Occupy Wall Street protester scales 70ft art sculpture demanding Mayor Bloomberg's resignation… and a pack of cigarettes

By John Stevens
Last updated at 4:05 AM on 23rd October 2011

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052387/Occupy-Wall-Street-protester-scales-art-sculpture-demanding-Mayor-Bloombergs-resignation.html#ixzz1baKtQSXX

Occupy Wall Street protesters have been accused of not having a clear set of aims and objectives.
But one protester knew exactly what he wanted as he made a list of strange demands after scaling a 70-foot art sculpture in Zuccotti Park.
Dylan Spoelstra, 24, from Toronto, Canada, said that he would not come down from the structure until the NYPD and FDNY agreed to introduce a quota of 15 per cent of all officers being bisexual and Mayor Michael Bloomberg resigned.

Demands: Dylan Spoelstra said that he would not come down from the 'Joie de Vivre' sculpture until Mayor Michael Bloomberg resigned

The protester also told negotiators that he wanted 15 police officers to leave the park and to be given a coat and cigarettes.
He eventually agreed to come down just after 9am on Saturday, three hours after he had started his bizarre sit-down protest.

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The demonstrator was taken to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. He had earlier been ticketed at 3:14am for public urination.
Fellow protesters said that Spoelstra had climbed the red artwork, known as 'Joie de Vivre', on Broadway after attempts earlier in the week.
Shortly before 6am he reportedly ran to the bottom of the sculpture and clambered up one of the large vertical beams, sitting on a platform 30 feet up.

Occupied: Fellow protesters said that he had been planning the bizarre stunt for the last few days

'He went up like a ring-tailed lemur,' his friend Patrick Griese, who had met him at the proetests, told the New York Post.
Police officers put airbags at the bottom of the sculpture and gave him a phone so he could speak to an NYPD negotiator.
Spoelstra laughed and high-fived a police officer who went up on a cherry picker as he agreed to be brought down.
Fellow protester Justin Lecea, 26, of Michigan, said: 'He was telling people he was going to do it and no one thought he was.'
'He tried climbing up the thing a day or two ago and no one noticed,' he told the Post.

Removed: Spoelstra was voluntarily brought down after three hours on the sculpture

The sculpture by Mark di Suvero was donated to the city by Agnes Gund, president of the Museum of Modern Art, and moved to its location as part of an $8 million renovation of the park in 2006.
It originally stood at the exit of the Holland Tunnel and has been displayed in Paris and upstate New York.
Occupy Wall Street protesters marched through lower Manhattan on Saturday to rally against police brutality, but the crowd was a fraction of the 5,000 who turned out a week ago when protests sprouted around the globe.
The rally, a joint demonstration pairing the anti-Wall Street movement against economic inequality with union and civil rights groups, did appear to draw an activist core though, including some from beyond lower Manhattan.
About 300 people occupied the south side of Union Square, surrounded by dozens of police officers and police vans along the park's perimeter on 14th Street.

Demonstration: Protesters marched on Saturday opposed to police brutality

Socialist and Marxist newspaper hawkers mingled with high school students and senior citizens and self-described hippies.( they forgot to add there were Nazi Muslims in the crowd spewing hate for Jews)
'I think there's a lot of people who have not experienced police brutality before, and they're experiencing it for the first time,' rally organiser Kathie Cheng, 39, of Queens said. 'That's helpful for exposing the role of police.'
Support from unions across the United States has helped boost the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality, which began five weeks ago and sparked protests nationwide and globally.
Occupy Wall Street organisers have acknowledged the challenges that the coming cold weather could pose to the enthusiasm of the movement.
Saturday's 'teach-in', aimed at helping educate protesters, included 'know your rights' workshops by lawyers with the anti-police brutality groups

Time for Stacy to grow up. I want a gold Toilet Seat but I dont see it in the cards. How does it feel to want Stacy.

The Florida hippy who left her banker husband and four children behind to join the Occupy protesters in New York

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:35 PM on 22nd October 2011

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052278/Florida-hippy-Stacey-Hessler-leaves-family-join-Occupy-protesters-New-York.html#ixzz1baLsBAFe
A Florida woman has left her banker husband and four children at home to join the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York.
Stacey Hessler, 38, swapped the comfort of sunny DeLand for the squalor of Zuccotti Park after following the protests on the internet.
Her friends say she has the full backing of her family, even though one of the corporations she's protesting over is the bank her husband works for.

Following her beliefs: Hippy housewife Stacey Hessler has swapped family life for sleeping under the stars

Mrs Hessler has been sleeping under the same tarp as Brooklyn waiter Rami Shamir.
But friend Lauren Napoli, 28, said the hippy mother and the waiter are not 'bunking up in a little tent.'
Miss Napoli told the New York Post: 'It’s not like that - everyone who’s there, we’re trying to support each other, and when it rains you need to be under a structure.
'She had been following this movement on her own through Facebook and YouTube and whatever, and she decided she wanted to come up to New York.
'Her family said, "Go, mom, go. This is what you want to do".'

