Seoul National University students accuse faculty of money laundering

Students at Seoul National University are demanding school authorities conduct an audit of the finances of the Spanish department for the years 2009 to 2013. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

July 21 (UPI) -- Students at Seoul National University are calling for justice following revelations professors at the top-ranked South Korean school seized scholarships intended for graduate students.

A student committee from the school's college of the humanities said Tuesday during a press conference they are calling for the funds to be returned. They also urged the school to take preventative measures against corrupt faculty practices, News 1 reported.

The students are demanding school authorities conduct an audit of the finances of the Spanish department for the years 2009 to 2013, when graduate students may have not received compensation.

On Tuesday, a student who had previously filed a sexual harassment complaint against a professor in the Spanish department urged the university to take action.


Other protesters described the actions of faculty as a case of money laundering. Graduate students have become unwitting enablers of faculty corruption, the students said.

The press conference on the university campus comes a few weeks after six professors, all in the Spanish department, were suspected of taking funds intended for students. The school found five out of the six suspects were found guilty of illegal activity.

The South Korean press report also states a total of eight professors at the university have been laundering money set aside for students for years.

From 2014, the faculty members had siphoned close to $110,000 from students, according to News 1.

In 2019, the university's Spanish department made headlines when a faculty member was accused of sexually harassing a former graduate student.

According to MoneyToday and other local news services, the student's adviser had targeted her with inappropriate touching and rhetoric for years, including during a trip to a conference in Spain.

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Women's groups accuse Seoul of coverup in harassment allegations

#METOO

Women's rights activists and the lawyer for the alleged victim of sexual harassment by late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon accused the city government Wednesday of covering up the complaints. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI

SEOUL, July 22 (UPI) -- As South Korea continues to grapple with the fallout from sexual harassment charges against late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, women's rights groups and the accuser on Wednesday said they would not participate with the city government on an internal investigation, claiming the city was complicit in covering up the allegations.

"Victim support groups and the victim's legal representatives believe that an external state agency needs to investigate the incidents caused by the mayor of Seoul, not the city itself," Lee Mi-kyung, director of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, said at a press conference in Seoul.

The groups will submit an official complaint to the National Human Rights Commission next week, Lee said.

"We hope that through investigations by independent organizations, the issues raised by the victim will be properly identified and recommendations for improvement made," she said.

The Seoul city government held its own press conference on Wednesday afternoon and expressed "regret" that the women's groups would not participate in its investigation.

The city would no longer conduct its own inquiry, but would "actively cooperate" with the human rights commission, said city spokesman Hwang In-sik.

"We will also work on our own efforts to improve the organizational culture of gender discrimination and sexual harassment," he added.

The Seoul metropolitan government announced last week that it planned to open a joint probe with rights groups into allegations of sexual harassment against Park, who was found dead several hours after his daughter reported him missing on July 9.

The mayor's body was discovered by a rescue dog in a wooded area in northern Seoul in an apparent suicide. Police have not announced an official cause of death but have ruled out foul play.

Park left a note behind saying that he was "sorry to everyone."

RELATED Lawyer in Seoul mayor case alleges 'years' of sexual misconduct

The mayor's accuser, his former secretary, had filed charges with the police against him the day before his disappearance, alleging that he sexually harassed her for four years through actions that included inappropriate physical contact and sending lewd messages.

However, in accordance with Korean law, police closed the criminal investigation upon Park's death.

Advocates for the victim said Wednesday they didn't feel the city government was capable of conducting an unbiased investigation.

Kim Jae-ryun, the lawyer for the accuser, said at Wednesday's press conference that her client remembered telling 17 people in her department about the harassment while still working for the mayor and three more people after she switched departments.

"Among these people, of course, were those with ranks higher than the victim's and a human resources officer who should have communicated to those who were more responsible for the issue," she said.

Song Ran-hee, general secretary of the women's rights group Korea Women's Hotline, said several of the secretary's colleagues "who had been directly or indirectly aware of the incident were involved in concealing, distorting and minimizing it."

"This incident is a coverup," she said, adding that it was part of "organized crime by power that goes beyond the personal problems of former Mayor Park Won-soon."

The former secretary did not attend the press conference but provided a statement that her lawyer read:

"It is a case that took a long time to realize there was a problem, and a longer time to raise the issue. I wanted to be protected as a victim, and I wanted to speak in court during the investigation. I look forward to events being revealed in a lawful and reasonable process, without any prejudice."

