My mind was drawn to Occupy Austin recently when I read a fascinating story about COINTELPRO activity at the UT campus in the 60's and 70's: The Facts Were Immaterial, Austin Chronicle (June 7, 2013). NSA and Edward Snowden grab the headlines, but people seem to lose sight of the role of local law enforcement agencies. They can do a lot of damage to peaceful groups who are doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights.
Occupy Austin was victim of infiltration and disruption by APD. It only came to light by chance, through the diligent work of a criminal defense attorney in Houston. See APD Infiltrates Occupy: How Many Officers Does it Take to 'Protect' Free Speech? Austin Chronicle (Feb 23, 2013). The full of extent of APD's infiltration has not, and might never, come to light. Nor are we likely to learn more about the similar hints of spying by the Department of Public Safety and private firm Stratfor. Strange Bedfellows Stratfor, the Texas DPS ... and Occupy Austin, Austin Chronicle (Feb 3, 2012).
But I think what ultimately led to the enervation (and perhaps demise) of Occupy Austin was not hidden at all. It was City's very public use of Criminal Trespass Notices (CTNs) against demonstrators at City Hall. When it began, TCRP brought a lawsuit against the City, and a federal court ultimately declared the practice was unconstitutional. Federal judge rules bans from City Hall unconstitutional, Austin-American Statesman (Sept. 27, 2012).
But, unfortunately, the ruling came too late and the harm had been done. As one article puts it:
Occupy Austin was victim of infiltration and disruption by APD. It only came to light by chance, through the diligent work of a criminal defense attorney in Houston. See APD Infiltrates Occupy: How Many Officers Does it Take to 'Protect' Free Speech? Austin Chronicle (Feb 23, 2013). The full of extent of APD's infiltration has not, and might never, come to light. Nor are we likely to learn more about the similar hints of spying by the Department of Public Safety and private firm Stratfor. Strange Bedfellows Stratfor, the Texas DPS ... and Occupy Austin, Austin Chronicle (Feb 3, 2012).
But I think what ultimately led to the enervation (and perhaps demise) of Occupy Austin was not hidden at all. It was City's very public use of Criminal Trespass Notices (CTNs) against demonstrators at City Hall. When it began, TCRP brought a lawsuit against the City, and a federal court ultimately declared the practice was unconstitutional. Federal judge rules bans from City Hall unconstitutional, Austin-American Statesman (Sept. 27, 2012).
But, unfortunately, the ruling came too late and the harm had been done. As one article puts it:
Joshua Adair, another protester who had been involved with Occupy Austin since its inception, was also arrested that night and banned temporarily. He said the city’s actions kept away many of the core members and “people who were trying to keep the good vibe of Occupy going.”
“It massively halted a lot of our momentum,” Adair said. “Once we got banned, it went downhill pretty quickly. It didn’t help anything.”Id.
Background
Occupy Austin unfolded differently than other branches of Occupy, which often suffered official violence, like in New York (NYPD clash with Occupy Wall Street protesters, make arrests,NBC News (Oct. 14, 2011)), Oakland (Experts: "Occupy" video shows excessive force, CBS News (Nov. 9, 2011)), or even Berkeley (UC campus police move in on student protesters, San Francisco Chronicle (Nov 9, 2011)).
Maybe that's not surprising. Austin prides itself on being a bit weird. Folks here embraced the movement in the beginning. More importantly, law enforcement knew it would be politically disastrous to intervene against the demonstrators with a heavy hand.
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| Free Speech Plaza - Austin City Hall |
"[M]ore than 1,300 people... came together to air grievances about corporate greed, a scarcity of jobs and the growing income gap."
Occupy Austin protesters air grievances without drawing police ire, Austin-American Statesman (Oct. 6, 2011)
Nothing was perfect about the way it unfolded, but democracy has never been advertised as efficient. It seemed to develop into a pattern in which people intermittently flocked away from their daily lives to join a core group of active, day-to-day participants at City Hall.
"During the day at City Hall — where protesters have set up a 24/7 occupation — signs generally outnumber people. But a closer look at the movement shows more. About 100 people regularly show up for general assemblies. More than 1,000 people participated Saturday in a march to Chase Bank." Occupy Austin, whirling into action and chaos at a public space near you, Austin-American Statesman (Oct. 19, 2011).
