around the swingsets.

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  7. Pretty neat how the right continually makes stuff up. Never mind facts or evidence, just make it up post it on some obscure blog and the right wing masses lap it up.

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  8. Yeah, Anonymous, you're so right. We're just making up things, you know, minus the four sources we cited in the article and the five that I sourced in my comment. Other than those multiple, varied, and credible sources, we totally made things up.

    By the way, aren't you just a bit tired of lying to yourself and others all the time?

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  9. Senator Mark said: "What I don't understand is why wearing masks is allowed. In most states, ever since the KKK terrorized people, it has been a violation to cover yourself unless you're a muslim adherent. We're losing track of why people even bothered writing those laws."

    Under anonymity, people will do things that they wouldn't do if they could be known...if you can see their face...you can charge them with a crime. The same thing on the internet. If you're "anon..." you can say whatever vile, evil comment you wish and no one can hold you responsible. Thus, it's about evading responsibility for one's actions, just as the KKK did...and now the modern left.

    Rich Vail
    Pikesville, Maryland
    the Vail Spot dot blogspot dot Com

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  10. Can you imagine what the media would have said if any Tea Party rally had perpetrated even a fraction of the irresponsible lawlessness that OWS does daily?

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