24 protesters arrested after 11 p.m. curfew falls

It was a busy night across from the Capitol, as 24 Occupy Albany protesters were arrested for crossing over the line separating Academy Park, which is city-owned, from state-owned Lafayette Park. The mass arrest followed the lone arrest Saturday afternoon of Bradley Russell, shown at right, a protester who had attempted to set up a “Freedom Fort” in Lafayette.

Read the full report from Jennifer Gish and Dayelin Roman here.

  1. sick of the bullying says:

    A FOIL request should be done to find out how much money Mr. I AM THE GOVERNMENT has wasted in tax payer dollars arresting the peaceful Occupy Albany demonstrators! How many of those state troopers were working OT? In light of what the governor has done to the other state employees in recent contract negotiations this is a gross mismanagement of state resources!! This is just an arrogant demonstration of his use of power over the people to say I’m the boss!!!

  2. Phil says:

    Dr. Bradley Russel is an adjunct Professor at St. Rose and prior to that was a Lecturer at Suny Albany. (An adjunct professor is a part-time professor who does not hold a permanent position at that particular academic institution.)

    This is a typical story of an overeducated young person who has no great job prospects, and is not prepared himself to have meaningful employment. No wonder he is attracted to Occupy Albany.

    Also your reporters did a poor research job. All his details are available on LinkD.

  3. Jenny AnyDots says:

    Building a “freedom fort” with foam and packing tape and daring Cuomo to arrest him? Is this what the Occupy Albany group has degenerated into?

  4. Jenny AnyDots says:

    Building a “Freedom Fort” with foam and packing tape and daring Cuomo to arrest him? Who is this clown?

    Occupy Albany, please direct your energies to creating a dialogue about important issues, like the increasing inequality of wealth, the marriage of the financial and political sectors, and the educational bubble, which pumps out indebted students with worthless degrees.

  5. Albert J says:

    Thank you Gov. Cuomo, for someone finally acting like the “grown-up” in dealing with an excessive, childish hissy-fit. The reality is, those with a grievance have an absolute right to express their problem, but once they do, it’s time to step back and allow others to consider their grievance and determine what, if any, action might be necessary to correct the situation.

    By day 2 of this nonsense, the grievance was fully presented and since then it’s just been a string of silliness by people looking to have some fun and call attention to themselves. Better to gain your personal, “15 seconds of fame” doing something positive and actually worth others noticing, than just whining and annoying people.

    I belive what Mayor Jennings has misunderstood is that there is a hard core of this encampment whose primary objective is confrontation, and they are not going to be satisfied until there is the confrontation they are seeking. These folks are not going to dissapate on their own, they will continue pushing the envelope and increasing their aggression until their objective, of a confrontation, is satisfied.

    The longer this persists the more frustration and impatience will grow and the likely hood of this nonsense ending badly increases. The City of Albany, seeking to avoid confrontation is unfortunately running in a different direction than this central core which is hell bent on creating a confrontation. They will continue pusing the envelope harder and harder until it bursts, then of course they’ll use the confrontation they planned for to complain about how badly they’ve been treated.

  6. LJ says:

    Exactly Phil. Overeducated and unqualified for just about anything. What could he do? Possibly teach other people to have the same unmarketable skills as he does. Yet I’m sure he was the one who chose this particular field of study and now is bitter that his qualifications are not needed by anyone. Why not Occupy Albany, what else does he have going?

  7. Tim says:

    Why are they trying to change the focus from corperate greed to ability to camp on state land? It doesn’t make much sense.

  8. Phil says:

    In my “yute” I wanted desperately to be an Archaeologist but I soon realized that only a few ever learn enough to support a family. This guy has a wife and a young child. Perhaps his wife is supporting the family.

    These people are so lame. I am a conservative but I realized that the big banks were messing with us some time ago. I withdrew every dime from Bank of America over two years ago. These folks are a day late and a dollar short!

  9. Carl Jr. says:

    Surprise:Election day has passed.

    So much for the respect for the first amendment.

    Silent no more.

  10. OCULUS says:

    Which is more laughable: This buffoon instigating his own arrest, or the TU putting his picture on the front page? Ever considered that the two might be related (beyond being equally stupid)?

  11. Occupy Supporter says:

    I don’t understand these last few comments. Since when did it become a bad thing to be educated and take a political stand for something you believe in? Would folks prefer that people are under-educated and apathetic?

    This country has profound problems with economic inequality, the pervasive influence of money in politics, the prioritizing of big banks over working folks, etc…. Occupy Albany is taking a stand against these injustices and standing up for what they think is right. They are willing to be arrested and sleep out in the cold to make their point. This should be applauded not ridiculed.

  12. The Emperpr has no clothes says:

    Is it clear to us yet that this Governor is a Republicrat? He talks about open government and squelches all freedom of speech with threats and bullying tactics. All of his so called liberal leanings are for show…in practice, these same bullying tactics and threats, failure to listen or respect the voices, knowledge, experiences and rights of others, is how his administration does business everyday. Those who work in state government know what I mean….and I am not referring, at least primarily, to his treatment of the unions. Eventually, as for all tyrants, the public will see him unclothed as the bullying power hungry emperor he really is….else why would the Koch brothers have given him such a large campaign donation?

