Today, disbarred human rights and environmental lawyer Steven Donziger was sentenced to six months in prison for criminal contempt. He has refused to turn over his laptop since 2014, when a federal judge ordered that measure in a racketeering case brought against Donziger by the corporation Chevron. Judge Preska, who presided over today’s sentencing, made it clear that Donziger’s previous efforts to hold Chevron accountable for polluting were irrelevant to his current predicament.

 “This case is wholly unconnected with responsibility Chevron may have regarding the oil spill in the Amazon rainforest…this case is about rule of law. All are equal under the law,” Preska said from the bench.

BREAKING: Flouting the U.N. decision ordering my release, Judge Preska sentenced me to 6 months in prison. Still on house arrest until the appeals court rules on my motion for release pending appeal. Picture is from rally this morning.

More details shortly. Stay strong. pic.twitter.com/ufXVhTTWJA

— Steven Donziger (@SDonziger) October 1, 2021

 Outside, the protesters were united in support of Donziger, who has waged a three-decade-long legal battle against Chevron for polluting Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest and killing potentially thousands of mostly indigenous Ecuadorian people.

“En pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido!” chanted the crowd. The rallying cry translates to “The people, united, will never be defeated,” and is an international symbol of the New Song Movement in South America.

Protesters gather outside the District Court in Southern Manhattan to support Steven Donziger. He was charged with criminal contempt after a lengthy legal battle with Chevron, regarding that company’s pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Photo by Annie Iezzi

 Internationally, labor leaders, public interest attorneys, and civil rights leaders worry about the precedent set by the jailing of a human rights lawyer following his crusade against a multinational corporation.

 “It’s a kangaroo court,” said lifelong union organizer Ray Rogers. He pioneered the Corporate Campaign strategy, and he plans to employ this tactic against Chevron, as he has in his Killer Coke campaign against the Coca Cola company.

 “Right now, Chevron doesn’t want to clean up a mess they’ve created,” Rogers said “In a labor union case, the company doesn’t want to share power. Both things cost companies money, and companies don’t want that.”

 This view was only heightened by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council subgroup, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, decision on September 24, which categorizes Donziger’s “deprivation of liberty” as “arbitrary.” Furthermore, Donziger has long claimed that the federal judge who found him to be in contempt, Judge Lewis Kaplan, enjoys secret investments in Chevron, which would have required that he recuse himself from the case.

 Abuses of power were on the minds of many protesters, including one wearing a sparkly cape covered in pins. 

“I’m mad that all this time grownups in power haven’t used their power to help Steven Donziger,” said 11-year-old climate activist Avery Tsai into a bullhorn.

 Donziger attempted to hold Chevron accountable for the abuses of the company it purchased, Texaco, an American oil brand. Though Chevron is an American multinational company, the case was transferred to the judiciary of Ecuador prior to 2011.

According to Ecuadorian court findings, for three decades Chevron dumped billions of gallons of oil and refuse onto Indigenous ancestral lands in Ecuador to conserve costs. In 2011, the same court ordered that Chevron pay $19 billion to remediate damages, a penalty that was lowered to $9.4 billion on appeal and then dismissed in light of Donziger’s racketeering charge.

Victor Salazar, an Ecuadorian immigrant and member of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, joins the protest in support of Steven Donziger. Photo by Annie Iezzi

 “I used to live there,” said Ecuadorian immigrant and member of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Victor Salazar. “I was a child, so I didn’t realize the intensity of the situation until much later in life, but I saw my cousins’ pets: the dogs would come in with oil on their paws, and the water was so polluted.”

 Waving an NYTWA flag, Salazar stressed the importance of unity. 

“It’s about unity, and that’s why I’m here. If our struggles are united, we fight, and we don’t give up, we will make a difference in this world,” he said.

 As for Donziger, today’s sentencing was a defeat on multiple levels. He will spend the next six months in prison, he will remain disbarred, and he will not see Chevron pay its dues to the people of Ecuador.

