An Occupy Wall Street protester was arrested this evening for making inflammatory remarks and threats of violence after Occupy’s eviction from Zuccotti Park on Tuesday.
“On the 17th, we going to burn New York City to the fucking ground,” Nkrumah Tinsley, 29, shouted Tuesday to a group of fellow protesters, which is audible in the video below. “In a few days they’re going to see what a Molotov cocktail can do to Macy’s,” Tinsley said later.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD became concerned after seeing the video because of the detailed nature of the threats, the New York Post reported. Tinsley was arrested at around 5 p.m. at Zuccotti Park and charged with making a terroristic threat.
“There was specificity as to the date, location, and method of firebombing,” Browne said, who added that Tinsley also mentioned attacking the New York Stock Exchange. “This is an individual we are concerned about and we wanted to make sure we apprehended him before tomorrow.”
Tinsley’s arrest comes as tension mounts between police and protesters who are angered by the secretive nature of the NYPD’s early-morning raid on Occupy’s home base. While Tinsley’s violent calls do not necessarily represent the prevailing sentiment, and while speakers have demanded nonviolence at the Thursday march, Tinsley did have an attentive audience when he made the remarks.
