I've been on the PR team of Occupy Denver for about two months now and that involvement has shown me the underbelly of the beast. Keep in mind that everything I write below is just the the tip of the iceberg and understand that I write this because I'm tired of witnessing the consistent reckless behavior that puts innocent people at risk.
At the December 3rd rally, Corey Donahue, who sexually assaulted a photographer, gave a speech in support of his Walmart blockade he managed to pass through the General Assembly he frequently renounces as illegitimate and ineffective. He spoke about the need for people to put their "bodies on the line" for the action. I pulled him aside and he tells me that the goal of his action is "bring out hundreds of police to show the world that the police are defending corporate america and not the protestors." In the midst of my shock about the stupidity and lack of transparency of his motivation, he reminds me that he is under legal advice to not get arrested again because he has too many prior offenses, so he won't be participating in his call to put bodies on the line.
How he has a shred of credibility after hiding behind his priors while telling people to put their lives on the line, I can only attribute to his feeding the homeless (and then encouraging them into being fodder??).
Occupiers would set up tents during peak crowd hours with the intention of bringing in the cops to crack heads, in an effort to show the world that the police are brutal.
Yeah, the public has had numerous opportunities to do something about police brutality, but not much is done about it. So why use innocent people, who want a safe place to protest with a community of like-minded people, as fodder for a stupid plan? And why don't other Occupy Denver people do anything about it? Why do they refuse to recognize it?
Oh right, this is why. They're twisting St Paul Principle #1 "We respect a diversity of tactics."
Cos yeah, if you're going to put innocent people at risk, I'll break my silence and revulsion for the police, and I'll call for their help because it's the only help available. Sadly, in this case, the police are better than Occupiers.
Bullying, backstabbing and all that good stuff has been used by people at Occupy Denver in the stead of affinity. There is really nothing that can tie people together for a common cause when one party is hell-bent on juvenile domination. You should see the way otherwise good people compromise with the insane!
So because of that tweet, I was accused of fueling rumors and lies and helping the police. But if someone went through with that stupid, pointless plan, I'd be implicated in the crime during the investigation because I know that someone talked about it and I did nothing. So I did something. Yet somehow, I'm the bad guy for tweeting about accountability? And then it gets censored? Wow.
There are serious transparency and accountability issues at Occupy Denver.
I wish I could say good things. When people corner me about my involvement in OD, I feel bad that I don't have good things to say.
I'd like to say "we're a community that welcomes the working class and we're slowly but surely working towards solving problems" but instead there are privileged kids, who have been waiting to pounce on a movement like this to implement their juvenile delusions about revolution.
My armchair psychoanalysis of some Denver Occupiers is that they aren't interested in the work it takes to create real change. They'd rather have the emotional satisfaction of saying "hey, I have a hard core idea about revolution and if you aren't in, then it's because you're a pussy and I'm superior. So really it's your fault if it doesn't happen."
It's weak, it's egotistical, and it's never going to work.
So far I've seen ass-kissing, fear-mongering, death threats, theft, fights, using innocent people as a shield, lies about union endorsements, ulterior motives, lots and lots of messianic bullshit, and of course, shirking responsibility.
Until I see some major changes, I'm not at all enthusiastic about Occupy Denver.
