Arrested for Supporting Local Businesses: Occupying Black Friday at Walmart

Occupying a Walmart landed 10 protesters in jail

By Lori Spencer

 

(This article originally appeared on This Can’t Be Happening. It was also published on Truthout and Counterpunch.)

 

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – In the early morning hours of Black Friday, 10 members of Occupy OKC were arrested while taking part in a nationwide Occupy Walmart protest. But that’s not the real headline here. The bigger story is that chanting “buy local” in a crowded Walmart is now an arrestable offense in the United States of America. 

It all started with a group of about 20-25 Occupy OKC demonstrators doing “mic checks” at several mega retailers around the Oklahoma City area open on Thanksgiving night. “We hit Best Buy, Toys `R’ Us, a Target store, and two other Walmarts between 10pm and midnight,” said Nick Saltzman, 19, one of the local occupiers who managed to avoid arrest. “It was going so well.”

That is, until the group left Oklahoma City limits and ventured into nearby Del City (recently voted “OKC’s Worst Suburb” by 41% of Lost Ogle readers.) Unlike the Oklahoma City police department, the off-duty officers working security at the Del City Walmart on Tinker Diagonal were not in a tolerant mood. Maybe they were already unhappy about having to work an extra shift on a holiday when they could have been home with their families. Like so many underemployed Americans today, they too are struggling to make ends meet. These guys wouldn’t be working the graveyard shift on Thanksgiving night if they didn’t need the extra dough.

Nonetheless, it is clear that these police officers are on the payroll of the 1%. That is who they were being paid to protect. Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman told the Daily Oklahoman the off-duty officers were hired to provide extra security. “We have taken a lot of steps in our stores to maintain a safe shopping environment,” he said. “As part of these plans, our store worked with police to have officers at the store during the (Black Friday) event.”

All of the earlier protests within Oklahoma City limits had gone off without a hitch. In every other case, the group walked in, mic checked the assembled shoppers and employees, spoke their piece, and walked out unmolested. But they did notice something interesting as the night went along: with each new store they visited, there was an increased police presence.

“It’s like someone tipped them in advance that we were coming,” said Bronwyn Agnew, 23, one of the arrested protesters. “There were at least eight officers that originally arrested us, and I don’t see how they could have responded that quickly if they had not been there waiting for us.”

Saltzman concurs. “There were security guards at the second and third Walmarts we mic checked that were also at the first Walmart. I mean, did they follow us around? Were they tapping our phones and listening to us?”

33 year-old Chris Thomas was there to film the protest for a documentary. Although he was not actively participating, passing out fliers, or chanting, Thomas was also arrested. “I was later told by an officer in the jail that they knew we had been doing this at Walmarts all over OKC and Norman that night. He said they were on alert and waiting for us. Also the officer told me that all Walmarts in the area had been notified of the earlier mic checks.”

By the time they reached the fifth big box store of the night, the trap had been set. Virtually unaware that they were walking into an ambush, the 20 some-odd merry occupiers marched into the Del City Walmart Superstore.

“I could tell immediately there was something different this time,” Thomas recalled. “There was a larger presence of law enforcement and not as many customers.”

For a brief moment, the occupiers wondered whether or not to abort the mission, then decided to go ahead with what they had come there to do. They headed for the busiest department – electronics.

Occupy OKC's Jay Vehige (aka Jay Fox)

ATTENTION, WALMART SHOPPERS

As happy consumers eagerly loaded their shopping carts with $200 laptops and 51-inch Plasma HDTV’s, 21 year-old occupier (and former Walmart employee) Jay Vehige stepped forward, cleared his throat, and let `er rip:

Mic Check!
Mic Check!
Mic Check!

Attention Walmart employees
It is a shame and an outrage
That you are forced to work today
When you should be
With your friends and families

It is a shame and an outrage
Walmart makes huge profits
From your labor
But only pays you pennies

It is a shame and an outrage
While you slave away
At below poverty-level wages
Walmart’s CEO Mike Duke
Makes 19 million a year

It is a shame and an outrage
You may earn $8.75 an hour
While CEO Mike Duke
Makes $16,000 thousand dollars an hour

It is a shame and an outrage
That you struggle to survive
And feed your families
While Walmart’s Profits
Are over $10 billion dollars a year

Walmart is unjust
Stop what you are doing
Leave your carts behind
And join us!
Buy local!

“We finished the mic check without incident, and then were asked to leave,” Agnew stated. “We complied immediately and began making our way toward the exit. Some were chanting, `Buy local’.”

