The OccupyCrimes round-up

Crime Surging at "Occupier" Sites
Scenes From "Lord of the Flies"
by JWF
10/20/2011

As the national media continues to promote the idea that these absurd "Occupy" protests demonstrate some groundswell of popular opinion, reports continue to emerge from localized media showing how ugly these encampments are becoming. A report out of Cleveland that police are investigating a rape claim made by a 19-year-old woman last weekend has received little attention. Do you suppose if a rape claim was made against a tea partier that it would receive more attention?

It's gotten so bad in Baltimore that organizers are discouraging alleged victims from going to the police (maybe they should go to Sheriff Biden).

Meanwhile, out in Oakland "occupiers" have taken to threatening reporters who dare enter their space. Ironically, it's public space, but I guess they've claimed it as their own. Also in Oakland they've been overrun by the dregs of society, resulting on what one police office says it a scene akin to the Lord of the Flies.


The tent city that has sprung up on the steps of Oakland City Hall has attracted a diverse range of people, many with competing ideologies and world views. Homeless people, ex-convicts, at least one registered sex offender, students, unemployed hotel workers, anarchists and reform-minded activists freely mingle together in what amounts to a democracy free-for-all.

Sometimes, everyone appears to be on the same page. But the skein of civility has been frequently shattered as bullies, the mentally ill, drunks, thugs and anarchists have threatened the safety and well-being of the camp's more peaceful residents.

Whenever you see the media insisting things are peaceful, think the opposite.


One Oakland police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for reasons of police protocol, described the scene in tent city as akin to a scene from "Lord of the Flies." And, indeed, the on-the-fly rule-making can often veer into an oppressive, anarchic mood.

Journalists are routinely shooed away and told off by angry residents. One Oakland police supervisor said that the participants first appeared to him as "freethinking activists" but have since devolved into something more sinister. He said it was "interesting for a group that claims to be against current civilization and rules to set up a far more oppressive society than our own."

Down in Los Angeles the "occupiers" have already trashed their current location and are looking to upgrade their digs. They also have hopelessly confused about what they want and, since they're apparently stoned out of their minds, can't come up with an actual list of demands, outside of recurring requests for munchies, it appears.

There are a lot of big ideas floating around Occupy L.A., but not a whole lot of consensus. The protesters have yet to codify a list of demands. In recent days, tensions within the group have spiked over drug use and growing numbers of homeless who have joined the camp.

Rachel Goldie, 20, decided to leave the protest Wednesday because she felt it had been corrupted by people who didn't care about economic justice. "Everybody is pretty much just partying it up," she said.

Police have been watching the protest closely from a command post inside City Hall. The department sent more than 30 officers to monitor the protest last weekend, Smith said. The daily and weekend deployments are not costing the city extra money, he said. But, he said, the protest is "taking police services away from the rest of the city where they should be out answering 911 calls."

So if someone is raped and police are unavailable, just blame Joe Biden.

Up in Boston things are also teetering out of control.

The incident highlights an emerging rift between the Occupiers and homeless, who have moved into the tent city to feast on freebies. Occupy protesters and a law enforcement source said cellphones, laptops and other items have been swiped from tents, but Driscoll said the department has received no reports of robberies.

“The homeless people are down there lurking around,” a law-enforcement source told the Herald. “Some of them are mentally ill and criminally insane. The potential is there for problems.”

How they can tell the difference between protesters and the mentally ill is unclear.

Looks like we've also got a developing Lord of the Flies scene brewing there.

Demonstrator Andrew Warner, 36, said homeless people are hijacking tents, getting drunk, “passing out” and stealing.

“It’s turning into us against them,” Warner said. “They come in here and they’re looking at it as a way of getting a free meal and a place to crash, which is totally fine, but they don’t bring anything to the table at all. It gets really frustrating.”

Jackson Bush, manning the Occupy information tent yesterday, said some homeless people have been hoarding free items, including donated coats.

Funny how a mob who wants to redistribute the wealth becomes upset when the homeless want to help themselves to other people's property.

The irony escapes them.