Last September, photographer Paul Sullivan followed along with Occupy Wall Street protesters as they marched through the financial district on the occupation's first anniversary. His short film, "10 Arrests in 87 Minutes: The Anatomy of the NYPD’s Protest Dispersal Process," probably won't surprise anyone who observed the NYPD's tactics when policing Occupy protesters, but it's still a well-documented, hip-level look at the department's enforcement of OWS. And it turns out that the tenth arrest [SPOILER?] captured here is Sullivan himself:
Sullivan's camera is pointed at his belt as he's taken into custody, but the audio clearly captures an officer threatening Sulliivan, whose face was pressed against another officer's shoulder as he was collared. "Don't put your mouth near him, 'cause I swear to God I will break your jaw," the voice declares. "I will break your jaw if you bite him. And somebody will kill you."
Another highlight of the ten minute video comes at the 4:40 mark when a protester in a taxi holds up signs of solidarity with the protesters as her cab is blocked by the demonstrators. And former NYPD spokesman Paul Browne also gets his close-up at the seven minute mark.
All told, more than 185 people were arrested last September 17th, and many of the seemingly arbitrary arrests were in keeping with the NYPD's overall handling of the Occupy movement, which critics say is intended to stifle dissent—there's an obvious chilling effect on activism if attending a protest means you may have to spend over 24 hours in the Tombs for committing no crime. We saw this arbitrary arrest tactic used most vividly at a nearly-deserted Zuccotti Park in February of last year.
More actions are planned to commemorate the second anniversary tomorrow, so stay tuned for more random arrests. [Via Boing Boing]
