NEW YORK – An "Occupy Wall Street" protester who scaled a 30-foot sculpture in lower Manhattan on Saturday morning demanded a cigarette, a jacket and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's resignation.

Dylan Spoelstra, 24, from Toronto, was brought to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation after voluntarily surrendering to the NYPD shortly after 9:00am ET. His stunt ushered in a day of several planned "Occupy Wall Street" marches and rallies slated for Saturday afternoon, even though Bloomberg warned Friday that police are going to start cracking down the permit-less events.


Spoelstra, who had been ticketed by the NYPD for public urination at 3:14am, told his protester pals about an hour later that he was going to climb the bright red artwork known as "Joie de Vivre" on Broadway on the west side of Zuccotti Park. He eyed the ring of cops standing nearby for several minutes, then dashed across the street and clambered up one of the large vertical beams, a friend told the New York Post.

"He went up like a ring-tailed lemur," said Patrick Griese, who held Spoelstra's jacket for him.

The 24-year-old tried to reach the top of the structure but ran out of steam about halfway up, witnesses said. He perched on a beam and shouted out a list of his demands until the NYPD hostage unit was brought in to deal with him.

Spoelstra initially demanded that 15 percent of staffers on the FDNY and NYPD be bisexual, witnesses said, but then changed his mind and said he wanted 15 of the police officers on the scene to leave. He later added a demand for racial quotas in NYPD hiring.

He also told police he would not come down until Bloomberg resigned -- and asked for a cigarette and a jacket to get warm.

"He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer," said Griese, who met Spoelstra a few days ago at the Zuccotti Park encampment that's now in its second month and causing increasing friction with New Yorkers who live nearby.

"Let him stay up there until next year. Who cares?" shouted one fed up woman who spotted cops negotiating with a perched Spoelstra as she walked by.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/22/occupy-wall-street-protester-scales-statue-says-wont-come-down-until-bloomberg/?test=latestnews#ixzz1bZtqLtMm

Morons..........

was that the whole crowd or one person? just for clarification

cause I remember when certain signs were pointed out at tea party events,, they didnt necessarily represent 'the crowd'


never sure which standard to use,,,,

Hopefully Soros springs for some space heaters for these poor souls.


They put on a gritty war face and insist they are more determined now than ever, but the Occupy Wall Street campers now face the slow advance of an unrelenting enemy: the New York winter. As freezing winds blew Friday over the epicenter of their protests, Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, the demonstrators were already huddling in significantly reduced numbers.

At night, the several hundred people who sleep on site in the financial district bundle up as best they can under plastic tarps, hunkering down in sleeping bags and emergency blankets as tents are forbidden on the plaza.
Many sleep with bonnets and scarves. But the worst has yet to come. :tears flowing emoticon:

"So far, we have been extremely blessed," said Cynthia Villarreal, who has slept at Zuccotti for 18 days.

Ever since the anti-corporate protest movement began on September 17, OWS has only battled a handful of rainy days. At night, temperatures are still above freezing.

But New York winters often see frigid temperatures that drop below 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius).

"The cold affects us already,"

major respect to anyone & everyone who suffers through the winter in New York (and there will be some). the countless others occupying cities around the world will be thinking of them.

I have a certain level of respect for anyone that does more than just 'complain' behind a computer

those who get involved, I credit for getting involved, even if their methods or opinions are detestable

more people need to get 'involved'

I respect anyone who stands up for a cause and acts peacefully.

Also, I'm so glad to live in this age where even those who are unable to get physically involved can still contribute to a cause from behind their computer.

Pretty sure that's all talking about the same person. Of which his co-protester said:








Did you mean 'moron', or 'morons'?

Are you so hateful of people with different views than you that you will eagerly and irrationally take an individual as representative of the group?






MsHarmony wrote:





I know, seriously. The tea party attracted large numbers of racists. Its not the tea party's fault, but racists loved the tea party.

Racists? Have you proof of this? If the president was white,latino,jewish,or an alien from outer space the tea party would still talk against them.

The tea party as far as I know (From what I hear in the liberal media) Would go home after the event! The never pooped (Sorry don't know another word for that) in the park! Or on a police car!

And they mostly all stand for one thing, I think that's lower spending.

I heard a number of interviews on the radio where they interviewed a number of these wal-street crazies. They all stood for different things.

Too bad these ccupy idiots don't protest peacefully, more have been arrested then any other protests.

Maybe you didn't read what I wrote. Your response is a non-sequitur.



Good for them. We'll see where this goes.

Are you implying that you are so naive as to believe that only non-peaceful protesters are arrested? That arrest rates correlate to degree of non-peacefulness?


Seriously?

The police fired what appears to be teargas into a crowd, and they disperse. One person was left lying on the ground, and group returns to help him up.

A police officer who is close enough to see that someone was lying on the ground, and that the others simply returned to help - fired another teargas canister into the group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QqNOPZLw03Q#!

So you're saying every person there is not protesting peacefully?

Can you also provide proof that none of the protesters arrested were protesting peacefully?

It looks like that man on the ground is now in the hospital, with a shattered skull.


It appears the police shot him with shotgun, using a bag of lead shot, from close range.

I think it's pretty ironic that our local Tea Party supporter forgets that the Tea Party's Plan B is a Second Amendment culture of intimidation. Just look at one of the signs they hoisted during the healthcare debate: " If Brown can't stop Obamacare, a BROWNING can."

The Tea Party-- "Do what we say and nobody gets hurt."

-Kerry O.

I think it's silly as hell that some will
STILL generalize to this extreme!!!

And agree strongly with those here who show support for thse individuals willing to take risks to create social change.