In the early morning hours in the Occupy encampment in New Haven, Connecticut it was not the police armed and harassing the Occupiers but a random group of men. there were no injuries and one of the perpetrators was caught.
We need to not only watch out for police harassment but now that the 1% know we are here to stay they can and will use proxies to harass and injure protesters as well.
They have done it before.
Police received a 911 call around 1:15 a.m. about a confrontation on the New Haven Green involving a group of young men and the Occupiers. Witnesses said the men walked through the Occupy encampment and began kicking the tents and yelling "wake up".
One of the victims in the encampment, Justin Sabatino, confronted the men. He told police one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
The men took off running west on Elm Street towards York Street as police arrived. Officers chased the group, cornering one of the suspects in the area of 268 Park Street, police said.
Suspect Dairres Walden, 22, of Huntington Street, took off and made it over a fence in the 200 block of Park Street, allegedly dropping a gun as he did so, police said. Walden then “retrieved” the gun and “ducked from sight,” police said.
However, New Haven Police Department officers, with the help of Yale University officers, were able to apprehend Walden in the area of 51 Broadway, police said.
“Walden struggled as he was taken into custody...(and) kept reaching for his waist-band,” where it was determined he was carrying a loaded .380 Cobra, CA-380, semi-automatic hand gun, black baseball gloves and a knit ski mask, the statement said. The serial number on the gun had been altered.
An on the ground update from ericlewis0
Here now with Tim & Danielle - all's well
They're not super into blogging but have been here many many weeks. Danielle says they seemed drunk.
I think security is heightened a bit - more Yale security at the perimeter. Danielle says the New Haven police are in full support of their movement and she feels safe. The police responded quickly and "we appreciated that"