Le Beran Quotidien

Well, this comic is now outdated. As I’m sure you know, Zuccotti Park has been raided in a para-military style assault in the early hours of Tuesday morning. This time around, the city accused the protesters not of harboring suspicious packages, but of possessing an Iraq-like hoard of imaginary secret weapons. According to the city’s legal papers, the city is pretty darned sure the protesters have weapons because the police saw “discarded mace” after 700 protesters were arrested (and some maced) on the Brooklyn bridge on October 5th.

They also alleged that “makeshift weapons… such as cardboard tubes with metal pipes inside” have been observed in the park. To shed some light on this second allegation I’ll quote from the NLG’s Know Your Rights! Pamphlet, “Police will seize signs on wooden sticks, metal and pvc piping; it’s OK to attach signs to cardboard tubing.” In other words, the law has hedged protesters into only using cardboard tubes. But in the terrified imaginations of those writing the legal brief, even the (com)pliant cardboard tubes, if one digs deep enough, must conceal, like all unknowns, hidden dangers. As I write this now, protesters are being unconstitutionally removed from the park for yet a third time.

My friend Jules Bern has a band called Intuitions in Brooklyn. He posted this amazing video: