The war on business by the #Occupy movement is stepping up to a new level, and local authorities don’t appear to be ready to deal with it. Separate and seemingly related incidents are breaking out across the country and represent a possible first wave of attacks designed to “stress test” law enforcement response and try out tactics in order to see what works. Further, these incidents may be related to the recently disclosed connections between the unions and the Occupy movement.
Take two recent attacks on Wal-Mart – one in Washington D.C. and one in Texas but with the same target and similar tactics.
In Washington, D.C. last night:
“Occupy DC,” an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, swarmed Union Station Thursday night to protest a speech by Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton at an event hosted by the non-profit advocacy group Conservation International. Union Station is Washington, D.C.’s train terminal, located just blocks from the Capitol.
Protesters chanted, “We are the 99 percent” while letting balloons loose. Station security attempted to stop the balloons from reaching the train terminal’s iconic high ceiling.
In Dallas two days ago:
The occupiers “marched down the aisles,” Decker said, putting their fliers over price tags, DVD racks, “just anything we could.”
Then they circled the cash registers, chanting: “We are the 99 percent,” “What’s disgusting? Union busting,” and such.
Police cars began to fill the parking lot. Decker and his compatriots said officers entered the store, lined up in a chain, and herded them out.
And the police response to these organized Occupy attacks by young thugs?
In Washington, “Police told The Daily Caller to stop ‘egging on’ the protesters by conducting interviews.” In Dallas, “Police cars began to fill the parking lot. Decker and his compatriots said officers entered the store, lined up in a chain, and herded them out.”
The thin blue line seems mighty thin when it comes to Occupy.
To get a broader sense of what’s really going on here, you should read this entire article from the Washington Post. Here’s the intro.
The Occupy Wall Street protests that began as a nebulous mix of social and economic grievances are becoming more politically organized — with help from some of the country’s largest labor unions.
Labor groups are mobilizing to provide office space, meeting rooms, photocopying services, legal help, food and other necessities to the protesters. The support is lending some institutional heft to a movement that has prided itself on its freewheeling, non-institutional character.
And in return, Occupy activists are pitching in to help unions ratchet up action against several New York firms involved in labor disputes with workers.
Remember the Wal-Mart protestors in Dallas? They were shouting “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” at Wal-Mart cashiers and customers. And the Washington Post article reveals another similarity to a Union/Occupy attack on Sotheby’s auction house in New York, who is in a labor dispute.
Occupy activists also showed up at a Manhattan restaurant owned by a prominent Sotheby’s board member, clinking on beer glasses to quiet the crowd and then denouncing the company as a “union buster.” A video of the scene was posted on YouTube.
This is a disturbing trend. It’s being conducted at a local level when the local authorities don’t see the big picture. The Occupy Wall Street movement was started by people who want to dismantle capitalism and, with the union’s help, they seem bent on doing it one business at a time.
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