Thursday, December 15, 2011

Occupy Norfolk visits my work



Wednesday afternoon, the Occupy Norfolk protest group was scheduled to come and protest at my building.  About 50 of them showed up.

One of our state Senators holds an office in our building, but has only been here for visits a few times in the last couple of years.  This is not his home, or his normal office.


But they wanted to to be heard by him, and wanted him to come down and talk one on one with them.


Wasn't going to happen.  In fact, the police had a serious presence there, as it had been widely publicized and was planned to get "rowdy".

"Wednesday's march will be in great need of supplies, as always- Urgent items include markers, signage, t-shirts, American flags, musical instruments of every sort, especially horns, drums, and guitars. We also need donations of 2 sets of Army style fatigues and 4 sets of prison style jumpsuits. Please. Most importantly, bodies will be needed. Everyone who can make it should be there for the noon r......ally and the 2pm march. If you can't make it please send items.]"

We (the building staff) were also informed that they planned to "push" things and have arrests.

It was certainly interesting to watch as things unfolded, and at some points, it was seriously entertaining.


This officer pictured above was apparently well-known by the O.N. group.  His name (and YES, it's his REAL name) is Sergeant Lovely.  At one point, all the women protesters of O.N. started chanting -
"Hey Sergeant Lovely - You're Sexy, Your Cute, Why's your vest, Bullet proof?"
Several times.

And then the all yelled -
"Hey Sergeant Lovely - How about you OCCUPY MY HEART!"
I wasn't expecting either of these, and I bust out laughing.  So did all of the staff members that were there keeping an eye on things.  The other police officers were unfazed.  Must have heard it before.

But one of the officers had been video taping the protest, probably for their own protection.

He walked up to Sgt. Lovely and said, "Got it.  You haven't seen the last of these...."  As he walked away with a smirk.   My guess is that if the recording doesn't show up at the next staff meeting, it will show up at his bachelor party, or retirement party, or someone equally embarrassing.


It wasn't long after that, that things went south.  Five people purposefully walked up to the sculpture, banded arms together, and sat down.  They knew they were trespassing, but did so willfully.  The officers patiently warned them that if they didn't go back to the sidewalk, that they would be arrested for trespassing.  I saw one of them get up, and go back.  The other four were peacefully arrested after about 5 minutes of warnings.


All of the other protesters just yelled that this was an injustice, and how could we let this happen, etc, etc..  But let their friends get taken away anyway.  I'm not sure I understand all that.



This last picture I included, simply because the officer in the picture was a member of the State Police.  There were a couple of them supporting the city police, and we heard that there were plenty nearby waiting to show up if there was a need.  But mainly I included the picture cause he was super nice, and kinda cute too.

I wish I had thought to bring my real camera to work.  All of these were taken with my phone.

Certainly made for an interesting afternoon at work....

AMW

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear AMW, I enjoy listening to anyone who enjoyed our protest. On the otherhand beside the soap opera part did you see or hear the reason we were there. There were many chants regarding a bill that was just passed in congress. the bill is S1867, in parts 1031,1032, it states that our President may arrest, dertain, any american citizen, without charges, trial, or attorney. The military can now arrests its own citizens. that is why we were there. This small part stuck in a huge defense bill, slashed our bill of rights, and the 6th amend. of the constition. Yes we try to have some humor when it comes to the police we know they are doing their job and we thank them often.
We called the senators office and were told we could send 6people up to speak to him. The proerty manager of your building told the senators consituents we could not send these people up to his office. To us it seemed to be exactly what we are protesting about. A property owners rep. the 1% telling us we can not have access to our representative. We met with an asst. to the senator today. we stated our reason for being there, it would of been so much better to have had the opportunity to have speak to the
Senator the day before. we are part of the Occupy movement, we are peaceful, and we represent the 99%,

Lynne said...

It's amazing how different our two countries are in some ways. Firstly, we have only State Police (no City Police) so they have jurisdiction over all matters of law and order. The Police Commissioner is appointed by the State Premier. The Premier is the leader of the political party who gets the most votes in the elections (held every four years). So, not being a voted posiiton, the Police Commissioner is free of the political machinations needed to get re-elected! When we have an election (whether State or Federal), the campaigning is only around for the six weeks preceding the election date. On that date, all Australians over the age of eighteen are compelled to vote (and fined if they don't). The elections are held on a Saturday, the polling booths are open 8am-6pm and that's it. No primaries, no race for presidential candidacy, just six weeks of political hype and it's all over!

Anonymous said...

im glad it was merely entertaining for you. we will be heard. we will not stop. we are a band of brothers that now exceeds 100,000 patriotic americans throughout the country. the American spirit has been awakened, and we embrace the civil liberties that were bestowed upon us years ago. we embrace the responsibility to call out unjust laws. we endure the hardships that come with such responsibility. we are not uneducated, and we will not allow economic enslavement any longer. we are legion. we do not forgive. we do not forget. join us. expect us.