OWS VIOLENCE INEXCUSABLE; OWS MOVEMENT WILL ONLY GROW STRONGER

Occupy Rochester has struck a deal with the City of Rochester to maintain a 24/7 presence at Washington Square Park and avoid any violence or arrests. Photo above shows CSEA officer and Pride At Work member Ove Overmyer at a rally last night Nov. 16 in the park. photo: Bess Watts

Rochester, N.Y.-- Demonstrations of Occupy Wall Street protesters popped up from coast to coast today to mark two months since the movement's birth in a lower Manhattan park. Dozens of protesters were arrested by midday near Wall Street in New York, while hundreds of protesters marched in the financial district in Los Angeles.

A few hundred demonstrators paraded through lower Manhattan for several hours Thursday morning, and about 50 to 60 were arrested as they thronged intersections near the New York Stock Exchange, brokerage houses and banks.

"All day, all week, shut down Wall Street!" the crowd chanted.

Helmeted officers hauled several occupiers to their feet after they sat down in the street to block traffic. Most of the crowd then assembled in Zuccotti Park, from which the protesters' camp was evicted this week. There were more rallies planned later in the day.

About 500 sympathizers of the Occupy movement marched in downtown Los Angeles. The Occupiers, chiefly a coalition of labor unions, gathered between the Bank of America tower and Wells Fargo Plaza, chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out."

Occupiers in Las Vegas vowed to pitch tents in front of a federal building. In Albany, N.Y., Occupiers from Buffalo, Rochester and other encampments around the state were coming in by bus to join a demonstration in a downtown park. A rally was held last night at the Rochester Occupy site to garner support for the bus trip.

Violence inexcusable

Just a few short weeks ago, the 99 percent offered criticism of the 1 percent. Remember, we have only been at this since September 17. We struggled peacefully and artfully to inform and mobilize public opinion. We won huge numbers of hearts and minds. People can understand 99 percent. The message is clear. And, the 1 percent in the United States did what their counterparts in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and so on did earlier this year-- and that answer was resort to violence.

Mahatma Gandhi said it best, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

So now, the weapon of criticism wielded by the 99 percent is suffering now that the counter criticism of violence has been delivered by servants of the 1 percent. In the days to come, no one will probably be able to distinguish which side resorted to the organized, massive violence first. It is all so unnecessary-- but extremely important that we define the debate on our own terms and remain a nonviolent movement.

As in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, having failed to win hearts and minds, our very own government agencies and local municipalities cover their failure by resorting to violence and attacking the very citizens they were sworn to protect and serve. The irony can not be overstated.

OWS and the Occupy movement will come back even stronger. One popular sign that has been popping up lately that sums things up nicely reads, "When you screw with us, we multiply."