  13. scarffster says:

    This is so typical of the protest movement, great initial purpose and protest that turns into an “I dare you” protest, then arrests, then violence. I hope that this does not get to the last phase, it’s so counter-productive. Why could this group not be satisfied in the city of Albany’s kindness and just stay in that part of the park? It’s because they have nothing better to do than to dare the police to move them. They have proven nothing more than being a pain in the ass. Most of these morons are not happy that the mayor and the city police have not tried to move them, it’s too boring and doesn’t satisfy their need to make headlines.

  14. What exactly are they protesting?

  15. WNYPlanner says:

    Police State today…Marshall law tomorrow.

  16. inside out says:

    Hey, Father Sarducci- SNL called…they want the costume back!

  17. Elusive says:

    This was a peaceful demonstration…peaceful…Andy has turned this into a police state

  18. garry says:

    What a waste of tax-payer money that was!!!!!

  19. Barbara says:

    As childish as this guy may seem, he’s managed to engage a GOVERNOR in a silly battle of wills. “I dare you to cross this line” is circa 1950 schoolyard stuff. Meanwhile, as law enforcement is involved with which side of a park somebody is on, there have been two shootings in Schenectady, one fatal. There’s an “occupation” that Andrew might better concern himself with.

  20. Cassius says:

    Our Tax Dollars at work.

    We ARE The State. We are not “trespassing”.

    We have TWO Constitutions to prove it.

  21. Mike E says:

    These people want to be arrested….and for what? What does trespassing prove when there is plenty of other space available for them to protest? There freedom to protest is not being violated. A “freedom fort”? Give me a break. These morons have failed to prove any point other than that the most constructive thing they can accomplish is wasting police officers time. How does that help anything?

  22. Tristan says:

    Johnny Appleseed calling.
    He wants his hat back.

  23. Milo says:

    Gee – why are they not protesting the liberal left colleges that annually raised tuition 3X to 4X the rate of inflation the past 25 years that led to their huge debts??????

  24. Kenny says:

    Occupiers – you will be glad to know Michelle has her own personal make-up artist, at a cost of up to $15K per day paid on taxpayer’s dime.

    Don’t let that bother you as you cannot afford a cup of coffee this morning.


  25. Don says:

    As with all the other OWS groups, they seek attention, and when that wains, they become more aggressive. For some reason they equate free speech with the destruction of the rights of others. They think they are the only ones with rights. And of course, trying to intimidate the police by using their cell phones to document arrests…what a lot of hooey. Of course, the Times Union is in bed with this group- read their article on the Saturday front page. But occupying a park is not a demonstration, it is a violation of the law. They should all be arrested, tents torn down, and they should be thrown out of the park at curfew. Enough is enough.You’re right, sick of bullying- too much overtime is being wasted- coddling this group of wannabees. But wannabee what, I don’t know and neither do they…

  26. Jim says:

    I applaud this group for standing up against the politicans and businessmen who want to bankrupt the average citizen.

  27. Mike says:

    @Sick of the bullying: How about a separate look into what it will cost for damage to park grounds and the need for presence of public safety officials, who, mind you were quick to arrest some right-wing nut on the first weekend of the protests. As an Albany taxpayer, I don’t think I should be stuck with the bill for these ongoing and increasingly out of touch protests. You are entitled to believe what you want. But your pals did not follow rules set forth, and they got arrested.

  28. Rocky Balboa says:

    Yo Albert J and LJ!

    I wonder if you feel the same way about the protesters in the links below? I believe they had legitmate grievances against their government. Occupiers have genuine grievances against their government too. Jenny AnyDots named a few of those grievances. There are more inequities our government refuses or pretends to address. Consequently, middle class, working class, students, unemployed, underemployed, unionized workers, et al are at the mercy of a government that essentially represents the wealthy and corrupt corporations. I believe we now live under a corportacracy form of government. That is, a government for and by corrupt corporations.

    Yo Albert J! I suppose the government and corrupt companies in the links below acted like responsible adults and the protesters were just a bunch of misfit whiners / losers. I suppose they should have gone home too (provided they had a home or place to live) and just shut up.



  29. B-b-b-b-b-b-wha? says:

    Jenny’s (#4) got it right. OWS is about recognizing and putting an end to corporate greed. GET ON MESSAGE, PEOPLE. If you dress like Guido Sarducci and act like a buffoon you can’t expect to be taken seriously.

  30. SSDD says:

    Any reason we can’t just turn the fire hoses loose on these idiots? I never thought of myself as being the 1% but when you see all these dirty hippies hanging out, getting high and whining about the government….what more can I think?

    I honestly think these Occupy people are the 1%….at least I hope they are.

    I fear the day when they are the 99%.

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