A Washington Square Park Artist Protest

And being that I have been attempting to vend those DecorForU #blacklivesmatter #notmypresident, #nopolicestate, #occupywallstreet, #berniesanders, #yoga, #brooklyn, #manhattan, #washingtonsquarepark & #Iloveny necklaces, magnets, key chains & pins for $2 each at Washington Square Park the past couple of years or so, when I came across Kristin's post in facebookland about Oriel being arrested at Washington Square Park last week, it caught my eye.  And her Facebook post read something like:

"One of the artists at Washington Square Park was arrested yesterday by park officers. There’s a video online. There were all kinds of people yelling at the officers the whole time as if it was all their fault. Here’s the thing: He wasn’t even trying to follow the rules for displaying artwork. And apparently he refused to leave. They told him he couldn’t display his artwork that way and he ... didn’t care?

Since I’ve been selling these buttons I’ve had various issues with police officers, but always because they were wrong about the law. (And even in those cases, I had to do what they said.) Whereas the officers in the park have been great. And they know the law. It really doesn’t seem fair that they’re taking all this flak... If someone isn’t obeying the law and an officer points that out and the person’s attitude is, I don’t care; I’m doing it anyway - then what is the officer supposed to do? Just walk away?

At one point in the video one of the park officers says impatiently to the artist, “Get a table!” As far as I can tell, that’s all he needed to do.

But instead, now it’s a big giant mess for no reason at all."

And lo and behold in internetland, there was a Video: Cops Attack Artist For Not Selling Art On Table, He Says, Patch article and another Videos: Parks Police Grab And Slam Artist To Ground In Washington Square Park article about Oriel being arrested I guess for not selling his art on a table at Washington Square Park last week.

And Jesus crap!!??  Since when do the way too many.... green park rangers get violent at Washington Square Park. And that video of Oriel being arrested at Washington Square Park, that really cool artist, vendors and beyond park to be found in New York City, is horrifying to watch, with images of what looks like police brutality or green park ranger brutality in it.

Though lo and behold again! I am not sure if this has anything to do with that artist protest that finds itself posted in that Blogger title above, Oriel was seen while vending DecorForU #blacklivesmatter #notmypresident, #nopolicestate, #occupywallstreet, #berniesanders, #yoga, #brooklyn, #manhattan, #washingtonsquarepark & Iloveny necklaces, magnets, key chains & pins for $2 each at Washington Square Park yesterday. No one is free when others are oppressed.  And what, if anything, does this have to do with a no police state. Have a great Washington Square Park artist protest day and more.