DAVID SHUSTER: For the latest from the Occupy movement's epicenter -- Zuccotti Park here in New York -- we're joined by Ryan Hoffman, an Occupy Wall Street protester and co-author of the group's declaration. Ryan, good to meet you and thanks for coming in today.
RYAN HOFFMAN: So great to meet you David, thank you for having me.
SHUSTER: So, The New York Daily News reported today that Occupy Wall Street has established its own security system at Zuccotti Park. Now what's going on with the park's security? What rules do you enforce and how do you do it?
HOFFMAN: Well, it's actually more of a community alliance rather than a security team, and basically what we have is -- we have, sort of, basically the -- we have the guidelines out, basically, that is, nobody who -- don't touch anybody that doesn't necessarily give you verbal consent to do so. Don't necessarily assume that person wants to be touched because of the way they are dressed. Many of them are doing it to make a point. And don't necessarily assume anything about a person's specific gender identity, or anything like that, in approaching them and talking to them.
And then we have a system set up -- where that if there is a disagreement, first we talk to the individuals, one on one, and we see if we can try to diffuse that situation. And if that doesn't work, then we go towards a community watch, which is actually comprised of members from the surrounding community of Zuccotti Park. And then, if that doesn't work, then we come back to the community alliance and see if we can diffuse the situation. And then from there, we go to a peace council to decide whether or not an individual needs to be removed from the park or -- you know, how they're going to go about doing it, what the best way is, how we can make this a positive experience for everyone. So, try and salvage the situation.
SHUSTER: It sounds like this is a very thought-out set of protocols and processes that you'll be -- that you'll be using there. What do you make of The New York Daily News, with the NYPD saying that officers have not -- according to the NYPD, they deny the allegation -- that the police has been sending homeless people to Zuccotti Park. You're down there. What's your impression?
HOFFMAN: It's irrelevant. Whether they are or they're not, it's irrelevant. Because we're part of a movement that is against a violent system that has disenfranchised many people and felt that a lot of people don't have a voice. And -- you know -- whether or not they are sending people down there -- we'll take them, because if they have been wounded by the system that we're in -- that creates a systemic, sort of, foreclosure mill, kicking people out of their houses and, sort of, oppressing them and taking away their voices, taking away their enfranchisement to speak -- well, guess what? That's what our movement is about. And we're not going to turn those people away.
So, whether or not they're sending them down there, whether or not they're, sort of, trying to subvert us by putting their disenfranchised and their undesirables into our movement -- it's not going to make a difference in how we operate. And that's giving people a voice. People who have not had a voice, people who have been feeling too apathetic to get involved in their local government, people who have been feeling too hopeless that there isn't a solution for them. This movement is so that everybody can have a voice. And we lift each other up, and we're not about to start a class war about who's being sent to our park, who's being sent to stir up trouble. These people are vagrants, these people are undesirables -- that's not what we're about. We're about lifting everybody up and giving everybody a voice. So, whether or not they're doing it doesn't make a difference to us.
SHUSTER: There were more arrests today in the "Stop and Frisk" protest in Brooklyn -- this was civil disobedience, where arrests are part of the program. Given that, how are relations right now with the NYPD? And does that matter?
HOFFMAN: Well, my personal relations with the NYPD always varies. Speaking only for myself, I've run into a few officers who have been willing to give me conversation time and have been willing to talk to me. And some support us.
When we took down Broadway last week, and we marched up Broadway dancing in the streets, there were officers taking video cameras of us -- smiling, cheering us on. When we took the net away and were marching up Broadway with it like a trophy, they were laughing and they were going along with it. So, there's good parts.
And then you see some of the ugly things, some of the few individuals that decide to go above and beyond the call. And I talked about this last time I was on the show, but -- you know, people who are going above and beyond their call -- trying to hurt people and using their badge as an excuse to do so. And they're giving the rest of the police department a bad name, as well as the individuals up in the Bronx who are protesting the ticket-fixing scandal and being bullies and thugs.
It's very hypocritical for the NYPD to engage in such behavior. Being very, very -- sort of bully-ish and thuggish up in the Bronx, and then macing people for exercising their -- their First Amendment rights peacefully down in Zuccotti Park. It doesn't look very good
SHUSTER: Real quickly, we heard what was going on Oakland, anything similar planned for New York?
HOFFMAN: I know a lot of people -- there was a member of the Longshore Union that came to speak to the general assembly, and we do support the November 2nd general strike, and solidarity to Oakland. We are with you. Oakland is New York and New York is Oakland.
SHUSTER: Ryan, thank you so much for coming in. Ryan Hoffman, Occupy Wall Street protester, co-author of the Occupy Wall Street declaration. Great to meet you in person, Ryan.
HOFFMAN: Thank you so much for having me.
