Celluloid wars on Wall Street
13 Oct 2011
While 'occupy Wall Street' protestors in New York have been filming every alleged instance of police high-handedness and posting them on YouTube, the city police too are filming the protests to justify their actions.
The celluloid wars between the protestors and the police have intensified after a particular footage, of a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer spraying four women protestors with pepper, attracted nearly 1.5 million views on YouTube. The incident also made its way to Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show,' and catapulted the movement internationally.
The police have also deployed photographers and videographers from the technical assistance response unit (TARU) to film the demonstrations and protests. ''Officers are aware of the fact that they are being photographed,'' said Paul Browne, spokesman for the NYPD.
The videos are usually sent out along with news releases to deny allegations of high-handedness.
One such footage was sent along with the release on the arrest of 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge; the demonstrators said the police had tricked them, but the video showed the police had given adequate warnings before the arrest.
Thousands of protestors, including students with huge education loans and the unemployed, have occupied Zuccotti Park in New York since September 17, trying to highlight on the greed of Wall Street executives. Recent days have seen a spate of celebrities – including filmmaker Michael Moore, actors Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo, besides rappers and comedians.
