re: #350 albusteve

why else would they do it?…weekend stroll?

Somebody in the crowds wheels and other people follow. One guy decides to go to the Bridge, a hundred others follow without any insight into where or why or if they’re making a statement. People decide to move away from something bothersome—the police cordon, other protestors—and bam.

This is a protest that is incorporating spontaneous participation with very little ability to check what everyone’s doing. That includes spatial issues—and the more people there are, the more likely a bottleneck will occur.

Hence why I’ve asked if someone has issued a statement regarding occupation of the bridge: sometimes it is planned by protestors. Which is not okay in my book.

re: #354 Dark_Falcon

They they should keep their protest off the damn bridge. The NYPD has reasonable concerns that can lead to it limiting access to bridges. People should recognize that and not try to circumvent such closures.

Yes, and if you didn’t want to get on the bridge, I’m pretty sure the fifty people on either side of you would obligingly get out of your way, and the police cordon would magically open to let you by.

Given what I know of not only crowd control tactics but dirty tricks, another possibility is that the police herded people onto the bridge, which then gives then license to arrest. Given that I haven’t heard mention of the crowd pressing through a police force blocking the bridge for logistical reasons, I actually a bit curious about how this all went down.