Bloomberg's History With Protests: Spying, Infiltrating, Arresting With No Cause

Bloomberg's History With Protests: Spying, Infiltrating, Arresting With No Cause

As the police continue to drag protesters away downtown, the policies behind these actions come right from the top.

There's an excellent piece in the Atlantic Cities today that should remind us of Boomberg's disgraceful history when it comes to social protests.

Although the Mayor is friendlier to some aspects of the First Amendment than his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, he has used excessive force and even more absurd precaution and infiltration when dealing with nearly a decade of activism.

Ben Adler reports:

The first protest Bloomberg tried to suppress was against the impending invasion of Iraq on February 15, 2003. The city, citing only vague security concerns, refused to grant a permit to march, allowing only a stationary rally and cramming attendees into a narrow penned area. Hundreds of thousands of protesters were unable to get within earshot.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/732183/bloomberg%27s_history_with_protests:_spying,_infiltrating,_arresting_with_no_cause/#paragraph5