Park's death and the harassment charges have touched off an outcry in South Korea, where gender inequality remains high and many say harassment in the workplace remains commonplace.

A petition on the presidential Blue House website opposing an official five-day funeral for Park received more than 570,000 signatures.

Some women have expressed little surprise at the harassment charges being leveled against the mayor, even though he had been a human rights lawyer and had promoted social and gender equality while in office.South Korea has some of the highest levels of gender inequality in the developed world. There is a gender wage gap of 32.5%, highest among countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, while The Economist grades South Korea last on its "glass ceiling index," which measures the best places to be a working woman.

The country saw its own #MeToo movement kick off in 2018 but it has not led to deep institutional reforms, activists say.

Earlier this year, Seo Ji-hyun, the former prosecutor credited with sparking the movement, reflected that #MeToo has greatly raised social awareness of sexual harassment and abuse but hasn't delivered substantial changes in laws or policies to help protect women.

"There have been no changes in fundamental legal structures," she said.

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Knesset votes to support bill banning gay conversion therapy
Demonstrators rally for LGBT rights outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel, on July 22, 2018. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

July 22 (UPI) -- Israeli lawmakers passed a bill on its first reading Wednesday that proposes to ban gay conversion therapy, in a victory for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

The Knesset approved the bill in its preliminary reading by a vote of 42-36. A number of coalition members from the Blue and White Party and Public Security Minister Amir Ohana supported the proposal, which is opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration

Opponents say the bill could jeopardize psychologists' licenses to practice and result in jail time if they continue the controversial therapy.

Rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organizations, conversion therapy purports to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Conversion therapy was born in sin and its place is outside of the law and the public norm," Gantz wrote in a post online. "We will make sure that everyone, from every background and sexual orientation, in Israel, will have free choice and security in their identity."

Israeli housing minister Yaakov Litzman, leader of the United Torah Judaism Party, said passing the bill would threaten the recently formed coalition government.

The bill still must pass three more readings and find approval in a Knesset committee before it would be enacted as law.

Poll: Nearly 60% in U.S. feel 'major' police reforms needed
Activists rally in Compton, Calif., last Saturday to honor Vanessa Guillen, Andres Guardado and other victims of police brutality, and call for changes to policing in the United States. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

July 22 (UPI) -- A Gallup survey Wednesday shows that most Americans feel U.S. law enforcement needs major changes, but few favor doing completely away with police departments.

According to the poll, 58% said policing needs "major" change, 36% said "minor" changes are needed and 6% said policing is fine the way it is.
Calls for reform have intensified over the last several weeks after the controversial police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. His death spawned protests nationwide and around the world, which were then followed by changes in some municipalities.

About nine in 10 African Americans, 82% of Asian Americans, 63% of Latinos and 51% of Whites agreed that policing needs major changes.

Politically, 89% of Democrats, 60% of independents and 14% of Republicans agreed major change is needed.

Reforms that found broad support included good community relations (97%), changing practices to hold officers accountable (96%) and more reliance on community-based alternatives (82%).

A popular rallying cry among protesters recently has been to defund or abolishing police departments, but Wednesday's survey showed little support for that idea. Just 15% voiced support for abolishing police, including 22% of Black Americans, 20% of Hispanics and 12% of Whites.

Gallup polled more than 36,400 U.S. adults for the survey, which has a margin of error of 1.4 points.

Archaeologists uncover 2,700-year-old storage center in Jerusalem

A worker of the Israel Antiquities Authority cleans excavations Wednesday at a significant storage center -- from the days oArchaeologists uncover 2,700-year-old storage center in Jerusalem

By Clyde Hughes

A worker of the Israel Antiquities Authority cleans excavations Wednesday at a significant storage center -- from the days of Kings Hezekiah and Menashe -- that was uncovered near the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI

A worker of the Israel Antiquities Authority cleans excavations Wednesday at a significant storage center -- from the days of Kings Hezekiah and Menashe -- that was uncovered near the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

July 22 (UPI) -- The Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday scientists have uncovered a large 2,700-year-old storage center in Jerusalem, near the new U.S. Embassy.

The authority said in a statement the find dates back to the eras of King Hezekiah and King Menashe and operated during the Judean monarchs rule from the 8th century to the middle of the 7th century B.C.

Officials said the excavation, funded by the Israel Land Authority and administrated by the Moriah Jerusalem Development Corporation, found one of the largest and most important collections of seal impressions in Israel.

