Occupy Boston camp raided

BOSTON--Police, with the support of Mayor Thomas Menino and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, evicted protesters at Occupy Boston in the early morning hours of December 10.

More than 200 police came in, tore down the tents and arrested more than 40 activists. Occupy Boston had been anticipating the eviction after activists failed on December 9 to win a court injunction to stay the eviction. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frances McIntyre not only denied the motion filed by protesters, but she also lifted the temporary restraining order that had protected the tent city until that point.

"While Occupy Boston protesters may be exercising their expressive rights during the protest, they have no privilege under the First Amendment to seize and hold the land on which they sit," McIntyre declared in her decision. "The act of occupation, this court has determined as a matter of law, is not speech. Nor is it immune from criminal prosecution for trespass or other crimes."

The next day, Menino issued a midnight deadline for occupiers to leave the park.

While losing the encampment of Dewey Square was a setback for Occupy Boston, several tactics did stave off the police raid for a time. On December 8, for example, despite a court order and a police command for occupiers to leave Dewey Square by midnight, more than 1,000 protesters stayed and remained untouched. The encampment at Dewey Square, which began in late September, had stood strong, and many were exhilarated by the experience.

More than 1,000 people came from different neighborhoods throughout Boston and surrounding towns. Some activists even boarded trains from Washington, D.C., and Providence, R.I., to defend the encampment. After midnight, once it was clear that the police were nowhere in sight, activists poured into the adjacent street, chanting, dancing and stopping cars from passing.

At one point, activists sat in the middle of the street and spoke about why they were there. One student expressed her outrage at the government's hypocrisy of declaring occupations of public land "illegal" even as U.S. troops have carried out bloody occupations of different countries.

THOUGH PROTESTERS held the camp on December 8, the initial discussion in the General Assembly about what to do focused on clearing the camp and awaiting the arrival of police with a massive dance party in the park.

But many activists were angered by that decision. It wasn't until the official General Assembly ended that activists began to hold another impromptu General Assembly and there was discussion about why we needed to defend the camp, and not let the city simply stroll in and destroy the most openly democratic space in the city.

Activists then discussed a plan that included civil disobedience in order to defend certain strategic tents that remained, as well as a mass rally for those who could not participate in civil disobedience.

What's more, according to a poll by the Boston Globe, 46 percent disagreed with the mayor's decision to evict the protesters--another indication that a significant segment of public opinion was on our side.

But many occupiers were scared of the possible police raid and began dismantling the camp. Due to the fact there was no official space to discuss a collective plan of how to defend ourselves, people felt as though they had no choice but to leave.

Even before the eviction warning, the city and police made it extremely difficult for occupiers to maintain the site. For more than a week, police had controlled the entrances to the encampment and forbid occupiers from bringing in winterized tents and other materials that would help with the sanitation and safety of the camp. The city even went so far as to seize a sink at the camp, and then used the lack of sanitary facilities as an excuse to say that the camp was not safe.

If any lesson can be generalized from December 8, it is that people are willing to come out and defend our movement with courage and steadfastness. The Occupy movement has given voice to the major issue on people's mind--that there is growing and dire inequality and that the 99 percent are no longer willing to stand for it.

It should also be noted that on December 8, there were two right-wing bigots who attempted to disrupt our General Assembly by telling us that we should leave. There were only the latest in a line of wreckers and police provocateurs who have attempted to disrupt our General Assemblies over the weeks. Fortunately, our chanting was able to drown them out, and they left early.

Instead of planning for defeat, we need to discuss how we can win. This will be important as we confront the need to defend the continuing occupation at Harvard University and grapple with how to continue to build this movement in our neighborhoods and workplaces.