PressTV: "Crack Down on 99%ers"

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A political activist says the US one-percent ruling class “is really threatened by the rising movement of oppressed people,” responding with a rise in police crackdowns.


On the six-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Saturday, anti-corporatism demonstrators gathered together to launch a new series of protests in New York, Los Angeles and the Midwest.

US Occupy protesters have called for solidarity rallies in a show of support to express discontent with the US police brutality and the detention of dozens of demonstrators during the movement.

The protesters have been using the slogan, "We are the 99 percent" to distinguish themselves from the one-percent of Americans that are in possession of the greatest portion of the nation's wealth.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Caleb Maupin from the International Action Center to further discuss the issue. The following is a transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Do you think it's quite significant that these solidarity marches now have more than one message overlapping each other? -It's the anti-Wall Street demos doubled up with a wave of dissatisfaction against US police brutality.

Maupin: Yes. I was actually in the park last night, last evening, when the attacks happened. It was ridiculous. There were people demonstrating in the park, minding their own business in the park which they have the right to do, which there have been numerous court rulings now that said they have the right to be in the park as long as they don’t setup tents, and the result was the police declaring the park to be closed arbitrarily and going in and acting extremely violently.

At one point there was a woman having a seizure on the ground, and the police kept her in handcuffs. There were trained medics who ran up to try and help the woman who were blocked by the police.

And this really shows that the ruling class in this country is really threatened by the rising movement of oppressed people. They chose to respond this way.

They’re so threatened by the idea that people in the US just like to get together and gather in a park and denounce capitalism. They’re threatened by that because they know their system is very weak. At one point in the demonstration people were chanting, “just like Ho Chi Minh, Occupy is going to win,” making clear they were in solidarity with the oppressed people around the world that are fighting against the US bankers and the corporations. That’s a beautiful thing.

Occupy Wall Street is a symptom of a global movement, and the fact that such brutality has been cracked down has been showing what this government has been all about.

Press TV: Overall how would you asses the resolve and motivation of the 99-percenters, given the police tactics used, the wave of arrests and let's not forget the recent signing of the Federal Restricted Buildings act by President Obama?

Maupin: Well, if we know anything from the last six months, it’s been every time they viciously attack Occupy Wall Street, what happens it gets bigger.

And you know, New York City can get very cold in the winter, but the winter’s over. It’s heating up, it’s getting warm here and I think this is just the beginning of a broad Occupy Spring.

All over the country people are getting ready. There’s even a push for a general strike on May 1st - ‘A day without the 99-percent’.

People are saying they will not sell their labor to the Wall Street capitalist class as protest on May 1st - the International Workers’ Day which started here on May 1st which started here in the United States and has not been practiced here in the United States for a long time until it was revived in 2006 by the immigrant workers.

But now it’s been taken up by the entire 99-percent here in the US. Things are rapidly changing here and Occupy Wall Street is a symbol of that. People are ready to fight and it’s very inspiring.

GMA/JR