Archaeologists said the location, in the Arnoma neighborhood of Jerusalem, gives a glimpse into tax collection during the period.

RELATED Israeli dig finds 2,000-year-old underground complex near Western Wall

Scientists found jars stamped with more than 120 seal impressions at the site. The impressions were stamped with the letters "LMLK" in ancient Hebrew script, meaning "to the king." The name of an ancient city in the Kingdom of Judah was found on the jars.

Archaeologists said other seals were associated with private individuals.

"The archaeological discoveries at Arnona identify the site as a key site -- the most important in the history of the final days of the Kingdom of Judah and of the return to Zion decades after the destruction of the kingdom," said IAA archaeologist Yuval Baruch.

RELATED Egypt's most famous Giza pyramid lit up with tribute, safety messages

"This site joins a number of other key sites uncovered in the area of Jerusalem which were connected to the centralized administrative system of the Kingdom of Judah from its peak until its destruction."

Neria Sapir and Nathan Ben-Ari, directors of the excavations, said the site dates back to a time of biblical upheavals -- such as the Assyrian conquest campaign, under the command of King Sennacherib in the days of King Hezekiah.

They said it appears the site continued to be active after the Assyrian conquest.

Kings Hezekiah and Menashe -- that was uncovered near the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

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Lawyers' group files professional ethics complaint against A.G. Barr

HE IS TRUMP'S ROY COHEN AND HIS BERIA

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, seen last week at the Rose Garden of the White House, is the target of a professional ethics complaint filed by fellow members of the DC Bar. Pool photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI | License Photo


July 22 () -- More than two dozen Washington D.C. lawyers on Wednesday filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Attorney General William Barr, accusing him of violating his professional obligations as a member of the local bar.

The complaint is signed by 27 members of the District of Columbia Bar, including four former presidents of the association. It accuses the attorney general of undermining the rule of law by acting more as President Donald Trump's personal attorney than on behalf of the United States, as demanded by ethics rules.

The complaint urges the DC Bar to determine whether Barr should be subject to professional discipline due to his misconduct.

"The compelling evidence of ... Barr's pattern of dishonest statements and conflict of interest lead to one conclusion: Our DC Bar must commence an independent investigation of these allegations of misconduct," former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin Jr., said in a statement accompanying the complaint.

RELATED House Dems call for investigation into Trump's use of force at protests


The group claimed in its "bill of particulars" Barr has "engaged in a pattern of serious violations of DC Bar ethics rules, including conflicts of interest" -- such as "ordering and supporting" the dispersal of a group of largely peaceful protesters outside the White House last month.

During the June 1 incident, federal law enforcement officers used horses and tear gas to push protesters back from Lafayette Square in Washington, allowing Trump to walk across the street to stage a photo opportunity at the historic St. John's Episcopal Church.

The action "violated the protesters' First and Fourth Amendments rights under the Constitution," the lawyers wrote. "By violating the Constitution, [Barr] engaged in misconduct under DC Bar Rule XI."

RELATED Mueller: Roger Stone still 'a convicted felon' after Trump commutation



Last month, hundreds of former Justice Department employees similarly called for a probe of Barr's involvement in the Lafayette Square incident in a letter to the department's inspector general.

The DC Bar members also asserted the attorney general misled Congress and the public by claiming that the Mueller Report, probing the president's possible involvement with Russian interference during the 2016 election, "did not contain sufficient evidence to establish that [Trump] committed the crime of 'obstruction of justice.'"

"Mr. Barr's dishonest, deceitful and misleading statements violated DC Bar Rule 8.4(c)," they claimed.

RELATED Esper says it's 'unclear' who ordered protesters dispersed from Lafayette Square


The Justice Department did not comment on the ethics complaint.

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Magnitude-7.8 earthquake hits off Alaska coast


A tsunami warning had been issued for Alaska, but was later canceled. Image courtesy of NOAA

July 22 (UPI) -- A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off the Alaskan coast, officials said, initiating a tsunami warning that was later canceled.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor struck at 10:12 p.m. local time Tuesday at about 65 miles south-southeast of Perryville, Alaska, at a depth of 17 miles.

A tsunami warning was issued by the National Weather Service for South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula along the Pacific coast from Kennedy Entrance to Unimak Pass but was later called off.

"A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat," the National Weather Service said in an update. "Some areas may continue to see small sea-level changes."

