In the first case, NYU Junior, Alex Arbuckle, was arrested for "disrupting the peace, by obstructing traffic," in a OWS protest. A journalist Tim Poole caught everything on video. The ironic part of the arrest is that Arbuckle was filming to document the movement and the "raw" personalities of the police and protesters, as opposed to what the media portrayed of them. After getting arrested he was given an adjournment contemplating dismissal. He did not take it and decided to fight the case in court. Video evidence from Pool showed that the NYPD were the ones obstructing the traffic and the case was dropped.
The second case was similar to the one of Arbuckle. Jessica Hall was arrested in a protest for the same reason as Arbuckle, "disrupting the peace, by obstructing traffic." The charges were dropped once NYPD video footage emerged showing that Hall, along with the other protesters that day, had not been the ones obstructing the traffic. It was in fact the NYPD themselves, who had set up metal barricades to stop the protest.
The third case involves 8 men who trespassed into an empty lot owned by Trinity church in Manhattan. One of the men, Mark Adams used bolt cutters to take down the fence. He was charged with attempted criminal mischief and attempted criminal possession of burglar's tools. Adams was sentenced to 45 days in jail and the other 7 men were fined and assigned 4 hours of community service.
Police were caught on video blocking traffic. The protesters still got arrested and the police who made false accusations were not punished
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/in_the_first_oc.phphttp://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/in_the_first_oc.php
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/in_second_occup.php
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/06/eight_occupy_wa.php
http://www.propublica.org/article/explainer-just-how-much-can-the-state-restrict-a-peaceful-protest
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