The right-wing media has been all abuzz from the beginning of the Occupy movement, provoking and reporting on any little incident to prove their case against the occupation. Despite the media’s initial indifference and gathering antagonism against Occupy, the real danger to those in the movement is the increasing agitation from outside.
Threats, insults and increasingly militant postings in the blogosphere and wholly-misguided anti-Occupy ravings from the establishment media have not just provoked but invited violence against Occupy. Those provocations have now been realized in Maine.
PORTLAND — Portland police are looking for the person who threw a chemical bomb at the Occupy Maine encampment in Portland during the early morning hours today.
Sgt. Glen McGary said police responded around 4 a.m. today to an explosion in Lincoln Park at Congress and Pearl streets.
Though no one was injured, McGary said the homemade bomb, which consisted of chemicals poured into a plastic Gatorade container could have caused serious injury.
Occupy Maine, which is protesting corporate greed, has erected about three dozen tents in the 2.5-acre park. McGary said the bomb was thrown into the camp’s kitchen, a tarped area where food is cooked and served.
Here in Vancouver, I was thinking yesterday while walking around the periphery of Occupy Vancouver encampment just how vulnerable the occupants are to violent attacks from unhinged opponents. Reminded of the anti-Occupant tweets at #OccupyVancouver – some violent – I worried for the safety of people in tents. It looks like I had every right to be concerned.
I fear that the incident at Occupy Maine is just the beginning of something very ugly from a group of philosophically impotent people angered not only by the clothing, hair or philosophy of the occupiers but by the inarticulaton of their innermost dissatisfaction with their own lives, contrasted so fiercely against the freedom inherent in an Occupy movement so foreign to them.
UPDATE: From the Portland Press Herald:
The car, seen driving slowly past the encampment before someone inside threw the device, is described as an older model silver four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota or Nissan.