Boston police and other security forces including the bomb squad raided Occupy Boston’s second camp in Dewey Square early in the morning on October 11. At least eighteen police vans pulled up on the side of the camp. Riot police moved in on the protesters and began to put zip-ties on protesters and haul them off. Tents and other objects in the camp were seized and put into garbage trucks by Boston sanitation workers.

The raid included police violence as members of Veterans for Peace held flags and stood in between the police and protesters who decided to stand their ground. The riot police began throwing veterans to the ground. Violent arrests were made.

As Occupy Boston was raided, it seemed like multiple cities faced the possibility of the same kind of raid. Atlanta, St. Louis and Seattle each had indications the police might move in on their camps. A police lieutenant indicated arrests would be made, despite the fact that Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s had called for the police to back down. The mayor’s office came down around 3 am ET to tell occupiers they would be able to stay but they couldn’t “say the same for tomorrow night.”

Occupy Atlanta expected a visit from Mayor Kasim Reed last night. At 1 am ET, the live stream of Occupy Atlanta broadcast deliberation over how to handle the possible visit. A number of occupiers suggested they obtain some sort of indication from Reed that they would be allowed to stay and occupy a park they had renamed Troy Davis Park.

Before midnight, the Occupy Boston General Assembly passed a resolution to continue to occupy both camps. The police handed occupiers in the second camp a notice that told the occupiers they had to leave the area. The occupiers started calling friends to come down to support the camp. All Boston residents were publicly encouraged to join so that the mass of people in the camp might deter the Boston Police Department’s decision to carry out a raid.

A peaceful standoff of between 8,000 and 10,000 protesters on the Charlestown Bridge occurred late in the afternoon, hours before the police raid. Then it appeared a mass arrest might take place. Police had wagons come to the scene. But the situation de-escalated and protesters were able to leave the bridge. Prior to that, Occupy Boston marched through the streets of the city and gathered for a huge demonstration in front of the Federal Reserve that shut down the street.

Firedoglake’s The Dissenter is still in New York City. Watch for a livestream from the park around 3:30 pm ET. Then, watch for a live stream again late in the evening, probably around 7 pm ET.

Here is a Twitter list to follow for the latest updates.

LIVESTREAM OF OCCUPY WALL STREET VIA GLOBAL REVOLUTION

FDL’s LIVESTREAM FROM LIBERTY PARK


Video streaming by Ustream

[*Expect to be streaming at 3:30 pm ET and then again at 7:30 pm ET from Liberty Park in New York.]

11:31 PM Via @NYDNBKCRIME – A photo of fake transit announcements that push Occupy Wall Street’s message. Very creative, clever. Maybe one of the few signs that this movement was born from a call put out by culture jamming magazine AdBusters.

11:23 PM Those suspicious signs put up in Minnesota Power Plaza after Occupy Duluth is announced are not suspicious so don’t suspect anything like whether they have been posted in response to a plan for an occupation in Duluth. (My paraphrasing of spokesperson.)

11:14 PM Press TV covers Occupy Wall Street events to mark Columbus Day. A teacher brought her class of children to the park for a reading of a book that taught the real history of Columbus. [I was there and saw the tail-end of this class session in the park.]

11:03 PM It didn’t turn out so well because I could not get much of a connection for the Ustream, but here is part of my interview with Ryan Devereaux (@RDevro). The last thirty seconds are messed up. The recording stops and then starts up. This was my last question. I talked to him about the police and whether he thought the occupiers would stay through winter. I asked when he thought Occupy Wall Street really took off. He told me the Brooklyn Bridge mass arrest really was a turning point.

10:59 PM Occupy Chicago & the 10th Anniversary of the Afghanistan War (It’s a longer video. Go to 18:30 for a good point by a young person about being different than those in power right now when we win.)

10:41 PM Occupy Wall Street overnight celebrity Jesse LaGreca has a personal message for James O’Keefe, who infected Occupy Wall Street his presence yesterday:

I doubt you have the guts to debate me one on one. I am certain that you would never have the nerve to face me when I have my camera rolling because you are a punk, and I know you only like unfair fights because that is the way all cowards behave. Unlike you, I have nothing to fear, because you and your wealthy owners have robbed the working 99% of everything and we have had enough. You are helping the wealthiest 1% steal our future. At the very least, Jimmy, you should be publicly shamed as the criminal smear artist you are. Your unaccountable lawlessness is the perfect example of what we are fighting against at #OccupyWallStreet. You should be in jail for breaking the law, the same way anyone who isn’t a paid operative of the Oligarchy would be if they did the same things you have done.

10:36 PM What the occupiers are eating: New York Times spotlights how there is no shortage of food at Liberty Park. The article opens up with a story of one person who figured out he could come down to the park and not have to go a day without a meal.

I appreciate this section:

Now and then, the park’s kitchen gets lucky. Bob Reich, who once worked for Birdbath Bakery in Manhattan, appeared in the encampment a few minutes before 7 p.m. bearing bags of freshly baked cookies. “The ingredients are as organic as we can get them,” he said.

The first few protesters in line for dinner would, it seemed, enjoy an upscale dessert course. Why had Mr. Reich made the effort? “Because I support what people are doing here,” he said. “And who doesn’t love a cookie?”

9:50 PM Here is video I recorded of Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping outside of the Bank of America branch right across from Occupy Wall Street. (It isn’t a good shot of the action initially but at 1:41 I begin to get some excellent footage.)


Video streaming by Ustream

8:49 PM I will try not to let this ever happen again. There should have been some updates before this evening.