 “I respect the law,” he said in response to Judge Preska’s implication that he did not. “I have been fighting through the law for the people of Ecuador for years.”

 Donziger is still on the hook for attorneys’ fees totaling $3.4 million, payable to Chevron.

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“Defunding the police is kind of one of those generic terms that means different things for different people,” said Dennis Kenney a criminal justice professor at John Jay College and a former Florida police officer. “Shutting down the NYPD would be a bit of a disaster. They’re talking about somebody else taking over the responsibilities that the police handle.” 

Advocates and protesters contend that allocating funds to social services could improve mental health, addiction and homelessness in different communities, and that it is a better use of taxpayer money. 

Good morning, it’s a beautiful day to defund the police pic.twitter.com/Fxyw3qcmlA

— Allyson BLM 🔜 ?? some festival eventually (@Allys0nwondrlnd) July 7, 2020

The city cuts will reduce municipal services, hirings and in response to the recent protests, take around $1 billion from the Police Department. But protesters argue Mayor Bill de Blasio is not really shifting money away from the police department  amd into programs that will benefit minority communities.

For example, $400 million of the $1 billion cut will be achieved by moving school safety officers under the Department of Education. However, The New York Times reported that the Education Department already sends $300 million a year to police to fund school safety programs, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office. This means that the DOE  will now operate a program it had already been underwriting. Critics say all De Blasio is doing is moving money around and now really cutting the police budget.

Some protesters are also pushing for community policing. But Kenney warns cutting down community police interactions and replacing them with neighborhood vigilantes is risky. 

 “If you shut down police departments, you would then have little islands where you got very different kinds of policing,” Kenney said. “For example, in the Bronx, citizen groups would do something and then in Soho other citizen groups would do different things. So you end up with this hodge podge of extreme tribalism where the rules are different when you cross the street.” 

Barry Latzer, a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College, and former assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, also believes communities policing themselves could be dangerous. 

“The risk of using citizens is that you have non-professionals doing what professionals do,” he said. “There are violent, armed people on the streets and I don’t think we want unprofessional citizens to interact with them. If they do, I think we would have more incidents of shooting and use of force.”

Another challenge with implementing changes to policing is the hyper-localized nature of police departments across the U.S.

“The challenge with saying, ‘We’ll just put programs in place and reform American policing’ is that reforming 18,000 agencies is a tough task. Reforming one agency is already a tough task,” said Eric Piza, an associate professor at John Jay College, and former GIS specialist of the New Jersey Police Department. 

Piza agreed that defunding the police is feasible as long as it is done strategically and gradually. For instance, programs and organizations that will take on mental health or drug overdose calls would have to be prepared to respond to calls on a 24/7 basis as police departments currently do. 

“If we’re going to take mental health funding away from the police, but not give that money to another agency to make up for the loss of policing that problem, then that’s a problem that probably won’t get any better,” he said. 

Kenney doesn’t think defunding the police is not a viable answer, even if each department is hyper-localized. He believes the services police provide now would have to be provided in through citizen community groups and organizations. Reforms would need to happen on a “neighborhood by neighborhood basis.” Knowing why policing is not effective in certain communities will be key.

“We know collaboration between them (the police) and the community members is the key, “ he said.  “There are 18,000 police departments and 18,000 versions are gonna have to happen.”

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Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered around the 9/11 Memorial today, hoping to get a glimpse of Pope Francis entering the site for an interfaith service with the families of the victims of the September 11 attack. But among the swarm of Pope Francis fans, were several groups of protesters and religious enthusiasts, attempting to persuade the onlookers to “go home and repent.”

The protesters passed around flyers featuring lists of biblical quotes and wore t-shirts that read “You Repent” and “Fear God” printed on them. They shouted into their megaphones at the people passing by, imploring visitors to divert their attention from the pope’s activities and focus on the “truths” of God.

