by Stephanie Fail
Safety Team Meets About, Amidst Conflict
The citizens of Occupy Boston have apparently had enough with people who ignore the community substance-free and nonviolence standards and gathered Monday night to discuss how to remove these threats from the community.
The Safety working group, responsible for removing people from camp when necessary, did not have clear protocol on whether police should be called into the camp to handle certain situations. Apparently, there was already a “Community Wellness” working group who had contacted social workers regarding intervention in drug-related conflict.
One participant in the discussion proposed creating a team of people who had beaten their addictions to act as liaisons for getting people who cause trouble out of camp. Another participant, who had worked as a medic, said she did not feel safe unless aggressive individuals were removed by police because of a fear that “they may come back at a later date.”
Members of the discussion became upset to the point where many broke from assembly procedures, interrupting and not using hand signals. At one point, the more aggressive speakers moved closer to the middle. Peacemakers stood between these speakers, quickly calming the conversation.
No amendments were made.
At one point during the meeting, a belligerent middle-aged woman arrived at a nearby tent, was sent out of the tent by its owner, yet refused to leave. She sat outside on a plastic chair, smoking a cigarette. She began swearing and burning anyone who came close to her with her cigarette.
“Don’t touch me, I’m not moving. If you call the cops I’ll [expletive] punch you in the face, and then my boyfriend will come over and punch you in the face,” she screamed, enraged.
Members of the Safety team arrived to mediate the situation, along with a few police officers.
In response to their arrival, the woman began screaming repeatedly about the man who managed the tent: “He touched me, he [expletive] put his hands on me!”
After a bystander tried to dissolve the situation, the angry woman finished her cigarette and took off running towards South Station.
Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel Removed From Finance
The Financial Accountability Working Group unanimously voted last night to disavow Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel from all Occupy Boston financial activities. The working group wrote a letter to publicly listed members of the Boston Teachers Union, which is reproduced here for transparency.
On behalf of Occupy Boston, we wanted to reach out thanking for your support for our movement. However, it has come to our attention that you all may be the target of a potential fundraising scam. Recently, the Finance Accountability Working Group of Occupy Boston has passed a resolution disavowing Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel from any financial activities on behalf of Occupy Boston. We’ve included the text to the resolution that we passed below, as well as a link to the Press Release that was posted on our official website. The reason for their disavowal was embezzlement of Occupy Boston funds and a lack of transparency and accountability in all actions. They have specifically been stripped of any privilege to raise funds on behalf of Occupy Boston.
We were informed they may be trying to throw a fundrasier in conjunction with the Boston Teachers Union, so we felt it incumbent on ourselves to let you all know the actions we’ve taken on the matter. Given their corruption, we strongly recommend against giving them any funds for any reason whatsoever.
We regret that our first point of contact with you had to come with such a negative tone. We cherish your support and look forward to working with you in the future.
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