Manhattan-bound bridges, tunnels to be blocked during May Day protests

Occupy Wall Street is threatening to “shut down” New York City as part of May Day protests that includes plans to block Manhattan-bound bridges and tunnels.

As WND reported today, the move comes as Occupy has partnered with an anarchy movement to deploy joint chaotic actions aimed at protesting capitalism.

The bridge and tunnel plot is openly announced on Occupy’s official website.

“On May 1, 2012, autonomous direct action groups within Occupy Wall Street, as a part of the global mobilizations for general strike and economic non-compliance, will block one or more Manhattan-bound bridges or tunnels to protest the shameful opulence of the 1%.”

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Occupy warns: “We are announcing these blockades now as a fair warning to the rest of the working people of New York and New Jersey who are considering joining the strikes and mobilizations of the day: the city will be shut down, so enjoy the day without the 99%!”

The protest is part of Occupy’s nationwide Day of Action planned for May 1..

Writing at the Huffington Post, Danny Schechter, editor of Mediachannel.org, warned Occupy may be co-opted by anarchy groups that could turn violent.

“Can this relatively new movement pull off an ambitious general strike to shut down a city like New York?” he asks. “In many ways, the success of this tactic requires alliances and coalitions that take far more time to build. Internal fears of “co-optation” may make it harder for Occupy to reach out to movements and political tendencies that are more reformist, although some labor unions are supportive.

“Throughout the history of May Day, there have been tensions between anarchists and socialists,” he writes.

While Schechter warns of “co-option,” Occupy has been openly coordinating with anarchy groups.

Last weekend, Occupy D.C. and an anti-capitalist group calling itself the Anarchist Alliance D.C. Network caused a ruckus at an International Monetary Fund convention. Protesters reportedly attached climbing ropes to security barricades outside the main IMF entry checkpoint and pulled down the barricades. Other ropes were used to pull down obstacles along the path delegates used to attend the meetings.

Some protesters stormed several hotels where IMF delegates were staying, including the Washington Circle Hotel and the Mayflower.

A Facebook “anarchy” page was created in the run-up to the IMF event. The page, titled “Anarchy Spring training and IMF protest in DC-April 19th to 20th-2012,” served as an online planning forum.

The Occupy Wall Street website initiated a subsection entitled “anarchy” in which related events are posted.

The site boasts of a Manhattan protest earlier this month, following an anarchy book fair, in which agitators marched through the streets turning over trash cans and spraying anarchy symbols on local businesses. Protesters reportedly used eight-foot-long metal pipes to smash the windows of a Starbucks in New York’s East Village.

One group, calling itself the First of May Anarchist Alliance, has partnered with Occupy to protest the Trayvon Martin shooting.

The anarchy tactics apparently come directly from the playbook of a direct-action organization known as the Ruckus Society, which helped to spark the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle that turned violent.

Ruckus is directly tied to Occupy. WND previously reported how official direct-action training resources for Occupy events include several manuals from the Ruckus Society.

Ruckus was also listed as a “friend and partner” of Occupy events, including the movement’s Days of Action held in October 2011.

Ruckus is funded by the George Soros-financed Tides Center, which has been involved in Occupy since the movement’s onset.

Another grantee of Tides is the Adbusters magazine, which first announced the Occupy movement. MoveOn.org, which has joined Occupy, is funded by Tides.

Occupy’s May Day protests, meanwhile, have been officially sanctioned with permits from New York City.

The schedule includes a music lineup with artists and bands such as Das Racist, Dan Deacon, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Immortal Technique, and Bobby Sanabria.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/04/occupy-threatens-to-shut-down-nyc/print/