“Jesus Christ died for sinners, not Mary, not Pope Francis, not Pope Benedict, not any priest,” said protestor Don Karns. “A lot of Roman Catholics come out here today. To even be a mile near him they come here and stand in line. But it gives us an opportunity to share the truth.”

One of the big concerns among the protesters was that the pope’s visit would deflect from the word of God that is taught in the Bible. They believed that all of the excitement around the weekend’s events was just a big distraction.

The 9/11 Memorial was not the only place where religious protesters were making noise. Groups like the Westboro Baptists were also seen waving their signs in other areas around the city where people were gathering to see the pope.

“God hates fags,” shouted Westboro Baptist leader, Ben Phelps, outside of Madison Square Garden in response to the Pope’s more accepting comments about homosexuality.

But it did not deter thousands of New Yorkers, visitors and tourists, from watching and waiting for the Pope. They waved their yellow and white papal flags and showed off their Pope Francis merchandise, which included t-shirts and buttons with the Pope’s face plastered across the front as well as clever phrases that read “I Love Pope Francis” and “The Pope Gives Me Hope.” Few payed any attention to the shouting protesters.

“These religious people just want a show,” said native New Yorker, Frank Petrino. “They want to make other people realize what they should and shouldn’t be doing.”

Like several other visitors, Petrino was on his lunch break when he decided to head over to the memorial. Being an Italian Roman Catholic, the idea of potentially seeing Pope Francis was an opportunity he did not want to miss, and a few protesters weren’t going to stop him.

“This pope is a very ‘people-person’ and I think he’s making a difference in a lot of people’s lives. I would love to see him,” said Petrino.

Most New Yorkers ignoring the religious rants, but it didn’t deter the protestors from standing on the curbsides for hours and preaching their beliefs, hoping that there might be a few people in the crowds willing to listen to their message.

“We prayed before we came here that somehow God would give them ears to hear and change their heart today,” said Karns.

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Protestors held a “spokescouncil” in Battery Park to discuss their part in the Occupy protest. Photo by Daniella Silva

One year after the Occupy Wall Street movement first converged in Zuccotti Park, hundreds of protestors flooded the financial district yesterday in an attempt to surround the New York Stock Exchange. Hundreds of police officers also lined the district: some on foot, some on horseback, and others on motorcycles. By late afternoon, over 150 people were reported arrested, according to the National Lawyers Guild of New York City.

Protestors waved banners, played music, and danced in the street. Others wore party hats and yelled, “Happy Birthday!” Demonstrators blocked several intersections before being scattered by law enforcement. Many spoke out against an unjust economic system and rallied against the same grievances the movement called attention to last fall.

Chloe Cockburn, 33, participated in the one-year anniversary demonstration of Occupy Wall Street. Photo by Daniella Silva

“People can’t move on,” said Chloe Cockburn, 33 a civil rights lawyer from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “So many people have someone in their family facing a debt crisis, or a foreclosure, or an immigration crisis.”

“Conditions have gotten worse, they haven’t gotten better,” said Anthony Zenkus, 47, from Greenlawn, Long Island. “There’s still a disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. It’s not a sustainable system.”

During the protests, Zenkus broke off into a chant, “Warning! If you’re not paying your fair share of taxes, the police will be making arrests today! Please stay safe.”

The protest was divided into affinity groups, small groups of people within the movement who share a common tactic, identity, skill or politics, according to the Occupy Wall Street web site. Each group united at specific locations throughout the financial district at 7 a.m. before making their way through towards the Stock Exchange. A map on the site shows the district divided into four blocs: the 99% Zone, the Education Zone, the Eco Zone, and the Debt Zone. Organizers for the movement had been planning the event for months, said Zenkus.

Despite the turnout, Zenkus said he lamented people’s limited ability to show their support.

“For every one of my friends that’s here, I know a lot of people—good people—who sympathize but couldn’t come out today,” he said.

“It’s a good turnout this year,” said T.J. Frawls, 33, founder of the Political and Electoral Working Group at OWS. “I was here on this day last year and it’s just as many people—maybe more.”