Meet the family: Stacey, far left, in a Christmas-time photo with husband Curtiss, son Peyton, at the back, and daughters, from left, Sullivan, Kennedy and Veda

Miss Napoli, a waitress and home health aide, added: 'This is what she believes in, and she feels she needs to be here. She’s not being irresponsible.'
Mrs Hessler had apparently said she wanted to stay 'indefinitely,' but Miss Napoli believes she'll return home.
She added that the self-labelled 'vegan freak' and the support of her family and friends in Florida.
'I’ve been right next to her when she’s been on the phone with her kids.
'It was her youngest daughter’s birthday recently and she called and said "happy birthday".'

'Dreadlock princess': Stacey rollerblading and, right, showing off the hair

Another protester friend in New York told the Post that Mrs Hessler and her family are 'one of the most amazing and beautiful and loving families that I’ve ever encountered.'
On her Facebook page, Mrs Hessler describes herself as 'radical unschooling mom of four, midwives assistant, roller-derby queen, rock-star musician, activist, dreadlock princess, African-bee keeper, organic vegan freak and a surrogate for the second time.'
Some of her neighbours in Florida, however, seem less than impressed with her switch to New York.
One neighbour said she 'acts like a self-obsessed college sophomore who never grew up.'
Another said: 'I’m not disgusted she took off to protest - because I’m not surprised.
'She believes everything should be free.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052278/Florida-hippy-Stacey-Hessler-leaves-family-join-Occupy-protesters-New-York.html#ixzz1baLFNTb2

Man who nailed bacon to mosque door walks free

SPARED JAIL ... John White nailed bacon to the door of a mosque.

By KATHLEEN MOORE
Published on Saturday 24 September 2011 08:00

A CHURCHGOER who stuck bacon to the door of a mosque in South Tyneside as part of a religious hate campaign was branded “un-Christian” by a judge.

But John White, 63, walked free from court after the chairman of the mosque wrote a letter to court, begging for leniency.
White was caught on CCTV carrying out the attacks in South Shields in January, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
On January 2, the bacon was placed outside the Jam-E-Masjid mosque, in Baring Street, South Shields, which has about 200 regular worshippers.
Throughout the month, meat was repeatedly left outside the mosque and a member’s home in Coston Drive, South Shields, was also targeted, with bacon even being stuck to the front door of the mosque.
Tom Moran, prosecuting, said: “Muslims are not allowed to eat or touch pork, and this was absolutely intended to be offensive.”
The bacon was found by the mosque’s treasurer, who covered it with a cardboard box to prevent other members from being offended, then called the police.
In a victim impact statement, the family whose home was targeted said they feared that the action was the work of an extremist group.
Mr Moran said: “South Shields has a substantial Bangladeshi and Muslim community, and, by and large, they are well integrated. These offences coincided with a time when in other parts of the world, right-wing extremists were threatening to burn the Quran (the central religious text of the Muslim religion).”
Concerned that the attacks could be sinister threats from a right-wing group, police trawled through CCTV footage before arresting White.
He admitted five charges of religiously aggravated harassment, but claimed that his motivations were personal, targeting a particular Muslim family, over a 20-year grudge.
The court heard that White, a Christian, has attended a church on the same street as the mosque for 20 years.
White, of Homestall Close in South Shields, who suffers from asthma and a compulsive disorder, has worked in the town for 30 years, doing building work.
He is said to have friends within the Muslim community, and claims to have worked on some of their houses for free.
He has been held in custody since he entered his guilty plea in July.
Simon Graham, defending, said: “He is thoroughly ashamed for what he has done. He was praying this morning.
“This is a man who has not been in trouble for 30 years. He is not in good health and has had a terrible time in prison.”
White submitted a letter to the court, apologising to the community for what he had done.
Despite the fear he caused to the Muslim and Bangladeshi community, chairman of the Jam-E-Masjid mosque, Mohammed Miah, asked the judge to show leniency.
In a letter read out in court, Mr Miah described how he had known White since 1982 and said he was known and liked in the community.
He said: “We wish the courts to be lenient with John. Although we were upset initially, we do not wish for any serious consequences to happen to John.”
Judge Michael Cartlidge commended the forgiving attitude of the Muslim community and condemned White’s actions as “un-Christian” and “stupid”.
White was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
He is also now banned for 12 months from going within 100 metres of the mosque or the family home he targeted.
Passing sentence, Judge Cartlidge said: “This is probably the most un-Christian way to settle a grudge.
“You will have to be very careful now, you have upset the community.”
gazette.news@northeast-press.co.uk

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/crime/man_who_nailed_bacon_to_mosque_door_walks_free_1_3805747

Dreams of a Muslim Dictator - Obama

Saturday, October 22, 2011