Another Perspective
Under Occupation Friday Night
An inside look from the Washington Convention Center under criminal attack last Friday night.
WASHINGTON — I am the 1%. I am 22, working my way through school, attending part time and working full time. My mommy and daddy don’t pay for me to go to school. I pay my own rent. And even my own cell phone bill. I am the 1% of American youth.
Friday I started my day like any other. Wake up at 6:00 and get ready for work. Now, to those of you who have never worked a day in your life (millennials whose parents prefer to pay you than love you), this isn’t just throw on sweats and sit through class. This is make yourself presentable to the world with a shower, makeup, and even — god forbid — heels.
I spent the day sitting through a freedom convention at the D.C. convention center, meeting endless individuals to plead for names, email addresses, and donations to the 501(c)(3) that I work for. Every smile I made and every face I met, I thought to myself late afternoon, in two hours you get a TGIF drink. In three hours I can take a shower. In four, glorious bed.
When my 14-hour work day was over, I loaded up the 13 pounds of materials that I’d brought and would have to carry home and headed toward the doors of the convention center, working my way through the crowds of people trying to leave as well.
On reaching the ground floor I heard convention organizers telling us to remove our name tags. There were protesters outside and it was for our own safety. OK, fine, name tag off. Now, how do I hide the 3’x5’ American Spectator sign I was lugging? Oh well, I’m sure the protesters won’t notice it.
I picked up my things and turned toward the front door only to see punks banging on the windows, and convention goers ten deep being refused an exit. Not letting people out the front door? Fine, I’d try the back door. I headed in that direction, only to hear, halfway down the hall, more pounding on doors from the outside. A large security guard told me to turn around and head toward another door.
Of course lugging magazines, bags, signs, and other program paraphernalia is what I love to do, so what’s another extra few feet? I reach my new exit. Thank god doors opened. Dang, doors shut — right in my face. I hear a nervous security guard scream, “Call the PD!” Just the line every girl wants to hear on a Friday night.
After ten minutes of pleading with the guards to let me through, I’m greeted by shouts of “you should go to jail!” and “you got bailed out, we got sold out!” Funny, I don’t remember getting bailed out. My bank account doesn’t look bailed out, my pending student loans aren’t getting bailed out, and the name brands on the clothes these punks are wearing to yell at me versus the ones I worked in all day tell me these people are liars.
I’m directed to yet another exit. Picking up my load I follow several terrified elderly women being helped by their senior husbands up stairs, through a corridor, and down another flight of stairs only to face another door full of twenty-somethings blocking the exit.
At this point I was getting a little irritated. An irritation that grew when I was pushed back inside and had fists shaken in my face by men much bigger and physically stronger than me. I know D.C. is not known for its chivalry, but never before in my life have I faced little boys, posing as men, using physical force to intimidate women. Perhaps it was the long workday, perhaps it was the wine from dinner, maybe it was my feet tired from walking all over the D.C. convention center in heels, but this was the point at which I lost it. I screamed in frustration for these little punks to quite protesting and get a job. I yelled for them to just let me go home after doing an honest day’s work. I received the mature response of curses, being flipped off, and the ever so classy, chest exposure. (What does that even mean?)
Finally, I was directed to an open exit. Out the building and on my way home. Past a group of young male protesters, still hurling their insults.
All I could think was what a waste. What did this pathetic protest accomplish? Occupy D.C., was it your mission to terrify elderly women? Was it your goal to make a 22-year-old, unarmed woman fear leaving work and getting home on her own — in her own neighborhood? Was it to entrap hundreds of convention goers inside the convention center so that next time you could burn the place down with them inside?
If I could I would have told them: I hope I’m not the only one-percenter. I will go to bed tonight praying that there are no more that 1% of you in the world. Because if I have to believe that there are more like you, more selfish punks with a complete, criminal disregard for other people, I dread what the future holds in store for our generation — and our country.
About the Author
Laurel Buckley is a development associate for The American Spectator Foundation.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (39) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.7.11 @ 7:05AM
Apparently thugism has taken the place of civility in some quarters.