The temblor was initially categorized as a 7.4 magnitude but was later upgraded to magnitude 7.8.

In Kodiak, tsunami warning sirens blared and residents made their way from the coast, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The Kodiak High School had opened to shelter those who were evacuating, urging people via Facebook to "please get to higher ground."

Mike Tvenge, director of Kodiak Emergency Services, later issued "all clear" for residents to return home.

"Stay safe, Kodiak!" he said in a statement.

In Hawaii, Gov. David Ige tweeted there was no threat of a tsunami to his state

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Called Out Her Republican Colleague For Refusing To Apologize For Reportedly Calling Her A Sexist Slur

The Hill reported that Rep. Ted Yoho called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a "fucking bitch" after a confrontation, but he denied using the term and said he apologized for her "misunderstanding."

Clarissa-Jan LimBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on July 22, 2020

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is criticizing a fellow member of Congress over his refusal to apologize for allegedly calling her a "fucking bitch" following a confrontation on Capitol Hill.

"I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, or my country," Florida Rep. Ted Yoho said Wednesday morning on the House floor while denying using the slur. However, he apologized for the "misunderstanding" of his remarks

Yoho faced a barrage of criticism when the Hill reported this week that he called Ocasio-Cortez the sexist slur after the two got into a heated conversation.

Shortly after Yoho's speech Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez called out his failure to accept responsibility.

"Republican responds to calling a colleague 'disgusting' & a 'f—ing b*tch' w/ 'I cannot apologize for my passion' and blaming others," she tweeted. "I will not teach my nieces and young people watching that this an apology, and what they should learn to accept."

She went on to list several points about the statement he delivered on the House floor.

"This is not an apology," she said. "He didn't even say my name."



Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC
He didn’t even say my name.04:03 PM - 22 Jul 2020
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During their exchange on Monday, the Hill reported that Yoho called Ocasio-Cortez "disgusting" for attributing a recent increase in crime in NYC to poverty and unemployment.

Ocasio-Cortez told Yoho he was "rude," according to a reporter who overheard the exchange.

The two parted ways, after which Yoho called her a "fucking bitch," according to the Hill.

Yoho again denied using those words while speaking on the House floor Wednesday, but he did acknowledge that the two had a tense exchange.

"I rise to apologize for the abrupt manner of the conversation I had with my colleague from New York," he said. "The offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleagues, and if they were construed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding."

Shortly after the Hill report was published, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she had never spoken to Yoho before their encounter on Monday.

"Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door," she wrote. "But hey, 'b*tches' get stuff done."



Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC
I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday. Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door. But hey, “b*tches” get stuff done. 🤷🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/WlG3xccwR701:57 PM - 21 Jul 2020
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She also appeared to address the incident in an Instagram story posted on Tuesday afternoon. The video showed her masked up with a coffee cup in hand, walking on Capitol Hill to the Doja Cat song "Boss Bitch."

"Shine on, fight for others, and let the haters stay mad," she wrote in the caption.


Becca Rose@itsbecrose
iiiiiiiii am deceased09:47 PM - 21 Jul 2020
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MORE ON THIS

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hit Back After A GOP Lawmaker Allegedly Called Her A Sexist Slur

Craig Silverman · July 21, 2020

Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With AOC? Let's Analyze The Memes

Lam Thuy Vo · May 3, 2019


Clarissa-Jan Lim is a reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. She is based in New York.

Trump’s Campaign Made Face Masks. They’re Just Not Selling Them.
Kadia GobaBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on July 22, 2020, at 5:14 p.m. ET

Go Nakamura / Bloomberg / Getty Images
A vendor wearing a protective face mask and shield speaks with customers ahead of a rally with President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 20.


The Trump campaign has purchased thousands of branded masks for surrogates but won’t add them to the collection of Trump keychains and coffee mugs sold on the campaign website.

Members of Black Voices for Trump told BuzzFeed News there were two official campaign offerings: a red neoprene mask and a newer navy canvas version with the "Trump 2020" logo. Staffers distributed the masks to surrogates who attended the president's June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Those masks, though, have not been made widely available to the public. There was never a plan to sell the masks on the website, a campaign official told BuzzFeed News.

