For OWS, a Confrontation Within the Confrontation

An Occupy Wall Street protester’s attack on an activist and journalist who filmed fellow activists letting air out of the tires of police cars has highlighted a division within the movement between those who want to protect protesters engaged in illegal acts and others who want to report the straight truth.

Tim Pool, who rose to prominence within the OWS community with his nonstop streaming coverage of the Zuccotti Park eviction, defends his right to record what he sees, even though some of his peers have branded him a snitch. Other protesters have responded to threats against him with offers of protection. –ARK

Ryan Devereaux at The Guardian:

Pool says that at approximately 2am he happened upon a number of masked protesters releasing the air from a police cruiser’s tires. Pool claims he had no intention of filming the incident initially, but was quickly confronted nonetheless. The activists demanded he stop filming, and he refused. With al-Jazeera tapping into his live stream and thousands of viewers relying on him to capture the action, Pool defended his right to relay what was going on in front of him, regardless of what it depicted. It’s a position he’s stood by ever since.

“When you have anarchists draining police tyres who are saying don’t film me because I’m doing something illegal, I’m going to film them,” Pool said on Sunday night. Pool has no qualms about filming protesters engaged in illegal activities and knows full well that his broadcasts are available for the police to monitor.

The way he sees it, disabling police vehicles and throwing bottles at the cops puts less confrontational demonstrators at risk. “They are opening the door for police to start beating and arresting innocent people.”

Read more