The shadow of Occupy Wall Street has passed us by. As the rest of America goes on being productive and capitalist, the only remnants of the irrelevant movement are a few assault and battery lawsuits. One of the last criminal trials is the case of Cecily McMillan, a 25 year old graduate student at The New School in New York City.
Two years ago, during a Saturday night Occupy protest at Zuccotti Park, McMillan allegedly assaulted an NYPD officer. McMillan’s defense is that the policeman, Officer Grantley Bovell, "grabbed her right breast from behind" and "reacted instinctively, not knowing he was a police officer." The same officer, including "several of his colleagues, the NYPD and city authorities" are now being sued by nine other protesters who claim their "constitutional rights" were violated. Who knew Marxists were so litigious?
Whether Cecily McMillan, or these other protesters, are entitled to a lawsuit isn’t the point. The more interesting fact is that most people still don’t sympathize with Occupy Wall Street. They didn’t in 2011, when 31% of Americans polled by Gallup didn’t agree with their methods (and 59% didn’t know or care). And now, as McMillan’s trial is scrambling to interview jurors, we are finding out that they can’t even get fair representation.
"I’m involved in Wall Street things. I’m on the Wall Street side, not their side," said George Yih, a potential juror.
"Everything I believe – my morals – are kind of the antithesis of what they represent," said Jason McLean, an equity trader who was promptly dismissed.
"...in terms of Occupy Wall Street", says Alan Moore whose wife works on Wall Street, "in general, I would give less credibility to that group than average."
Are these people trying to get out of jury duty, or are people less inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to socialists? Wait, what am I saying? College socialists are so well behaved...