“I carried this same sign,” he added. The sign, now a crumpled piece of cardboard read, “SMASH THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM.”
Frustration with the current electoral system resounded throughout the protest. Within a movement largely touted as being liberal, most expressed a largely nonpartisan political resentment.

“The two-party system constrains voter choice and creates the fiction that these two corporate-sponsored parties actually represent the existing spectrum of political interests and beliefs in this country,” said Frawls. “And they don’t. They only represent a narrow set of interests.”

“To me the election is a distraction,” said Zenkus. “We’re still here. People are still enraged.”

Some protestors wore masks bearing the faces of President Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In one group, the two were chained at the neck by another protestor dressed as Rich Uncle Pennybags, the mascot of the game monopoly.

“Frankly I don’t think it’s a left-right issue,” said protestor Douglas Ficek, 35, of Astoria, Queens. “The idea is that more and more we are moving away from a democracy to a plutocracy—rule by the rich.”

Ficek added that he would still vote for President Obama in November.

“It’s ok to vote for the lessor of two evils, I think,” he said.

The Occupiers reconvened for a meeting at Battery Park at 11:30 a.m. The early morning tension momentarily subsided as protestors sat in a large circle in the grass while police stood quietly by. At the gathering, called a spokescouncil, representatives from each of the affinity groups gave an account of the day’s successes, failures, and concerns. Some planned to stage further protests throughout the afternoon.

Hundreds of police officers gathered in the financial district in response to Occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary. Photo by Daniella Silva

“There’s so many stories in the media saying ‘Occupy is dead this, Occupy is dead that’ and don’t get me wrong I get that because it definitely disappeared from public view, but there are a lot of local Occupy events happening,” said Ficek during the spokescouncil. He admitted that it was discouraging when large movements don’t come to political fruition. Years earlier, Ficek took part in the massive protests against the Iraq war.

Cockburn was torn between the ideals of the movement and some of its tactics.

“If success is stopping people from going to work—I don’t think that’s a good goal personally,“ she said, shrugging. “It is successful to the extent that there are many people out sharing a common message.” She added that police presence had a huge impact on the number of protestors.

“I don’t think that they’re failing,” she said. “I think that they’re succeeding in forcefully controlling people.”

Tommy Montalvo, a Puerto Rican cab driver from the Bronx, said much larger demonstrations were needed.

“We’ve seen other places, like Egypt, where it has happened,” he said. “Most of us can’t even visualize that happening here—not an overthrow of our government—but a complete economic change that favors the poor and middle class.
“We’re trending towards less activism, and even lower numbers. What is this going to accomplish?”

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Baptist Minister Eric Jackson (center) and Rev. Jeff Mansfield (right) are both members of the national multi-faith religious group Occupy Faith. Photo by Alaia Howell.

Religious representation was strong today as members of the Occupy Faith organization brought leadership to Occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary demonstrations in downtown Manhattan.

Retired Episcopal Bishop George Packard, one of the many religious figures who represent a national multi-faith coalition of religious leaders known as Occupy Faith, assembled a large crowd of protestors at Zuccotti Park this morning before police arrested him nearly 30 minutes later at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street.

“Part of the Christian message is that God is with the poor,” said Reverend Jeff Mansfield from the First Congregational Church Somerville UCC near Cambridge, Mass. “Usury is wrong.”

Mansfield not only attended the Occupy Wall Street events earlier today, but also showed support to Jewish occupy supporters by attending the Occupy Judaism event at Zuccotti Park last night. Members of the Jewish faith simultaneously celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, as well as the first birthday of the Occupy movement.

“It was a really positive experience,” said Mansfield. “There’s a variety of people of faith in the movement: Christians, Jews, Muslims.”

Eric Jackson, a minister at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and associate minister at First Calvary Baptist Church in Brooklyn, is also a member of Occupy Faith and said that the organization has a good Jewish representation.

