Occupiers have been cleared from a number of parks and public spaces over the past few days, most recently in New York, where, early this morning, the NYPD cleared out the Occupiers, arresting 200 in the process, so that Zuccotti Park could be cleaned. (The New York Post, which shares our view of the Occupiers, headlines “NYPD raiders roust OWS rabble.”) The battle, however, is not over in New York, where the Occupiers apparently have obtained a court order from a friendly judge, allowing them to return to the park with their tents. Naturally, the Occupiers are represented by the National Lawyers’ Guild, a long-time Communist front.
Here is a lovely sight–Zuccotti Park, emptied of Occupiers, cleaned and, one hopes, sanitized:
Here in Minneapolis, something similar is happening. Our Occupiers have been camping out on the plaza adjacent to the Hennepin County Government Center. Last week, the Hennepin County Board ordered that, while the Occupiers and all others are free to protest on the plaza, they will no longer be allowed to stay there overnight. Some of the Occupiers have said that they will defy this order, and a few slept on the plaza last night. As I was leaving my office around 6:30 yesterday, I heard a group of Occupiers marching through the streets of downtown Minneapolis, chanting and banging on drums–making a good impression on local voters, no doubt:
Personally, I hope that the Occupiers in New York, Minneapolis and elsewhere stick to their guns. The longer their crime wave continues and the more the public learns about them, the better for the conservative movement. I had lunch yesterday with a group that included the Hennepin County Sheriff. Among other things, he talked about the Occupiers. He said they have been trying hard to get themselves arrested, but his office is highly professional and has avoided giving the protesters their wish.
That’s a good thing, in my view. I want a handful of Occupiers to still be on hand the first time the thermometer dips to twenty degrees below zero, so that, rather than getting themselves on the evening news by goading the authorities into arresting them, they will slink quietly away to avoid frostbite.
UPDATE: A New York judge has now upheld the City and has ruled that the Occupiers can’t live in the park. It will be interesting to see whether protesters will try to defy that order so as to provoke further confrontations.
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