TWU Blasts City for Putting Handcuffed Occupy Wall
Street Protesters on Buses

BY Pete Donohue, Emily Sher and Helen Kennedy 
Daily News Writers 

Daily News (New York) October 3, 2011

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/10/03/2011-10-03_twu_blasts_city.html#ixzz1ZjSBJgHO

The Transport Workers Union will go to court Monday to
try to stop the city from forcing bus drivers to
transport Wall Street protesters arrested by the NYPD,
the Daily News has learned.

The union, whose leaders voted last week to support the
protesters, said police brass commandeered three MTA
buses to transport many of the 700 demonstrators
arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.

Union President John Samuelsen called ordering bus
drivers to drive prisoners "a blatant act of political
retaliation."

PHOTOS OF OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS

Police brass had no immediate comment on Samuelsen's
comments Sunday night.

"TWU Local 100 supports the protesters on Wall Street
and takes great offense that the mayor and NYPD have
ordered operators to transport citizens who were
exercising their constitutional right to protest - and
shouldn't have been arrested in the first place,"
Samuelsen said Sunday night.

At least five empty buses were commandeered from
terminal points on both sides of the bridge, Samuelsen
said.

In some cases, MTA supervisors ordered drivers to
follow the directive.

"The MTA has a long history of cooperating with the
NYPD and other law enforcement agencies when they
require vehicles to perform their duties," said Jeremy
Soffin, MTA spokesman.

DAILY NEWS EDITOR GIVES FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT OF PROTEST
ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE

But that violates the contract between Local 100 and
the MTA, Samuelsen said.

"Our mission is to provide transit service to the
riding public, not transport people who were arrested,"
he said.

The mass roundup on the bridge did little to stifle the
protesters: Hundreds went right back to the rally after
getting sprung.

"Just because we're being arrested, we're not being
silenced," said Robert Grodt, 24.

"You go to Italy, you eat gelato. You go to a protest,
you expect to be arrested," said Daniel Levine, 22, a
Baruch College journalism student.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said 700 people received
summonses and eight were held - three for outstanding
warrants and five for not providing ID.

He did not immediately comment on the TWU seeking an
injunction.

The nebulous protest against corporate greed, income
inequality and tax breaks for fat cats enters its third
week with growing crowds, a higher media profile and a
big union march set for Wednesday.

Cops and protesters argued over whether demonstrators
Saturday defied orders to stay on the bridge's
pedestrian walkway or were lured into a trap by cops
who said they could use the roadway.

The NYPD released a video showing a captain with a
bullhorn telling a teeming throng, "I'm ordering you to
leave this roadway now. If you do so voluntarily, no
charges will be placed against you."

The crowd responded with chants of "Take Our Bridge"
and linked arms as protesters on the walkway cheered
them.

The Brooklyn-bound lanes of the bridge were closed for
nearly three hours as cops rounded up protesters.

"The protestors were warned: Stay off the roadway,"
said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Protester videos showed a column of marchers entering
the car lanes with officers walking calmly at their
head.

"The cops led us onto that street," said Casey O'Neill,
34, who quit his computer job in California to join the
protest.

With Barry Paddock
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