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Ramsey's Occupy Philly Moment: What did you see go down last night?
Last night's eviction was a test for Police Chief Ramsey - How did he do?
Ramsey's Occupy Philly Moment: What did you see go down last night?
Over the past six weeks of Occupy Philly (#occupyphilly to those who didn't sleep last night), Mayor Michael Nutter and Managing Director Rich Negrin became the official faces of city power — welcoming at first, then snippy, then ominously, omnisciently tight-lipped.
Less public — but shaping the unfolding events as much as anyone — has been Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey. And as tension mounted over how and when Occupy Philly would be evicted from its Dilworth Plaza home, no one came to have more control over — and responsibility for — the inevitable confrontation than he did.
Ramsey, who was recently retained by the city for a handsome raise to $255,000 after he was courted by Chicago, has had plenty of experience with large crowds — not all of it greeted with universal admiration. It was under Ramsey's watch that hundreds of people, including reporters and other non-protesters, were arrested while peacefully demonstrating at an anti-globalization protest in Washington, D.C. in 2002. The city eventually paid out in a $1 million settlement with more than one hundred of those arrested.
But the Chief has shown decided restraint in dealing with Occupy Philadelphia. Occupy Philly's six hectic weeks on Dilworth Plaza resulted in almost no non-intentional arrests and few confrontations with police.
Last night, though, was Ramsey's biggest test. This reporter observed easily over one hundred police officers deployed to clear out Occupy Philly. A show of numbers, but not so much force: By 3 a.m. or so, there had been only six arrests (police would eventually arrest 52 people, most of those at the end of the night).
As Occupiers, chased from Rittenhouse Square after being evicted from Dilworth Plaza, began to march down Center City streets, they found themselves outnumbered and outmaneuvered — but not stopped — by police, who were ready with barricades at nearly every turn. At several points early on, police could easily have penned the group in — but did not, allowing it, seemingly on purpose, to continue peacefully marching.
Key to last night's police strategy were bicycle-mounted officers, who followed the crowd everywhere it went, flanking its sides and bringing up the rear. From what this reporter saw, these officers were non-confrontational and professional.
That's not to say there weren't confrontations, and Occupy Philadelphia's Facebook page today contains numerous complaints of aggressive police behavior and at least one injury: a woman's toes were apparently broken when they were stomped on by a horse. One YouTube video features Occupier "Joshua" claiming, among other things, that a civil affairs officer choked him. (In fact, the mounted unit's sudden appearance startled many in the crowd, including this reporter, who ducked as a horse suddenly charged by. Unlike the bicycle-mounted police presence, the horses immediately unnerved and frightened the crowd — which grew immediately calmer as soon as they fell back and allowed the bike-mounted police to continue their low-key tailgate).
Were you in the crowd — or following it in a yellow jacket on a bicycle? What did you see last night? Tell us in the comments.
Follow Isaiah Thompson on Twitter.
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