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| Chief Art Acevedo |
Further, during the month of October, the political establishment's relationship with Occupy Austin seems benign, if not cordial. Chief Art Acevedo spoke at assemblies more than once -- here on the October 15 march to Chase Bank, and other times, such as in this October 27 YouTube video.
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| Kathie Tovo |
You can also find images such as this: City Council member Kathie Tovo calmly sipping coffee and observing the crowd. Occupy Austin, 2011 A movement in evolution, Austin Chronicle (Dec. 31, 2011).
But by mid October, mayors and police chiefs dealing with Occupy branches around the country were getting fed up. Several began teleconferencing about strategies to deal with the demonstrators. Mayors and Cops Traded Strategies for Dealing With Occupy Protesters, Mother Jones (Nov. 16, 2011).
Supposedly (I've heard through word of mouth but have not confirmed with a news story), Chief Acevedo was part of one call, and bragged he had a better way to clean out Occupy Austin. Whether or not that's true, the City certainly adopted a very savvy, subtle and sinister approach to take apart the demonstration gradually, in a way that would not rile local voters.
Trespass Notices: "Stay away from City Hall"
Initial reports were confused. Eventually the City began to claim a building security officer had used a bullhorn to order the Occupiers to leave City Hall plaza for reasons related to cleaning. When they didn't do it quickly enough, police arrested them for criminal trespass. City leaders, Occupy Austin protestors meet in private, KVUE (Oct. 31, 2011).
Even though the Plaza was called "Free Speech Plaza," even though it was always meant to be a free speech venue, and even though it was open to everyone 365 days a year for that purpose -- City officials told each arrested demonstrators: "You can't come back for one year." Sanchez v. Austin, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Case 1:11-cv-00993-LY (W.D. Tex. Sept. 27, 2012) (Doc. 67, p. 3-4). A federal court found the CTNs "effectively serv[ed] as a ban..." from City Hall. Id. at 4.
On November 1, 2011, shortly after the October arrests and CTNs, the City issued a written policy that ratified the practice of banning demonstrators from Free Speech Plaza. Id. at 4. If any demonstrator returned to city hall, for any reason, he or she would be arrested. Sanchez v. Austin, Plaintiff's Brief (Doc 48, p. 17). The number of banned demonstrators quickly jumped from the original 38 arrestees to over 100.
The CTNs didn't prevent demonstrators from joining actions away from City Hall (mostly marches), but they barred them from the center activity. Id at 29. It's illustrative that they began to call themselves "exiles," limited to gathering nearby at a tiny park that came to be known as "Exile Island." Occupy Austin’s Free Speech Rights, Radical Militant Librarian (Nov. 11, 2011).
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| Exile Island, i.e. Margret Hofmann Oaks Park |
The bans have diluted the activist base at Occupy Austin.... Rules about the food table, as well as other newly-promulgated regulations represent a death by a thousand administrative cuts strategy to end Occupy Austin altogether despite official protestations to the contrary.Id. TCRP (along with firm Yetter Coleman) filed suit November 21, 2011, asking for an immediate restraining order against further enforcement of the CTN policy. The Court demurred, instead setting a full trial on the merits one month later.
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| TCRP's plaintiffs -- Rudy Sanchez in the center, and Kris Sleeman on the right. They were rock stars. |
We were ultimately successful... 9 months later. Federal judge rules bans from City Hall unconstitutional, Austin-American Statesman (Sept. 27, 2012). Which was much too late to help the demonstrators.
Later events
Occupy Austin was eventually forced away from City Hall. Police evict protesters at Occupy Austin encampment, Austin-American Statesman (Feb 4, 2012). It happened without reports of violence, and several months later than other branches of Occupy Austin were evicted.
Pictures to the left and below from the October 2011 march to Chase Bank
The CTNs had taken their toll by removing many of the most active and engaged members of the group. The City accomplished its goal before the federal courts took away their tools.
It reminds me of this scene from the Dark Knight: Who cares if a Court rules against you, if you get what you want in the mean time?
Mayor: "That ain't legal." Harvey Dent: "So?"