Just after 2 a.m., Walmart security guards called for law enforcement assistance, claiming the occupy protesters were causing a disturbance in the back of the store.

Video of the incident shows Walmart employees asking the protesters to leave. As the group marched towards the front of the store chanting, a group of store security guards, police officers, and a sheriff’s deputy are seen running towards Jay Vehige before pouncing and tackling him to the floor, slamming his head into a retail display crate.

Bronwyn Agnew recalls, “We heard the cops yelling, `Get on the ground!’ And I saw one put a taser against Sean’s back and say, `Get down now if you don’t wanna get tazed.’”

According to Chris Thomas, “they tackled a few people and cuffed them. I think the others stopped and dropped to the ground when they were told to after witnessing several people being tackled. Some cops had their tazers out and shouted at us, `drop to your knees or you will be tazed.’ This was after several people had already been tackled and cuffed. Then I heard one of the officers yell, `grab the cameraman!’”

At first Thomas wasn’t sure if the officers were referring to himself or another cameraman. Then he saw his filming partner about 40 feet up the aisle, trying to slip out of the store unnoticed. Just then, Bronwyn Agnew turned on her camera phone and captured video of police officers running after the cameraman, tackling him from behind, pushing him down on the floor and handcuffing him.

The officers then turned their attention to Agnew, the only person still shooting video. “I didn’t realize any officers were near me until they reached from behind me and grabbed my phone,” Agnew said. She believes the reason she was targeted for arrest is because she was openly recording the officers.

According to Agnew, “As the officer was taking me out of the store, Jay was still shouting things like `support local business,’ and the cop said to him, `See? That’s why you’re getting arrested.’

Jay doing what he does best: pissing off the establishment

GAY JAY

Jay Vehige, aka “Jay Fox,” or “Gay Jay,” as he’s affectionately known by the group, is one of the most politically active and at the same time most controversial members of Occupy OKC. As an openly gay man, Vehige has been known to shock conventional Oklahoma sensibilities before – and he enjoys doing it. Jay’s brutal honesty about his lifestyle and his do-or-die brand of radical activism also earned him more than a few foes. But while others may sit around and talk about acts of civil disobedience, Jay is out doing them. He’s gone to jail twice over the past month for taking part in Occupy protests.

The previous arrest was back on on Nov. 3^rd. Jay and 15 other members of Occupy OKC had traveled to stand in solidarity with Occupy Tulsa after the notorious pepper spray incident. When police returned the next night to clear an even-bigger crowd from Centennial Park, five Occupy OKC protesters offered themselves up as sacrificial lambs for arrest, including a pregnant woman. (Two others arrested that night – Jay’s close friends Destiny Smith and Sean Lovell – proudly bore the cuffs again on Black Friday.)

On that blustery, cold night in Tulsa, Jay’s performance was fearless. Leading chants of “show me what a police state looks like!,” hoisting the American flag, and doing a little dance while being arrested, he looked like young David Bowie in a hoodie and skinny jeans. He struck such a memorable pose that the Tulsa World newspaper put him on the front page. Jay’s the kind of guy you notice. Unfortunately for Jay, Oklahoma cops really notice him, too.

When I asked him if he felt that the Del City police treated him differently, intentionally targeted him, or were rougher on him because he’s gay, Jay bluntly replied, “oh yes, absolutely.”

Bronwyn Agnew was standing right next to Jay and saw him being manhandled by police. “Jay told this cop he was going to call the ACLU, and the cop just slammed him down onto the back side of the car. The officer said, `Okay, I’m gonna take Loudmouth over here,’ then they separated him from the rest of us. Jay still has a bruise on the right side of his face.”

“When I threatened to call our contact at the ACLU, the cops grabbed my phone away from me,” Jay says. “And the cop (Officer Miller of the Del City Police Department) slams my face down onto the car and tells me, `you’re stupid. You never should have tried a thing like this.’ His tone was very demeaning and aggressive. He just kept instructing me to shut up, shut up, shut up.

“As Officer Miller was pushing me into the squad car, he threatened, “you’re gonna go down, boy. I’m gonna get you charged with assault and battery of an officer. He claimed that I had pushed him, which is a lie. An outright lie.”

Occupy OKC attorney, Brittany Novotny (also the state’s first openly transgender political candidate; Novotny challenged Republican Sally Kern for the House District 84 seat last year) is planning to subpoena the store’s surveillance camera footage to prove just who pushed whom.

Officer Miller’s threat to charge Jay with assault and battery of an officer turned out to be an idle one. However, Jay was the only member of the group to be charged with resisting arrest. The other nine arrested protesters were charged with disorderly conduct.

