Another Occupy bitch

I support the goals of the Occupy movement. I think they are protesting against a legitimate problem, a massive problem. But I have to say that I’m, disgusted by the way everyone has been acting through this whole thing, the protesters, the police, and the mayor/city council.

First of all, I agree that they shouldn’t be allowed to camp in a public space, and legally they aren’t. So why the fuck did the city allow them to camp there in the first place? They should have just said right off the bat “No, there’s a law against camping in public spaces but of course you can protest without the camp-site like any other protest group does” Instead they said “Yeah sure you can camp here… SIKE! jk lol” WTF? I wish Kelly would just admit that they made a mistake, instead we get this vague answer, “After reviewing the by-law, and reviewing the overall situation… blah blah blah”. Isn’t the ‘overall situation’ exactly what the by-law was created to prevent in the first place? Shouldn’t the by-law have been reviewed, oh I don’t know BEFORE they let the protesters violate it?! You fucked up city council, now it’s time to just admit it… pfft politicians admit their mistakes? NEVER! And taking down the camp-site in Victoria park on Remembrance Day after they had all moved for the ceremony WHILE they were attending the ceremony? Really? I understand you told them ahead of time but you couldn’t have waited a day?

Secondly, the protesters… I get that you are zealous about your cause and I’m behind that cause but don’t exaggerate the police brutality. Be honest about what happened, because some of that stuff is legit (I’ll get to that later). It’s so easy to exaggerate things (we all do it) especially in crowds and exciting situations, but if you have a serious cause even unintentional dishonesty just makes that cause look bad, so be careful when retelling your account of what happened. I have heard so many ridiculous anecdotal accounts about police officers punching people in the face, sexually assaulting people, lifting people up by their hair, lifting people up by their throat (I’m guessing they lifted them up by their clothing in front of the neck and that was rounded up to ‘throat’ because it sounds more dramatic). Seriously? I admit I wasn’t there but you’d think what with all the people recording that fiasco we would have seen at least one of these things. If it really did happen to you then file a complaint already! I keep hearing the police say that they haven’t gotten ANY complaints about police behaviour at the Victoria Park incident at all, are they lying? Also, Don’t go on about how brutal the police are because they dragged you through the mud. If you go limp and refuse to find your feet while you’re being arrested, getting dragged immediately after is not police brutality that’s just you making an ass of yourself. But they dragged you through MUD! Those monsters! No shit jackass, it was raining. And none of you were “arrested for Occupying Nova Scotia” you were arrested for resisting police, stop using that simplistic phrasing to make it sound bigger than it was. This ridiculous hostility towards the police is just distracting you from your cause, focus!

Thirdly, the officers who were caught on video tape dragging arrested people down Citadel Hill by their handcuffs. WAY out of line! You do not drag people by their handcuffs, those officers should be identified and punished for causing those people unnecessary harm, that was absolutely despicable. If you have to arrest someone who is not co-operating at least hold onto their forearms so they don’t get hurt, do you know how painful that must have been? I cringe just thinking about it. Totally unprofessional. SHAME SHAME SHAME!

Honestly, I don’t know what to think about any of this anymore because everyone just fucking sucks. —Everyone Sucks

This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2011.