“The faith community stands in opposition of global capitalism,” said Jackson. “It is a spiritual issue.”

Other religious figures not associated with Occupy Faith also attended the protests this morning, including Stephanie Shockley, an Episcopalian Chaplin at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan.

Shockley, who has been involved with Occupy Wall Street since October of last year, said that she’s noticed her appearance in religious attire has an effect on the temperament of law enforcement and demonstrators alike.

“Cops are reluctant to mess with me,” said Shockley. “I think I can remind cops that there is something higher to report to than their commanding officers.”

She said she notices initial suspicion among some occupiers, but has also experienced appreciation from some, including those who aren’t religious.

“For example, I know someone who is a definite atheist who will pick up the phone sometimes and say, ‘We could use some spiritual support,’” she said.

Lisa Fithian, 51, an Occupy Wall Street member from Austin, Texas, expressed approval of religious support in the Occupy movement.

“Occupy Faith is a critical part,” she said. “They provide a moral voice. People need to see that presence in the Occupy movement.”

Bob Lindgren, a 58-year-old protester from Bayridge, Brooklyn said he is indifferent to the presence of religious figures in the movement.

“I don’t particularly feel the laws they are preaching,” said Lindgren. “I wish more of them would [show support] even though I don’t think too much of them will get involved.”

Minister Eric Jackson recognized that some within the church are still reluctant to join in Occupy Wall Street for “fear that they might run into opposition with their congregation.”

Lindgren, while openly nonreligious, said that he heard about Bishop Gregory Packard’s arrest earlier in the day. His response: “I think it’s wonderful.”

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Whose street? from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

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What was intended to be an act of civil disobedience turned into a cat-and-mouse chase with police, who prevented protestors from being able to occupy anything.

Divided into four zones within the Financial District–Education, Debt, Eco, and 99 percent–the goal of the protests was to form a “People’s Wall” surrounding the Stock Exchange before assembling at specific banks and financial institutions on Wall Street. But walls of police prevented the protestors from forming any kind of takeover.

Yet protestors like Robert Cammiso were not deterred. Cammiso, 49, of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, was one of approximately 25 protestors who convened at South Street Seaport early in the morning to protest tuition hikes and the increasing costs of a college education.

Robert Cammiso of Park Slope, Brooklyn, at the South Street Seaport Sept. 17 shortly before marching onto Wall Street. Cammiso, 49, went back to school after being laid off from his construction job in 2009. Photo by Timothy Weisberg.

“Unfortunately, it will get worse as the day goes on,” he said of the police presence.

Cammiso, who spent 17 days at Zuccoti Park, the root of the Occupy movement that began last September, was laid off from his construction management job in 2009, a position he held for nearly 30 years. Unable to find work, he went back to school and enrolled at Brooklyn College, where he became involved with OWS through the Brooklyn College Student Union.

Cammiso was also one of 700 protestors arrested last October during an attempted sit-in on the Brooklyn Bridge. But the strategies have changed since then, and protestors are no longer staging any sit-ins.

A sign placed on a police van by Occupy Wall Street protestors. Protestors attempted to form a people's wall around Wall Street, but were greeted by NYPD barricading the New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Timothy Weisberg.

“The tactics have changed from last year,” said Cammiso. “We no longer stand behind barricades, but we keep moving, and this prevents the police from massing in any one area and just creating a wall for us, which is what they are very good at.”
Still, more than 100 arrests were made by 11:30 a.m., according to the New York Times.

Monday marked the one-year anniversary of OWS that began in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park last September. The movement called for ends to social and economic inequality and raised concerns about debt, a stagnant economy, and the rising costs of education.

Despite different affinity groups and a vast variety of individual agendas, the protestors still remain united, said Amin Husain, an affinity group leader and Brooklyn native who helped organize the actions on Wall Street.

“There’s a consensus that debt is the threat that binds the 99 percent,” he said.

Cammiso echoed the same sentiment.

