Occupy Tulsa IV: The Arrests
A circle of 10 protestors affiliated with the Occupy Tulsa movement sit in a circle holding a sign showing the text of a portion of the First Amendment at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Demonstrators began to observe police activity surrounding the park around 1:30 a.m. and prepared to be arrested shorty thereafter. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a situation deteriorate so quickly in my life. Within a few short minutes, the scene at Centennial Green turned from a silent demonstration of a group of individuals with locked arms, to complete chaos; pepper spray being deployed, police officers dragging those who were arrested to vans, and other protestors shouting back at police, who remained silent the entire time. Everyone that was arrested knew they were going to be arrested. They had planned for it. It was not a surprise to anyone. What seemed to anger demonstrators was the use of pepper spray, upon individuals who offered no resistance in a completely non-violent protest.
Following the arrests, the officers, close to 50 total, formed a barrier completely around the park in an overwhelming display of manpower. Mattresses, tents and signs were all entered into evidence, and the 10 arrested were whisked off to jail. All were released later that morning. Later in the day many had returned to the park. Curfew arrived again, and right on schedule, the police showed up, and arrested 13 individuals the second time around.
On a technical note, it’s a rare occasion that I will use direct flash on an assignment. This was one of those times when it was absolutely necessary in order to make the pictures that needed to be made. Remember, this is a park in the middle of the night with hardly any light source whatsoever. I think the ambient exposure was around 1/15s, f/2, ISO 6400. That’s not gonna work for much of anything. Yes, the flash is harsh and some images are regrettably blown out. But I’d take a sharp yet slightly overexposed shot over a blurry dark one any day.
Tulsa police converge on Centennial Green and form a perimeter around a circle of 10 Occupy Tulsa members demonstrating in downtown Tulsa early in the morning of Nov. 2, 2011. Police gave demonstrators a final verbal warning over a bullhorn that they were in violation of a city curfew and gave them the choice of leaving before applying pepper spray and forcibly removing demonstrators sitting in a circle at the park shortly before 2 a.m. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
A group of Tulsa police officers armed with air rifles surround Occupy Tulsa protestor Lawrence Black, 36, at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Tulsa police officers forcibly remove John Franklin Vanzant, 20, who arrested and pepper sprayed for assembling in violation of a city curfew at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Several officers of the Tulsa Police Department escort John Harlien, 37, who was pepper sprayed and arrested for refusing to leave the park at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Police warned demonstrators that they were in violation of a city curfew and gave them the choice of leaving before forcibly removing demonstrators sitting in a circle at the park shortly before 2 a.m. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Wincing from the effects of pepper spray, John Harlien, 37, is guided into a prisoner transport van by a Tulsa police officer after Harlien was arrested for violating a parks curfew at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Police warned demonstrators that they were in violation of a city curfew and gave them the choice of leaving before applying pepper spray and forcibly removing demonstrators sitting in a circle at the park shortly before 2 a.m. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Tulsa police officers carry Occupy Tulsa protestor Samuel Molik, 24, to a transport van after he was arrested for an alleged violation of a city curfew at Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Ten demonstrators were arrested at the scene, some of whom were pepper sprayed while sitting peacefully in a circle at the park. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Samuel Molik, 24, left, and Danielle Hammack, 29, right, sit handcuffed on Main Street in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Several dozen officers and high ranking police officials converged on the park shortly before 2 a.m. to disband an Occupy protest that had been established since Friday. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Tulsa Police officers tear down a tent belonging to protestors affiliated with the Occupy movement after arresting nine members of the group who were assembling at their encampment on Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011. Police warned demonstrators that they were in violation of a city curfew and gave them the choice of leaving before applying pepper spray and forcibly removing demonstrators sitting in a circle at the park shortly before 2 a.m. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
A group of Tulsa police officers form a perimeter around the grassy area of Centennial Green in downtown Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 2, 2011 after arresting nine protestors affiliated with the Occupy movement. Officers removed tents and possessions from the park that the protestors had occupied since Friday night, in an apparent violation of a city park curfew. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
A Tulsa Police officer carries into a van, as evidence, the sign of the portion of the First Amendment that protestors held in their circle before being arrested for violating a Tulsa parks curfew before 2 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
[...] returned to their business, singing songs and anxiously waiting to see what, if, anything, might happen next. Brittany Mercer, left, uses a permanent marker to write phone numbers of the ACLU and lawyers [...]
[...] led to pepper spray…as John Harlien and nine other Occupy Tulsa protestors were arrested downtown on Nov. 2… [...]