These people are professional collectivists which also means they are professional cowards, i.e., they find safety in numbers and the anonymity it brings.
In the meantime keep plugging away and you will get what you want.
They will never get what they want because like most adult infants, they don't know what they want.
Mentally, they never progressed past the mental potty stage.
ENOUGH ROPE| 11.8.11 @ 4:22AM
Ms. Buckley, thank you for your courage, heroic witness, and inspirational perseverance.
What you encountered is most likely an organized rebellion by elite leftists with deep pockets. I hope TAS allows these links to two stories about OWS. One examines the organizers and their ultimate goals, and the other is a call for the "protestors" to become mature, independent adults who live peaceably.
The Hard-Left OWS Plan
http://www.americanthinker.com....._plan.html
The Only Good Occupation...
http://www.americanthinker.com.....ation.html
Pat Spooner| 11.7.11 @ 7:06AM
Laurel, thank you providing your post, many of us who aren't located near a major population center don't have firsthand knowledge of the way these folks behave. Certainly the MSM has no intention of telling the truth about them. Thank you for the work you do and for your professional attitude you have.
Laurel | 11.8.11 @ 12:18PM
Thank you. I'm from a small town, so to see something like this was something else for me.
Pecos| 11.7.11 @ 7:11AM
I dread the future too.
Fast Johnny| 11.7.11 @ 7:17AM
Nice perspective. I think this article goes a long way to revealing what this Occupado thing is all about. I am sure there will be the usual trolls coming here and trying to rebuff what was said in this article, but it will be very, very hard for them to come up with something to justify their behavior, but then again they have an amazing capacity to overlook the truth.
Appleby| 11.7.11 @ 7:34AM
A local newspaper reporter spent three days and 2 nights in the squatters paradise known as Occupy Bay Street and wrote about it on Saturday. He said that half the campers are the homeless mentally ill, and nobody seems to have much of an idea what they are doing there.
In my opinion the Occupiers need a mascot, and I suggest the Canada Goose, who makes a lot of pointless noise and craps all over the park.
JP| 11.7.11 @ 7:39AM
I suggest we import a few brigades of Cossacks.
Harry the Horrible| 11.7.11 @ 8:30AM
If we won't do the job ourselves, then we don't deserve to win.
John G.| 11.7.11 @ 3:56PM
...Attired in cassocks...
WilliamInWien| 11.7.11 @ 8:27AM
Excellent Perspective! From the video coverage I have seen, it looks like the DC police have some explaining to do! Mostly absent, yet at a Tax Reform protest in downtown DC, I saw a group of plainclothes DC police gather before infiltrating the mostly geriatric "protesters". No one on the DCPD figured out that the Convention Center is a short walk from the "occupied" Freedom Plaza? No one figured out that a meeting touting "prosperity" might attract the non-prosperous?
jordan| 11.7.11 @ 8:36AM
Wow. Thank you for this first-person account. It's unbelievable that an accurate depiction of what happened here, as well as other occupier events, is being actively suppressed.
Goes to show you, the gate keepers to information are still in control.
There's moral confusion among our public officials, as they wring their hands about freedom of speech, et al. Edmund Burke had clarity on this point. It's why he opposed the French Revolution, but supported the American revolution.
We have processes and rules by which all citizens can express their views. This allows the greatest freedom for everybody -- it's "ordered liberty." With ordered liberty, the protester can speak his mind, yet the American Spectator employee can get home without fearing for her life. The protester can register his discontents publicly, but the elderly women aren't pushed down the stairs. It's a great system.
But it relies on the integrity and equal application of rule of law by the state to work. If you allow squatters to permanently live in the public square, physically menacing other citizens, you have failed to assure the rule of law, the first-order duty of government. Everywhere you see a permanent encampment of occupiers, and the attendant health and safety issues, you are looking at a failure of government to ensure the rule of law. By applying their highly politicized discretion, the government has placed the law-breaking public menacing of an entitled group AHEAD of the basic rights of other citizens who want to go about their daily lives.