Jay stands up to Tulsa police on a bitterly cold Oklahoma night, Nov. 3, 2011.

Part II of this report, “Occupying a Jail Cell,” describes the OKC occupiers’ experience in the not-so-friendly Del City, Oklahoma jail. Look for it on This Cant Be Happening December 1^st.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Lori Spencer is a veteran journalist and musician from Austin, Texas. She has visited six occupy camps throughout the American heartland since early October. In recent weeks she’s been an embedded reporter with the Occupy Oklahoma City camp (while managing to squeeze in some holiday time with her family.) Look for more of Lori’s traveling occupy journals on TCBH in the months ahead.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

The Occupy Movement’s First Casualty: Death of a Poet

The 18 year-old occupier known as "Street Poet," who was found dead in his tent on Halloween.

THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT’S FIRST CASUALTY

Protester Dies at Occupy OKC Camp

By Lori Spencer
ThisCantBeHappening.net

With additional reporting by Charles M. Young

You say you feel my pain
But
You don’t even know what pain is.

– Untitled final poem by Street Poet

After spending the last three weeks on assignment in Oklahoma City covering the Occupy OKC encampment, I was deeply saddened and shocked to learn of Street Poet’s passing yesterday. At first it just didn’t seem possible that this talented, upbeat young man whom I had only known for 10 all-too-brief days, could be taken away so suddenly. Just like that – without any apparent sensible or logical explanation for his death.
The man we all called “Street Poet” had never showed any outward signs of physical or mental health problems, drug addiction, or suicidal tendencies. So, what on earth happened to him, we all wonder now? At this time, the details of his death remain as elusive and mysterious as his life.
Here’s what we do know so far: Street Poet was discovered unresponsive in his tent by another camper around 2:45 on the afternoon of Halloween. There was no blood at the crime scene. No signs of trauma or a struggle; no indication of foul play. No alcohol, street drugs or drug paraphernalia by his bedside. No obvious cause of death at first glance. It is generally believed that Street Poet passed sometime during the night, as rigor mortis had already set in by the time his body was found.
“Due to the victim’s young age and because the body was unattended at the time of death, we are currently processing this as a crime scene,” said Lt. Kevin Barnes of the Oklahoma City Police Department. “It appears he died of natural causes, but the medical examiner will ultimately determine the cause of death. We are conducting an extensive investigation and making every effort to figure out what caused this young man to die.”
Homicide detectives worked into the night at Kerr Park, site of the downtown OKC occupation, looking for clues into the sudden death of a seemingly healthy young man. Police cordoned off the tent city area in the plaza’s mezzanine, while allowing occupiers to remain in the lower level of the park. Once the crime scene investigation was concluded, campers were allowed to return to their tents. But one tent was now conspicuously missing from the family circle.

Street Poet's final home: his tent at Kerr Park

It is so hard to find help
out in the world
When the world doesn’t care.
My life is like an open book
Just read the words and you know
every blessed curse.
Don’t be concerned if you find
my past startling
’cause so do I.

– Street Poet

I first met Street Poet around the 20th of October. He bounded right up to me (interrupting an interview), introduced himself, and proceeded to lay down some poetic rap about sleeping under bridges. He was tall and thin with bushy brown hair, sparkling, curious eyes and an ever-ready smile. Of course I couldn’t be irritated with him for butting into a conversation. He was just so damned likeable, even cute. From his outward appearance, I naturally assumed he was a college kid from a typical white middle or upper-class background. It wasn’t until the next night he confided to me that he was homeless, and that his family history had been anything but ideal.
Street Poet said he was originally from Naples, Florida. He had left his foster home at age 16, earning his living by performing (and usually sleeping) on the streets. Over the past two years, he traveled on foot from Kansas City through Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and finally, Oklahoma City, where he landed approximately two weeks ago. His plan, he explained, was to reunite with his brothers who now live in Kansas City, “so we can be a family again.”
Although some of the local occupiers know Street Poet’s real name (or at least the name he gave them), the group is not disclosing it until his family can be located and notified of his death. No one seems to know Street Poet’s exact age, either. Most guessed him to be in his twenties. But from the timeline he gave me in our interview – having left home at 16, which he says was two years ago – he would be only 18 years old now.

