10/10/11

Hippies and Commies and Freaks, Oh My!

Preparing For the Occupy Crowd

I support anyone's right to peacefully assemble.  I don't believe they have the right to disrupt commerce, destroy public and private property, or scare "the straights."  I'm sure you've all seen the recent reports of the Occupy Wall Street and thier clones doing things like, defacating on a police car, trying to take over the Air & Space Museum, making public streets filthy, and generally being spoiled little rich kids.  I'm sure at some point, this was planned as a noble cause, protesting for justice, but it has devolved into a mass of disorganized malcontents with no common goal other than being a part of something.  Within that group, there is further involvement of some with actual malice and harm being their goals.  That smaller group, has the potential to lead the rest of the herd into eventually causing riots and violence, ala London, Paris, and the "Arab Spring."  My advice in the cities where the occupiers are already campaigning, is to stay away if you can, but be very warry if you go there.

Well, I'm about to put my ideas to the test.  You see, Occupy Richmond will begin next Saturday in a park next to Virginia Commonwealth University.  When I was a young VCU student, those of us with conservative leanings called it Viet Cong University because of the radical leftists that filled much of the campus.  I was actually in a counter protest against the wannabe hippies protesting the Persian Gulf war before my unit was activated to go.  I was interviewed by the local TV news and said, "the young ones are cowards and the older ones are trying to relive the 60's."  Hopefully I've become a bit more articulate with age, and also a bit more tolerant of others.

So why am I going to be there on Saturday?  The park is right across the street from The Landmark Theater (formerly the "Richmond Mosque," an historic theater that was originally a Masonic Temple and venue that has seen everyone from Frank Sinatra to Willie Nelson to countless showings of the Nutcracker - Check out the current Jeff Dunham show on Comedy Central - it was filmed there).  Anyway, my wife, neice (don't tell her, it's a surprise) and mother have tickets for the matinee of Wicked that afternoon.  The original plan was for them to go, enjoy the show, and come home, leaving me to work on the yard, load some ammo, and do some reading.  That is no longer the case.

I'm not going to ask them not to go.  The occupation is not scheduled to start until right before the show ends, so I think it is still OK for them to go... with some precautions. 

Here's the plan:

I will drive, and drop them off right at the entrance, about an hour before showtime.  I'll park on top of the nearby parking deck where I can see the park and the theater.  I'll sit up there in a lawn chair, reading a book and smoking a stogie, periodically watching the park through binoculars.  My wife will have her cell phone (on vibrate) and one of our GMRS radios (turned off).  If all is fine, she'll call me when the show is over and I'll swoop in and pick them up at a predetermined door, with them waiting inside until I appear.  If I see things starting to get tense in the park, I'll call her on the cell phone.  When she sees my number on her phone, she won't answer, but they will immediately leave and turn on the radio after reaching the lobby, to await exfiltration coordinates.  I'll then swoop in and pick them up and "un-ass the AO."  While waiting, I may stroll among the perimeter of the park, looking for intel and indicators, it just depends on what I am seeing and what my gut is telling me.  I will be armed with a pistol, and two levels of non-lethal force.  I'll have some quality OC spray, as well as my Cold Steel Blackthorn walking stick.

My expectation is that we will be far clear of the area before any unrest begins.  If the occupation started this past weekend and had a week to build, I would probably have different plans, just as I would if they were going to an evening show instead of the matinee.  This group had 200 people at their planning meeting (the radio news revealed that they were doing the same creepy repeat after me chanting as was recently seen on Fox News with the Atlanta group), VCU has a history of left wing activisim, and we have a Federal Reserve branch in Richmond, so this could get pretty big.

What do you think?  Am I missing anything in my plan?  Have you been involved with or near any of the Occupy groups?  Am I missing the whole picture on them?

10 comments:

  1. On the 8th, my wife and I drove from Greenville, SC to Charlotte, NC and marched with the Occupy Charlotte group.
    Estimates ran from between 300-500 people depending on who you listen to. There was a great diversity of people, races, ages, etc. There was zero violence and no law breaking. I believe this was their third week of occupation, but I could be wrong.
    There were a few splinter groups there; a couple Union signs, local politician hate signs, and a few Ron Paul advocates.
    There were a few general rules vocalized at the staging area before we marched. I called it the "rules of engagement". No violence was stressed, and no weapons. (I had my knife in my backpack. We also took our dog which the Web dialog discouraged, but he was fine and no one confronted us)
    The Charlotte Police (there were a TON of them out there)were helpful and non-antagonistic.
    We marched to the Bank of America where we chanted, etc for i hour and then returned to the staging area.
    This WAS democracy. I was a hippy in the late 60s/70s, later joined the Army in 74 and out in 77. I vote and actually pay taxes not just get returns) I am a grandfather of 8, and Father of 5 adults.
    But, I will NOT vote this year. The system is BROKEN and if it can be fixed, needs to start with radical change to gain back the trust of many Americans.
    We have found that many people are ignorant concerning what, and who the 99% are and what the protesting is all about.
    The fact is, it's about trying to get the government to stop sleeping with big business at the expense of working citizens. It's about telling them both that we are sick of it. There are other specifics, but I would ask that before someone pigeon-holes the protesters, that they at the least do their homework~

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  2. The main whole I see in your plans is an alternate if all comms go down. A simple rally point in a safe direction would probably be enough. Yes, you do have redundancy in comms but stuff does happen.

    My other thought is how large is your can of pepper spray? This might be a good place to have a larger can available for a possible target rich environment.

    From what I've read the Occupy group in the Twin Cities is staying very polite. They're even keeping a line of communication open with local LE and have gotten permission got the overnight staying etc.

    Steelheart

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  3. Well another survival site off my bookmarks.

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  4. Hey, thanks for this post. I will be in Seattle this coming weekend, not too far from the OccupySeattle group, and I have been running through various scenarios in my head and what to do in each case. I will have my 19 yo daughter with me and a couple other relatives. I anticipate that the rally will be mostly peaceful, but it's always good to have a plan (or six or seven).

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  5. I am of the opinion that you watch too much Fox news.

    NO MSM is without an agenda at feeding you propaganda and unsubstantiated opinions presented as news.

    You are merely just another sheeple in my book. Just another propaganda swallower and too afraid to find out the facts for yourself.

    I haven't participated in any of these events but I did do research on what is going on with them. I suggest you do the same before you go spouting off Fox fear about things you don't understand.

    I too will not be returning to this website.

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  6. Damn, you just lost two of your communist readers. You are doing something right. What that don't realize or refuse to admit is that these big government idiots want to take something from wallstreet today, but after the SHF they are going to be the same group of idiots that want to redstribute your preps so the "less fortunates" will have something to eat. Redistribution post SHF will be advocated by this same group of morons. Keep up the good work.
    Marine 83

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  7. Anonymous #1 - thanks for the insight. I had not heard of the Charlotte group... probably because they are being peaceful. I hope the Richmond group will be likewise, but I don't hold out much hope. I've been here all my life and have pretty low expectations. I fully expect a few rabble rousers to lead the hangers on to trouble... that's just what folks around here are like... along for the ride, no matter where it goes. I appreciate your story and will keep it in mind.

    Steelheart - thanks for the idea - we will have a fallback plan in case communications fail.

    Anonymous #2 - OK

    Dodge Truck Mom - good luck and have a safe trip - I'd suggest keep your eyes and ears open, watch your 6, and don't hesitate to leave the area if things start to get tense - listen to your gut.

    Anonymous #3 - I don't watch Fox News - take care

    Marine 83 - I agree with your assessment of the future potential for redistribution. Semper Fi, brother

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  8. I walk by the Chicago group every day coming and going to the office.

    Although there have been a few morons getting arrested (and this is Chicago - you have to push pretty darned hard to get yourself arrested) for doing things like punching cops and peeing on a building, by and large its been like walking past the stoners in the quad at college. A few chants, a lot of patchouli and BO, some politics, a lot of frustration (that I agree with,) and a few pandering public figures. Basically, these folks remind me exactly of the "progressive" elements on campus - and seem about as threatening.

    I do NOT fault you at all for wariness and concern, followed by planning. This is exactly why we prep. It just might be that the day your family is in proximity, is the day it spins out of control. As such, I echo the comment about tertiary communications being necessary, and a RP preset should all comms fail. That said, I would approach this more looking to enjoy that fine cigar, than anything else (as long as the preps are already in place._

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  9. Please continue to ignore the socialist/communist idiots. I work just a few blocks from where the "Occupy Portland" (Oregon) group is blocking traffic, making the city park blocks a filthy mess, and otherwise being jack-wagons without a clue. To give you an idea of how liberal & stupid Portlanders tend to be, the mayor is a twat-waffle who admitted (when he was in his forties) to seducing a 17-year-old boy, and yet is somehow still in office. Portland is a notoriously liberal city (in an otherwise mostly-conservative state), and yet 95% or more of the comments on the local MSM news website articles about the Occupy movement are against the protesters. This speaks volumes.

    On a lighter note, I posted this on Twitter yesterday: "While I slept, my cats protested lack of pettings with Occupy My Bed. One felt that didn't go far enough, ramped it up to Occupy My Pillow."

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  10. Jeanne - don't hold back! Let us know how you feel! I love it!

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