occupy wall street

Bloomberg Not Pleased With Protesters’ Alleged Internal Security Methods

Michael Bloomberg wants all crimes occurring in Zuccotti Park to be reported to the NYPD, and warned today that the protesters’ supposed hippy-dippy group-think shaming just makes New York less safe. The mayor was responding to reports, in the wake of yesterday’s Occupy Wall Street sexual assault arrest, that demonstrators have dealt with criminals by surrounding them and kicking them out of the park instead of calling real authorities. “If this is in fact happening — and it’s very hard to get good information — it is despicable, and I think it is outrageous,” Bloomberg said. “It really allows the criminal to strike again, making all of us less safe.”

The mayor insisted that when protesters “who were victims of crimes have come forward, the NYPD has moved swiftly and made arrests,” but seemingly didn’t acknowledge why the occupiers might be wary of interacting with New York’s finest. “You just don’t have a right, and it’s not fair to everybody else,” he said, “to not report a crime when it occurs.”

Bloomberg also repeated a variation of his go-to line on the protests, referring to both his commitment to the First Amendment and his own 1-percenter frustrations: “My personal view is, ‘Why don’t you get out there and try to do something about the things that you don’t like — create the jobs that we are lacking, rather than just yell and scream?’” he said. “But if you want to yell and scream, we’ll make sure you can do it — but you’re not going to do it at the expense of others.”

Reports of Unreported Crime at Zuccotti Park Bother Bloomberg [CityRoom/NYT]

Bloomberg Not Pleased With Protesters’ Alleged Internal Security Methods