When Street Poet arrived at Occupy OKC’s Kerr Plaza encampment about a week and a half ago, he quickly made new friends. People noticed how he came out of his shell a little bit more every day; how his self-confidence grew; how he seemed to revel in the love and acceptance here that he had apparently been denied in the past. His public displays of affection at Kerr Park are what those who ever met him will remember most. Street Poet was always handing out free hugs to any and all, even total strangers just walking by.
“I was almost taken aback by Street Poet’s first hug, nothing held back, all innocent exuberance,” Occupy OKC community moderator Mark Faulk remembered. “But in the time that he was there, I found myself looking for him, waiting for his smile and his welcoming embrace, both coming and going, and sometimes just spontaneously for no reason at all. He gave me more hugs in the space of a little over a week than many people get in an lifetime. After what would turn out to be his final performance, I turned the tables on him…I sought him out, wrapped my arms around him, and congratulated him on an amazing performance. As always, he smiled.”
Occupiers such as Manny Whitlock were impressed enough to bring donations just for Poet, such as some nice J. Riggins suits to perform in. On the last night of his life, Street Poet was asked during an interview how he liked his new threads. “Now look at me. Now look at me!” the poet smiled. “I’m now part of the 99%, along with all these people.”
“These people” had become his new family. There is a certain sense of camaraderie and fellowship that develops inside Occupy camps everywhere. Camping out with people from all walks of life, in all kinds of weather, in pretty close quarters, for weeks on end more or less compels people to get along together. Neighbors know their neighbors. People look out for one another. After all, the reasoning goes, we are the 99% and we’re all we’ve got.

Street Poet performs at an occupy march on the Oklahoma State Capitol just two days before his untimely death. Oct. 29, 2011

“He was the most giving person. Hugged me 20 times a day. He just wanted to be loved.” said Heidi, a 40 year-old single mother and Compassion Tent volunteer. “He told me I was the only mom he ever had. He’d sleep outside by my tent. Always was so happy to play with my four year-old. He was happy when he was making people laugh. He was kindest person I ever met. Just a boy that the system failed. Honest to god, his was a life full of potential. I saw it every day. He was smart and articulate and kind and he found his place here. This entire movement is grieving him tonight.”
Protester Matt Walden, 19, described Street Poet as “a very loving man who happened to find us and find a home. The system never gave a shit about him, but we did. I see him as a martyr for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Guys like him – the ones who slip through the cracks of our society – are the reason we occupy.”
Street Poet’s last day on earth was by all accounts, a good one. He’d been treated to a home-cooked meal and got some new clothes. He performed for an assembled crowd of 50-60 people, many of whom had never noticed how talented he really was until that moment.
“He read a poem about his being homeless and it was quite moving,” said local attorney Jay Trenary, who also moderates the Occupy OKC legal committee. “He was a great guy, kind heart. We had a candlelight memorial for him last night.” There is talk of a larger, more public gathering in his honor later this week.
The last time I saw Street Poet two nights ago, he ran up to me as I was on my way home, threw his arms around me and blurted out the words I love you. I hugged him back and told him I loved him too. (I’m so grateful now for that one last special moment with him.) “Go tell my story,” he instructed me. “Tell the world in your article.”
Little did I know then just how prophetic that final, urgent plea would turn out to be. Now I’m sitting here two days later writing his obituary. The sweet kid I came to regard as my new little brother suddenly turned out to be the first casualty of the revolution.
Street Poet wanted me to tell his story, and I’ve done my best under the circumstances. But the pain is still too fresh for any semblance of objectivity. He told his own story better than I ever could, anyway.

I would like to think I’ve changed
And who I am
I’d like to think I’m now a man.
So here I stand and
I truly know this right from wrong
but should also have known it all along.

– Street Poet

The official Occupy OKC Facebook wall filled up with messages of love, sorrow, and solidarity yesterday. Occupy groups from as far away as Portland, Oregon and Galway, Ireland shared words of support. Occupy organizations around the state (now formally united as “Occupy Oklahoma”) also expressed their condolences.

“We will not let up. We will not back down.” said Tim “Gonzo” Anderson. “The street poet lives on in our every march, every chant, and every person we talk to about this movement. We are all street poets, and we call out his name as he would call out all of ours. Solidarity.”

To see a video interview conducted on the last night of Street poet’s life, go here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=279194725447866

UPDATE NOV. 3, 2011:

Now that Street Poet’s family has been identified and located, we can finally release his name: Louis Cameron Rodriguez, age 18.

His mother and sister live in Clarksville, TN and want to fly to OKC to claim his body. Occupy OKC is trying to raise donations for airfare because Louis’ family can’t afford it. Please spread the word.

Anyone out there who wants to donate either frequent flier miles or cash can contact Occupy OKC. Beth Isbell is coordinating this effort. Her email is roxybeast@hotmail.com. Local readers can just drop by the camp in Kerr Park to donate in person.