It seems, everything the government is supposed to do, it refuses to do, and everything it's not supposed to do, it insists on doing, and making you pay for it.
crookedwren| 11.7.11 @ 8:37AM
Thanks for the insight -- and the information. I'm heartened that there are some young people who understand reality.
Indiana Alex| 11.7.11 @ 8:47AM
Their Dear Leader instructed them to "get in thier faces".
It is always through force and intimidation that liberalism is forced on people, while freedom requires no coercion whatsoever.
David W| 11.7.11 @ 8:49AM
Sue the police department for failing to properly act in their capacity to protect the public. Is it necessary, due to the politically correct cowardness exhibited by our elected officials, to go armed to protect ourselves from the deranged thugs and union workers?
Al Adab| 11.7.11 @ 12:33PM
We need to understand that the park in NYC is not a city owned or public park but is rather privatly owned. The Corporation ( a 1%er) which owns it was a recipient of bailout money and Mayor Bloomburgs' concubine sits on the board of directors. Anyone really wonder what is going on here?
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 11.7.11 @ 9:01AM
With every day that these "occupy whatever" continue, another fence sitting Independent falls off to the right. The Tsunami that's going to hit the Democratic Party next year will be stunning!! Could you imagine these people being in charge of anything? Other than Concentration Camps? We must destroy the Left!!
JimH| 11.7.11 @ 9:37AM
I’ve suggested this before and I guess they would be called Brown Shirts or worse by the MSM and the Left, but it is becoming ever more apparent that Tea Parties and other pro liberty, small government groups need to have some type of organized self defense. The thugs of the left are becoming increasingly more violent in trying to intimidate pro freedom gatherings and the police are not to be relied on for protection. We need to be able to take care of our own.
Al Adab| 11.7.11 @ 10:12AM
In 1972 during the GOP convention, I walked from the Miami convention hall back to my hotel. The streets were littered with broken glass from hotel and restaurant windows; here and there a burned out car smoldered while tear gas wafted in the air. The protests there were riots, nothing less. A waitress in the restaurant, a Cuban refugee said to me, "It is just like when Castro came." At the hotel another girl yelled out, "If you people weren't here this wouldn't happen." Wait for it. This is nothing but a dress rehersal for next summer. The "protests" will attempt to disrupt the conventions if not the elections themselves. Charlotte, as a banking center, needs to be on alert. This is a warning shot and we nedd to heed it.
Louis Jenkins| 11.7.11 @ 10:13AM
Great story Ms. Buckley. That's why we don't support OWS now. They're a bunch of snakes.
Highlander 747| 11.7.11 @ 10:47AM
Outstanding article! As an old fart myself, Ms. Buckley epitomises everything that I could ever want in a daughter. Independence, sensibility, commitment, and fortitude. May she go far in this wacky world, for we need more young people like her. (Btw, nice AR-15 in your photo.......)
mike daniels| 11.7.11 @ 10:52AM
A week or so ago I saw a real Kodak moment while watching the OWS wierdos in Chicago. They were opposite the Chicago Board of Trade chanting their "We are the 99%" nonsense when signs appeared in the windows of the Board of Trade spelling out "We are the 1 %" . I loved it!
Al Adab| 11.7.11 @ 2:46PM
Do you recall the scene in Dr. Zhivago where the bolsheviks are outside the restaurant singing their internationale? The patrons look alarmed until Komarovsky says, "Perhaps they'll sing better after the revolution." Everyone laughed.
It wasn't long before no one was laughing. These people, like the bolsheviks, are not joking. The irony of course is that they will be the first ones against the wall if they get their wish. Sadly, many of the rest of us will follow.
Franco| 11.7.11 @ 11:16AM
"Gentlemen, the mob awaits us outside. Bring forth the cream pies."
Joe D| 11.7.11 @ 11:46AM
Laurel, this makes you want to shoot first and ask questions later. However, unlike them we, Tea Partiers, are civilized. They are not just punks but the evil that our government schooling system is producing with the help of non-involved parents.
