The NY Post's contempt for Occupy Wall Street has fully blossomed into gleeful, unbridled derision. Today's cover story is OCCUPY WALL STREET ANIMALS GO WILD, with the lede: "This is the new face of Zuccotti Park!" Well, it's certainly the Post's new face of Zuccotti Park:
After kicking tents and creating a disturbance, the emotionally disturbed man, Cleveland native Jeremy Clinch, was subdued by a volunteer EMT and handed over to police. The man who emerged from his tent to fight him also neatly fits the Post's narrative: Recai “Rocky” Iskender, 48, of New Jersey, who claims to be an ex-Turkish diplomat. After decking Clinch, he told the tabloid that Clinch "is a Bloomberg agent, disturbing and disrupting the protest." Iskender then donned a message board that read, “USA-Turk Army Ended My Diplomatic Career 6 Times."
Okay, there are definitely a fair number of kooks down there at Occupy Wall Street, but you can look at any grassroots political movement and find plenty of tinfoil hatters. We're sure there were mentally unhinged people hanging out at the Paris Commune ranting about how the hot air balloons were actually alien spaceships coming to abduct them. It's no surprise that the Post will focus on the fringe elements—the druggies and alleged rapist—who sully the movement's reputation, but there are thousands of faces of Occupy Wall Street, which is something the protesters' have stressed since day one with their refusal to name any leaders.
Unfortunately for those camping out there who are serious about the occupation, NewYorkist reports that Clinch was back again last night, yelling and screaming. (Nice work, Bloomberg!) And we're told there's been another clash between a homeless man and a protester this morning, and police aren't taking protesters' wish to file a report seriously. More on that later.
(Additional reporting by Bethany O'Grady)
