Occupy DC faces off with cops on K Street

Yesterday there were two kinds of assholes on K Street.

The first group is there permanently.  They’re the ones who buy off members of Congress and get them to do their bidding.  On behalf of the K Street lobbyists, Congress passed bad laws and did nothing to stop the Wall Street excesses and theft from the 99% that led to the destruction of our economy.

That’s why almost two thousand people converged on Washington DC this week – to Take Back the Capitol.

On Tuesday, we descended on 99 congressional offices to tell our representatives that we need good jobs now and that we will no longer stand for corporations calling the shots in this county.

On Wednesday, it was K Street’s turn.

Not dampened by the continual downpour, massive groups of people marched through the streets of DC, all winding up at K Street and 16th.

As we moved down K toward 15th, we noticed the Occupy DC encampment there.  Those occupiers decided to join in on our action.

There was a dichotomy within the group.  Some of them were saying on the people’s mic that we’re all on the same side; essentially that we are one.

There were others, however, who had a holier-than-thou attitude.  A young woman with long dreadlocks actually had the nerve to tell me that because I’m not camping out at McPherson Square, I’m not part of the movement.

This poor girl has probably never held a job in her life, let alone lost one due to the crashed economy.  I can pretty much guarantee she’s never owned a home, let alone lost one due to the banksters fraudulent activities.

After the larger Take Back the Capitol groups left K Street after making our point (minus a few of the younger, more radical occupiers from around the country who stayed with the Occupy DC crowd), the mood changed.

With my handy android phone, I was able to stream live … it was right around this point, as all the protesters were moved onto the sidewalks, and a few decided to make a point and get arrested.  Then we were all allowed back on the sidewalk.. I was puzzled, to say the least.

What was a peaceful march turned into provocation.  The protesters that remained, for the most part, seemed intent on turning a great day ugly.

They set up tents and tables in the middle of intersections, snarling traffic throughout the city.  (Note: Not a great way to get the average person on your side).

As the cops pushed the crowd toward 14th street where they had erected a human barrier, the protesters got more defiant.

All of the cops I saw seemed not very happy to be there. They acted with restraint. But blogger  Aaron Krager witnessed one  cop overturn a table on which two protesters were standing….

All that was left was the one final line pictured above. By now, the protesters were sitting on the wet pavement, and a huge crowd surrounded them.

It all ended with the cops removing the protesters one by one and arresting them.  No pepper spray, rubber bullets or other “less lethal” weapons used.  Other police forces could learn a lesson from how the cops handled this.

Yes. The many of the lobbyists on K Street are assholes and should be thrown in jail.  But the same goes for some of the Occupy DC protesters on K Street yesterday.