The decision to not market "Trump 2020" masks is a break from a president who has lauded himself as an astute businessperson — one who’s sold all manner of branded items, up to and including 2016’s red hats. After all, it was the brainchild of this very campaign that raised $500,000 in a single week from selling Trump-engraved plastic straws. The move was a clear rebuke to cities substituting plastic straws for paper ones; it remains on the site a year later with a content description that reads, “Liberal paper straws don’t work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.”

Even Joe Biden’s campaign is selling masks.

Nobody from the Trump campaign will explain the decision to not sell its own masks, even as online sellers who peddle unauthorized versions of "Trump 2020" masks say they’re blowing out of stock.

"The only reason I know they’re not selling the masks is because everyone keeps asking me, 'Where are the masks?' and I’m like, go to the website, and they’re like, 'Oh, well, I can’t find any,'" Cecilia Johnson of Black Voices for Trump said in an interview with BuzzFeed News.


So the idea of a tycoon not using a pandemic to maximize his earnings seems like a bad business move — unless you consider the president’s approach on the mask debate amid the coronavirus pandemic thus far. He’s been relatively silent until recently.

For months, the president has been criticized for slow-walking his coronavirus response. But what was particularly obvious was his refusal to wear a mask and, until this week, his unwillingness to advise Americans to wear one — even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended people do so as early as April.

The nation saw its leader speak cautiously about the benefits of wearing a mask. Trump just last month called masks a “double-edged sword,” which seemed to point to his personal concerns around the cleanliness of handling masks worn all day. In the same interview, he said he’s “OK with it.”

This month, during a Fox interview, Trump made it clear he has no interest in mandating masks. This is a point many lawmakers from the states now experiencing upticks in COVID-19 cases have struggled with as well. As have his own surrogates, including Diamond and Silk, who likened any mandate of masks to “Communist China” and...slavery.

Asked about mandating masks during Sunday's Fox interview, Trump said, "No. I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don't believe in that. No."

But he donned a mask during his visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on July 11 and tweeted Monday he was being “patriotic” by wearing it. (He did mention the “Invisible China Virus” in the tweet.)

Then, in a stunning about-face, on Tuesday at his coronavirus press briefing, the president told reporters: “We're asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask. Get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They’ll have an effect.”

Five minutes later, the president, who for this briefing mainly read from his notes, doubled down: “We're instead asking Americans to use masks, socially distance, and employ vigorous hygiene.”

And then, within moments of his press conference — with possibly more impact than he has at the podium, he tweeted it.

The campaign has not responded to several requests as to whether it'll change course and add the Trump masks to the campaign site's offerings. There’s certainly a demand. Just ask @isleofcapri777, who inquired about one on Twitter last week.


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Kadia Goba is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC.

Police in Riot Gear Clear Month-Long 'Occupy City Hall' Camp in NYC

BILL BLASIO'S BULLY BOYS DO BARR'S WORK FOR HIM
New York police officers standby as sanitation workers remove graffiti at the site of Occupy City Hall protest on July 22, 2020, in New York.
Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images

BY KAREN MATTHEWS AND JENNIFER PELTZ / AP
JULY 22, 2020

(NEW YORK) — Police in riot gear moved in early Wednesday to clear a month-long encampment of protesters and homeless people from a park near New York’s City Hall.

A line of officers with helmets and shields entered City Hall Park shortly before 4 a.m. and forced the remaining people who were camped there out.

The decision to clear what Mayor Bill de Blasio called the increasingly unruly camp was made at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“We do always respect the right to protest, but we have to think about health and safety first, and the health and safety issues were growing,” de Blasio said. “So it was time to take action.”

Video from the predawn action shows officers moving through the camp taking down tents and other temporary structures and tossing them into garbage trucks to be hauled away. Cleaning crews arrived later to scrub graffiti from buildings in the area.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who joined de Blasio at his daily briefing, said officers instructed people to leave, and many did, but “about six” people were given summonses for refusing to disperse. One person was arrested for throwing a brick at an officer, denting his shield, Shea said. The commissioner said no injuries to officers or protesters were reported.

De Blasio said shelter services were offered to homeless people at the encampment.

The encampment in City Hall Park started in late June following weeks of protests sparked by the May death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The “Occupy City Hall” protest was part of a national “defund the police” movement seeking to redirect funds from policing to community needs like housing and education.


Protesters said they would camp out until the city reduced the New York Police Department’s budget by $1 billion. The City Council responded by passing a budget that shifts roughly $1 billion from the police department, but some activists criticized the funding cuts as cosmetic or insufficient.

