ON THE SIX-MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF OCCUPY WALL STREET COPS WERE IN THE STREETS ARRESTING PEOPLE AT RANDOM AND PUNCHING SOME OF THEM IN THE FACE, INCLUDING THE OCCUPY MEDIC WHO MIGHT HAVE ASSISTED A YOUNG WOMAN HAVING A SIZURE AND GETTING NO HELP FROM THE POLICE, WHO HANDCUFFED HER AND LEFT HER BEATING HER HEAD ON THE SIDE WALK. AS OF THE MOMENT OF THIS PROGRAM SHE WAS IN JAIL, NOT A HOSPITAL, CHARGED WITH A FELONY ...AND THE AMERICAN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION WAS NOT PERMITTED TO SUPPLY HER WITH LEGAL COUNSEL.

MARCH 19, 2012                                                                                                                 .

Police Arrest 73 in Occupy Wall Street Crackdown as Protesters Mark Six Months Since Uprising Began

Michael Moore led hundreds of people from the Left Forum conference to Zuccotti Park on Saturday where hundreds had gathered to reoccupy the park to mark six months since the launch of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began last September and launched protests around the world that gave voice to "the 99 percent." That night, New York City police officers cleared the park, making at least 73 arrests. Many people reported excessive use of force by officers; several cases were caught on camera. In one widely reported incident, a young woman suffered a seizure after she was pulled from the crowd and arrested. Witnesses say police initially ignored Cecily McMillan as she flopped about on the sidewalk with her hands zip-tied behind her back, but she was eventually taken away in an ambulance. For more, we talk to Guardian reporter Ryan Devereaux, who has been following the Occupy movement closely. [Original includes rush transcript]

Guest:

Ryan Devereaux, a journalist for The Guardian and a former Democracy Now! fellow who has been reporting on Occupy Wall Street

MARCH 19, 2012                                                                                                                     .

Strategic Directions for Occupy Wall Street: Foreclosing Banks, Defending Homes, Making History

Famed sociologist Frances Fox Piven and labor organizer Stephen Lerner discuss how Occupy Wall Street could grow into a major political movement that draws millions into the streets. "I’m absolutely convinced that Occupy is the beginning of another massive protest movement," Fox Piven says. "Protest movements have a long life—10, 15 years—and they are what we have to rely on to take our country back." Fox Piven is professor of political science and sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and author of "Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America." Lerner is a labor organizer who was the architect of the Justice for Janitors campaign and is on the executive board of the Service Employees International Union. He has been working with labor and community groups nationally on how to hold Wall Street accountable. "I think there’s never been a more exciting time in my 30 years of organizing to imagine building the kind of movement that can transform the country, that can really talk about redistributing wealth and power. And there’s never a better time to get involved," Lerner says. We are also joined by Guardian reporter Ryan Devereaux, who has been reporting on Occupy Wall Street extensively. [Original includes rush transcript]

Guests:

Frances Fox Piven, author and professor of political science and sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her latest book is Who’s Afraid of Frances Fox Piven?: The Essential Writings of the Professor Glenn Beck Loves to Hate, as well as Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America.

Stephen Lerner, the architect of the Justice for Janitors campaign. He is on the executive board of the Service Employees International Union and works with labor and community groups nationally on how to hold Wall Street accountable.

Ryan Devereaux, a journalist for The Guardian and a former Democracy Now! fellow who has been reporting on Occupy Wall Street.