“Everything is interwoven, and in order to get people to understand them, you really have to pull them apart,” he said. “It’s not an equitable situation, and this march is about equity. There’s a class inequity and it’s been class war from the top down and we’re pushing back.”

Unfazed by the inability to take over specific targets, Cammiso and others regrouped and continued to march and protest in small groups. One group called themselves the “Balloon Brigade,” handing out balloons to protestors as an act of solidarity.
One year later and no longer holding Zuccotti Park as their own public forum, many protestors like Cammiso believe the causes and actions taken are worth fighting for.

“They thought we stopped, but one year later, we are still here,” he said.

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Protestors held a rally with students from all over the city in Union Square today and marched along Fifth Avenue. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

Groups of NYPD officers stood armed at every corner inside the Union Square subway station this evening watching Occupy Wall Street protestors as they chanted and expressed opinions to anyone willing to listen. while outside in the square, students from all over the city joined protestors to rally against the 1 percent.

With the constant threat of being permanently banned from their headquarters, Zuccotti Park, protestors have decided to take action citywide, occupying subway stations in all five boroughs in hopes to educate those not already involved in the movement. They called it “A National Day oF Action” and in the end scores of protestors were arrested and several police officers injured.

Protestors gathered inside the Union Square station to try to engage commuters in conversation by sharing personal stories, hoping to highlight problems faced by the 99 percent.

“It’s to talk to people about what’s going on,” said Joe Chavez, 28, a protestor from East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “It’s not to shut the subways down, its not about taking them over. It’s about sharing our stories.”

The Occupied Wall Street Journal is the Occupy Wall Street Movement's personal newspaper, disseminating news about protests and the change they wish to see. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

In the station, protestors handed out free copies of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal,” the movement’s personal newspaper.

Michael Levitin, 35, from San Francisco, Calif. is one of the five editors of the paper. He was handing out free papers for commuters to read on the subway, further spreading the occupiers’ message. Levitan said the paper is funded by the more than 1,600 donors from around the world. The paper’s fifth issue, which will be a national one, will be launched next week.

Meanwhile, above ground, protestors and students from schools all over the city gathered at Union Square to hold a student rally and march along Fifth Avenue.

Ally Freeman, a student from the New School, attended the OWS student rally today in Union Square. She took out student loans for her education and worries about student debt affecting people her age. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

Ally Freeman, 18, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a literary studies major at The New School, said students are especially affected. She takes out student loans to pay high tuition prices, and said it’s time for young people to speak up.

“It’s really important that we be here, to show just because they’ve moved us out of Zuccotti Park doesn’t mean there isn’t still this movement,” Freeman said. “We’re still here and we’re still fighting.”

As for the threat of losing their home base of Zuccotti Park, some protestors said they aren’t worried.

Tielor McBride, 25, a protestor from Kansas City, said you can take an idea out of anywhere and the lack of space won’t slow down the movement.

“It was never about the park, it exists in the minds and the hearts of the people that believe in it,” he said.

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The post eviction era of Occupy Wall Street kicked off with a march from Tribeca’s Juan Pablo Duarte Square back home to reclaim Zuccotti Park.

The march went largely unsupervised by the NYPD, culminating in the protestors spilling off the sidewalks and onto Broadway at Walker Street, holding up southbound traffic as they chanted and slowly stepped their way toward their former home.

When the crowd of several hundred reached Broadway and Chambers Street, they came to a standstill, dancing in circles, tapping their feet to the rhythm of drum beats and chants of, “Get up, get down, there’s a revolution in town.”

One man, clad in shirt and tie, called out from a second story window, pleading for the protestors to stop. But the clump of boisterous protestors stayed until NYPD officers, like cowboys on horseback, came streaking down Murray Street, blocking off Broadway and cutting off protestors, pushing them back onto the sidewalk.

No clashes with police ensued. The group reached Zuccotti Park where they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, smashed and clumped together.

The protestors were allowed back in the park in the evening, but are no longer allowed to camp there.

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