A Sustained Protest
“Every time the citizenry watches peaceful protesters getting pepper-sprayed … many become increasingly fearful of participating in this citizen movement, and also become fearful in general of exercising their rights…. That’s … exactly what the climate of fear imposed by all abusive police state actions is intended to achieve: to coerce citizens to ‘decide’ on their own to be passive and compliant….”
BUT
“the most important effect of the Occupy movement: acts of defiance, courage and conscience are contagious…. For the first time in a long time, the use of force and other forms of state intimidation are not achieving their intended outcome of deterring meaningful (i.e., unsanctioned and unwanted) citizen activism, but are, instead, spurring it even more.”
