Uptown Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez was arrested and struck by police officers this morning showing support for Occupy Wall Street. As most of you know, police in riot gear evicted the makeshift community in Zuccotti Park at around 1AM, cutting down trees and destroying books in the process. Last week, Rodriguez organized a March from Washington Heights to the financial district in solidarity with OWS, saying that the economic crisis disproportionally affects his community. This morning, trying to move past police officers to reach the park, Ydanis Rodriguez and his group were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. According to the National Lawyer’s Guild New York Chapter:
Earlier, at approximately 1 AM, the NYPD began massing around Zuccotti Park “aka Liberty Park.” In the following hours reports surfaced that the NYPD entered the park with police in riot gear backed up by numerous police vehicles, including a bulldozer, evicting occupiers. In the process they destroyed property and arrested dozens of occupiers and protestors including NYC Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez and District Leader Paul Newell.
Councilman Jumanee Williams tweeted at 7:40 AM, “I can report that @ydanis, a #NYC Council Member, has been #arrested at #OccupyWallStreet & is bleeding from the head thanks to the #NYPD.”
Here’s hoping that Councilman Rodriguez is doing well, and that this issue of the now probably completely illegal eviction gets resolved soon.
Source: The Huffington Post