The encampment swelled to several hundred people at its height but had lately dwindled to fewer than 100, many of them homeless people.

De Blasio, a Democrat, had earlier resisted calls to move the protesters out of the park that adjoins the historic building where he works.

The mayor said Wednesday that the timing of the predawn raid was unrelated to President Donald Trump’s threats to send federal law enforcers to New York as the president has done in Portland. “We were waiting to really understand the facts and specifics and came to the conclusion this was the right time,” de Blasio said.

De Blasio said he sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf opposing any unsolicited deployment of federal officers to New York. “We’re New Yorkers. We will not take something like this lying down,” de Blasio said.

He said he will add his signature to a letter to Barr and Wolf from dozens of other mayors “to make clear that none of our cities wants this intrusion.”


The NYPD Raided The "Occupy City Hall" Encampment In The Middle Of The Night
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the site had become "less and less about protest, and more and more became an area where homeless folks were gathering."

Julia Reinstein BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on July 22, 2020,

Timothy A. Clary / Getty Images

New York City police raided Occupy City Hall before dawn on Wednesday, arresting seven demonstrators and clearing out the encampment that sprung up nearly a month ago in lower Manhattan as part of a campaign to defund the NYPD.

Video of the incident shows masses of police in riot gear descending upon the small tent city before 4 a.m.

Police told BuzzFeed News seven people were arrested but had not been charged.



Max Hornig@swarmofgaybees
YPD is now attacking the City Hall occupancy protest. Tearing down the community service tents. #nycprotest07:47 AM - 22 Jul 2020
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As the sun rose, sanitation workers hosed off graffiti left on the plaza reading "defund the police," "BLM," and other anti-racist and anti-police messages. Tents were taken down and thrown into garbage trucks.

Jawanza James Williams, the director of organizing for Vocal New York, which originally organized Occupy City Hall, told BuzzFeed News the city was "pressure- washing away the messages of freedom, Black Lives, a world without police and prisons, in the same ways that workers pressure-wash away the spilled blood of Black people murdered by police for now hundreds of years."


"The De Blasio administration allowed this to happen, even amid CDC recommendations not to break up encampments with homeless folks to prevent COVID-19 spread, indicating this raid had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with being politically expedient," said Williams.
youtube.com


Occupy City Hall began in late June as a protest calling for a billion-dollar cut to the New York Police Department's $6 billion budget. Protesters camped out on a small patch of grass near City Hall ahead of the June 30 deadline to finalize next year's city budget.


While the new budget technically shifts $1 billion out of the NYPD budget, it has been widely criticized for not making meaningful change due to the plan's reallocation of money to departments that also fund police.

“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. "It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education's budget so that the exact same police remain in schools."


David Dee Delgado / Getty Images

After the budget was passed, many people remained in the Occupy City Hall encampment, and it became a refuge for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Dubbed "Abolition Park," the encampment provided shelter, food, clothing, medical and mental health assistance, and even a library to those staying there.

“It’s summertime, it’s not cold. There’s a lot of people, there’s food, clothes,” one person who was living there, 37-year-old Benigno Perez, told Gothamist in early July. “Most of the people’s going through the same thing. I love it. If you look around you see the unity...the unity of the people.”

Williams said his organization, Vocal, did not remain officially involved in Occupy City Hall after the budget was passed, but that he has returned frequently to the site. Even as the plaza turned from a protest encampment to one more focused on supporting people experiencing homelessness, he said activism at the site remained.

"[P]eople were self-organizing for accountability and safety, and also to respond to the potential influx of police infiltrating the camp," Williams said. "But the activities of political education continued, direct actions outside of the camp continued, celebrations and performances continued, art creation, and cultural production in general."

In a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio did not indicate there were plans to break up the encampment. He had said doing so would be the NYPD's decision.

"There is a balance we always strike between the right to protest and especially public safety, and I always put public safety first while respecting constitutional rights," de Blasio said.

But on Wednesday, following the raid, de Blasio said he'd changed his mind due to the encampment's shift in purpose.

"What we saw change over the last few weeks was the gathering there got smaller and smaller, was less and less about protest, and more and more became an area where homeless folks were gathering," he said. "We do always respect the right to protest but we do have to think about health and safety first, and the healthy and safety issues were growing."


MORE ON THIS
People Are Camping Out In The Middle Of Manhattan To Try To Defund The PoliceJulia Reinstein · June 24, 2020

Julia Reinstein is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.