Seek| 11.7.11 @ 11:54AM
Moral crusaders are so boring. Occupy Wall Street and its numerous branch offices should close shop.
vigilant| 11.7.11 @ 1:09PM
Well done, Ms. Buckley! I pray that you find the courage to persevere. This will likely be a protracted struggle, and we have yet to see the worst. Carry on, and God bless you.
Stormzeye| 11.7.11 @ 4:11PM
Ms. Buckley, take heart in the fact that the more outrageous their behavior becomes the more the Tea Party will appear to be true patriots and loyal Americans. This madness must be allowed to continue and even escalate for the next year. Thank you for documenting it.
Jeff Perren | 11.7.11 @ 4:32PM
Too bad that in all that stuff she was lugging she didn't have with her that weapon shown in the photo.
Kent State put a serious dent in this nonsense the last time around; maybe a similar event will do so this time, as well.
Skippy| 11.8.11 @ 3:34PM
"May 4th 1970,
when rally turned to riot out at Kent State University..."
Let's make everyday 5/4/70!
skip| 11.8.11 @ 7:05PM
That event inspired a really good song:
"Four dead in O-hi-o"
Maybe this event needs an update:
"Forty dead in Zuc-cot-ti"
Based on the phenomenally awesome picture of the author accompanying this article the National Guard won't even be needed.
Occam's Tool| 11.7.11 @ 8:07PM
Dear Ms Buckley;
I am sorry you had to deal with vermin; that is to say, Democrats. But of course I repeat myself.
coyoteblackgreen| 11.8.11 @ 1:32AM
Is this Occupation really taking the spiral into violence by the mindless against the guiltless?
We see the regime taking the side of the criminals against citizens and the rule of law all too frequently now. What is to become of the land of the free... fear grips the once brave.
I travel far and wide for business and at every conversation in each community I hear the same concerns... where are our nations leaders and how did this insanity we are experiencing begin?
Mike Landry| 11.8.11 @ 11:32AM
I was at the Defending the American Dream Summit. The high point for this 63-year-old college professor was seeing all the sharp young people like you, Ms. Buckley, actively engaged for our Nation. That's what I took away, not the nonsense of the protestors (OWS -- Obama Works the Streets).
Mary Bennett| 11.8.11 @ 6:36PM
Laurel
Thank God there are 20 somethings in this country who have your courage. I have 2 myself and they work hard every day to pay their own way. You are among the leaders of tomorrow. God Bless
POST American| 11.8.11 @ 11:39PM
------------EXTREME '70' Show' FAKE OP-----------
--------------------------ALERT!--------------------------
ALLL focus, ALLLL attention, ALLLLL time
and energy should be given to exposing and
calling out the poisoned core of, yes, the
entire 20th century -----the utra rich, TAX FREE,
usury feuled, EUGENICS and 'benny violence'
'charitable' foundations and NGOs ---and their
supreme instrument of control------the PRIVATE,
foreign owned-------Globalist 'FED'.
"The Federal Reserve has poured so many
BILLIONS into ---(NAZI)----Germany that they
dare NOT name the total."
-Rep. Charles McFadden
1935
---And note, this was during the height
of the FED instigated 'Great Depression'
--and on top of the FED's installation and
empowerment of the awesomely genocidal
Bolsheviks.
-----AGAIN-----
----------THINK NOW
---------------THINK RED CHINA
------------------THINK HARD
------------------------THINK FAST
THINK --------HUAC meets NUREMBERG 2012
c.j.wood, MSGT USAF RET| 11.9.11 @ 9:59AM
Just shut up and shoot
topeka| 11.11.11 @ 6:33PM
Laurel,
God Bless you and I am glad you are safe.
Do not take any chances with those people. They are as dangerous as they look.
Unfortunately, it will get much worse before it gets better. Though the OWS is but a few, the number of fools who believe what they believe are legion.
again, be careful...