Police, Protesters Clash At Occupy Midwest Conference

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 19, 2012 8:40PM

Nearly 300 members of 20 different Occupy related movements, including Occupy Chicago, headed to St. Louis last weekend for the first regional meeting of representatives from Occupy movements around the Midwest. Representatives from across the country met to both organize and network on a larger level and engage in protest actions against Monsanto and Wells Fargo. “We’re ready to move forward, to plan coordinated regional and national actions,” said Rachael Perrotta, a member of Occupy Chicago via press release. “Every Occupation represented at the conference says they’ll be coming to Chicago to help us speak out against the warmongering of NATO this May.”

The conference was marred by violence on Thursday, when a group of demonstrators attempted to create an encampment in a park. Protest organizers were given a scant 30 minutes to evacuate Compton Hill Reservoir Park by the city’s director of public safety. Before they could lead everyone away, organizers say, police moved in, beating some with batons, using pepper spray, and arresting at least 14 people, according to the Huffington Post. Eli Silva, from Tulsa, Okla., told the local CBS affiliate:

“Police gave no order to disperse from the park or the surrounding area. I was on the sidewalk, recording video footage when I saw the police hit another demonstrator in the neck with a nightstick. I asked for their names and badge numbers, and I was then told I was under arrest.”

The rest of the weekend appeared to proceed more peacefully, with attendees holding workshops and coordinating for future larger actions, including coordinating travel and housing for the NATO summit in Chicago in May. Mike Hipson, of Boston, told the Chicago Tribune, “It has the potential to be one of the biggest actions in the country in the last decade.”

Last night, a small group of Occupy Chicago members marched through the loop to protest both the arrests in St. Louis on Thursday and New York over the weekend, where demonstrators attempted to retake Zuccotti Park. Occupy Chicago members hope that as the weather warms, more people will become energized before May. Activist Mike Kalas told the Tribune, “I think the winter just kind of pushed Occupy indoors. If you think it’s teetering now, wait a couple of months.”